The Breeders’Cup is over, the Triple Crown series (such as it was) ended in September. So the next couple of months are pretty slow in the world of Thoroughbred Racing.
After the first of the year, the two year-old colts turn three and Kentucky Derby prep races start shortly there after.
The next six weeks will seem like a long haul on a sloppy track.
So here to push us past the Finish Line of the dumpster fire that is 2020 are some inspirational equine quotes.
1. “When I bestride him, I soar, I am a hawk: he trots the air; the earth sings when he touches it; the basest horn of his hoof is more musical than the pipe of Hermes.” – William Shakespeare
2. “God forbid that I should go to any Heaven in which there are no horses.” – R.B. Cunninghame Graham
3. “It is the horse’s gift to connect us with Heaven and our own footsteps.” – Ronni Sweet
4. “Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” – Anatole France
5. “Animals were once, for all of us, teachers. They instructed us in ways of being and perceiving that extended our imaginations, that were models for additional possibilities.” – Joan McIntyre
6. “…for there is no other feeling in the world to compare with it if one loves a great horse. It gives a thrill that nothing else ever can. It cannot be put into words, because words cannot express it.” – Samuel Riddle
7. “In the end, we don’t know what horses can do. We only know that when, over the past thousands of years, we have asked something more of them, at least some of them have readily supplied it.” – Jane Smiley
Explaining the fundamental magic of horses is a large undertaking. But luckily, these folks throughout the centuries have done an admirable job.
And while these quotes may not entirely do the horse justice, these writers may have gotten closer than anyone else ever has.
From wild horses to cowboys riding horses to equestrians riding dressage, there is something about horses and horse sense that is just incredible.
There is a lot we know about horses, but perhaps the best thing about them is that there is so much we don’t know. And yet, when we ask something new of them, they keep rising to the occasion, again and again.
That may be the most magical thing of all.
