Secretariat

We have never had an animal in Kerala. With ‘We’, I mean me and my brother, and not the whole of Malayalis. We used to see elephants taken out for their morning bath, and run to go and watch it shower itself in glory. When it came to Horses, it was never in person that I saw them. There was Black Beauty by Anna Sewell, and then another called Black Stallion (National Velvet was an Elizabeth Taylor movie for me, and that too, I was of same age as her then, so what more can you imagine). Blackie was the name in both the book and movie, and one showed the horse similar to an average man struggling to live, and finding his peace in final years, other showed it as a fighter. The scenes of Blackie galloping in the sea shore in the opening shots of the movie still makes me feel kind of, free.

I used to read about horses a lot (and elephants too, Aithihyamala, you know), and I came across the names Darley Arabian, the Appaloosas, the Mustangs, Man-O-War and stories of many stables across the world. Unfortunately, I lost my way somewhere and then missed out hearing about Sea Biscuit and more importantly, Secretariat.

Four years back, the name Appaloosa in one of the quizzes triggered my thoughts again. I saw that there is a Triple Crown in the US, and I saw that there was one more Triple Crown winner to know, A Secretariat, whose pictures were not available at that time. I did not hear about him till the movie was released last year. I wondered how this horse was so much better than all those before him. Well, it was all true. I read and read about him, and the wonder was in place, but it was a different kind of wonder. Viewers heard the wonder in CBS Television announcer Chic Anderson's voice as he described the horse's pace: "Secretariat is widening now! He is moving like a tremendous machine!" You could never have seen a perfect win than that, with all due respect to fans of Sea Biscuit. It is neither the distance nor the timing; it is the heart of the champion that made that win so special, and that horse so special.

There are racehorses and then there is Secretariat. I saw the photos of him in various races. I have never seen such a stride. By god, this was a Horse that can never be matched. The movie tried to match his stride in slow motion, but it is nowhere near the real thing. 31 lengths ahead of the next best horse and in the best ever time. This was a race run by Secretariat all for himself. You have heard how Pollard understood Sea Biscuit and made him see the other horse taking the lead, to make sure the lazy guy was pinched. Here was a showman. He could do it all for himself, and run the length. The movie showed it posing for photos and stuff as if that this was not a horse. Well, men have for long considered their steed more than a friend itself. Be it Roman kings (sic) or Greeks or Indians or the cowboys.. They thought the horse as a person and treated it as equals. A horse might not have the intelligence of an elephant, but it has enough heart to know what is happening. This is the story of such a horse. The horse with a big heart of a champion. It would only do justice to such a horse that you see the real pictures of him in action rather than some other enactment.

So, I shall show the pictures of this horse. Each one tells a story by itself.

The stride

The first one that made me feels exhilaration of seeing a bullet in slow motion, with air around it swirling into a sonic cone. The hoofs planted firmly and each move in synch. His head is so erect, which no horse can do in the same way. You find the horse that played Secretariat in the movie slanting his head slightly.

I had told about the stride in the movie, and I told that I wanted to see the horse in a curve. They never showed it in the curve. Well, Secretariat in the curve, his whole body in same motion except that there is a slight turn.

The greatest finish! Secretariat finishing the Belmont derby by 31 lengths; the photo speaking as if he is running all for himself and his jockey, Ron Turcotte looking back at the field.

The Bedouins say that the Arabian stallions breathed wind. The bible has references to horses that God made. We have stories of horse planting his hoof on an elephant’s forehead (and for me, that is the greatest horse that ever strode on this planet). For Secretariat, I shall say what the Americans like to say most about winners. He was a champion, a machine and a winner, who never backed down and who ran his distance for himself and for those who were his.

Cheers! A toast to a great horse.