When I was a girl, I had a particular horse obsession. It wasn’t Black Beauty, Flicka, Misty (okay, well, maybe a little), or even the Black Stallion. My love, my fascination, was for the great Man O’War. In fourth grade I read Walter Farley’s Man O’War twenty-nine times in a row. I know because I made a mark in the back of the book every time I finished it. My mother got worried and hid the book.
I took it out of the library until Mrs. McAfferty, who bore a strong resemblance to The Grinch, refused to let me check it out, noting that I had taken it out five times in a row.
Unhealthy? Perhaps…but just this past week, I posted a Throwback Thursday picture of my beautiful mare, Summer Hill. In a very short time there were over 200 comments about her sweet and stunning demeanor. One comment was from a woman who had shown Summer Hill before I had. We messaged each other about this unique and generous horse.
Since Summer Hill was a Thoroughbred, we could research her bloodlines. Lo! My silky chestnut mare’s great-many-times-back-grandfather was Fair Play: Man O’War’s sire.
When my sister found out, she rolled her eyes. “Thank GOD you didn’t know THAT. You would have been unbearable.”
Oh, yeah.