My Favourite Racehorses

There is something magical about watching horses run. It is often the movie, made-for-TV special, or novel that inspires me more to know about thoroughbred racehorses, but having organized a couple of annual client appreciation nights at the local racetrack, I have also been privy to the thunderous ovation of hooves, the second-by-second commentary from the commentators’ box, and the strain of muscle and sinew as these lithe, four-legged athletes fight, sometimes down to the nose, to be the first at the finish line. Here are the ones that have impressed me with their achievements (total races: wins-places-shows)–on and off the track. 

My Review of DreamWorks’ Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron

photo credit: Dreamworks

Given that 2014 is the Year of the Horse, I guess that it is appropriate that I do a movie/DVD review of one (even if it’s technically a few weeks too early). DreamWorks’ Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron is an original story that offers a breathtaking narrative about the wild horses of the Old West, and how one of them, an unnamed and untamed Kiger stallion, made his mark in history.

I love horses — both the real (the most memorable being the legendary “Queen-of-the-Fillies” filly Ruffian and the unbeaten (in-all-25-races) Australian mare Black Caviar) and the fictional ones like Black Beauty and the Black Stallion. The introductory IMAX-like aerial sequence that takes the viewer from rushing rapids carving deep waterways through the vast and majestic heart of the Grand Canyon, to forests teeming with trees, snow-capped mountains, and the thunderous ovation of equine hooves on the open plains, made me determined to see Spirit on the big screen. 

Daily Prompt: Out of Your Reach

Falabella-Miniature-Horse photo credit: jonobacon via flickr CC-BY-2.0

I was never the type of girl who wanted Ken and Barbie dolls (or the latter’s million-and-one accessories). As a child, the one thing I wanted during the holidays or on my birthday was a reddish-brown Argentinian Falabella mini-horse with a long blonde mane (not the My Little Pony ponies (really, ponies sleeping in beds and cooking in kitchens designed for humans?))

Because I remember being seven and riding a handwalked pony on a summer’s day, with a cowboy hat perched on my head at Stanley Park, and I was hooked on the all-too-short experience.