Category Archives: History

If you want to start a (mostly) friendly debate among horseracing devotees on opposite sides, just ask: "Name the greatest racehorse of all time." "Big Red!" will say one. "No,...

The first time Margie Goldstein-Engle rode on a US Nations Cup team was in Toronto in 1989 on a horse named Saluut II. And she was the anchor. Listen to...

Hockey has the Stanley Cup. Football, the Grey Cup. In show jumping, the annual championship coveted by every international team the world over is known as the Nations Cup. At...

In his most famous poem cycle, T.S. Eliot writes: "The naming of cats is a difficult matter…" So, too, with the naming of a Thoroughbred foal who someday may carry...

Show jumping legend Ted Edgar has been heralded as a larger-than-life character, an innovator ahead of his time and a gifted horseman. He's also a straight-up bad a**. A leading jockey in...

To understand modern Thoroughbred racing and particularly breeding industries in the U.S. as they extend their reach abroad, you have to start with—Canada, and a head. Much of the entire...

Germany's Hans Günter Winkler won seven Olympic medals, including five gold, over the course of his phenomenal career. But none were so hard earned as the pair he collected in...

It’s 19th century Philadelphia, and countless carriage horses are walking and trotting along in the streets. A young girl, named Caroline Earle, tries to avoid the lanes near her home where...

The Preakness would like you to know that it’s not just the Triple Crown’s middle child. While few things in sports can compete with the pageantry and magnitude of the Kentucky...

I love history. I think it’s really important. And I think it’s really sad when history gets misstated, or distorted, and especially so when that distortion is used to sell...

Cedar Creek, VA. The year, 2004. My mother and I packed our bags and prepared for battle. We joined up with a few friends and embarked on the long drive from...

In 1913, there was no other place to be than at the Washington Horse Show in DC. How do I know this? Let’s go to the tape… Here, we have...

Exterminator (1915-1945) Chestnut gelding by McGee, out of Fair Empress, bred in Kentucky by F.D. "Dixie" Knight Nicknames: Old Bones, The Galloping Hatrack Record: 99 starts, 50 wins, 17 places,...

When you think of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), your first thought is probably the organization's extensive work on behalf of homeless dogs and...

Summer at Saratoga is like a spiritual revival for North American horse racing. Opened in 1863, this iconic palace of thoroughbred purity is America's oldest sporting venue still in operation. Horses thrive...

Even the most brilliant inventions and ideas often have a shelf life. That's the nature of innovation. Some products, however, simply cannot be improved. Timeless treasures that are just as...

At the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles, a young attorney turned military officer and World War I veteran named Hiram Tuttle added another feather to his cap by winning the individual...

With the Olympics in full swing it's time to dust off great moments in Olympic Equestrian history. This clip of double gold medalist Reiner Klimke (GER) and Ahlerich at the...

Conservation is an important part of museum work, helping to preserve paintings, sculptures, and other priceless artifacts for generations to come. But rarely do conservators find themselves dealing with just this kind of priceless...

It's thought to be the oldest breed of riding horse, its distinctive dished nose, wide-set eyes, and large, flared nostrils—that once helped these early chariot horses dissipate heat in the desert—the...