I remember a day, a few years after I started working at TROT, when my manager, Darryl Kaplan, told me that he was having our website team post a story in relation to the Kentucky Derby winner - or some other Thoroughbred. I honestly can’t remember the specifics, so that just shows that in hindsight, it couldn’t have been that big a deal to me. But I do remember being opposed to the idea of it.
I argued that we were a Standardbred site and that we really didn’t need to be posting Thoroughbred news… that our members would more than likely disapprove as well. He argued the merits of the story and its relevance, and it went up. I believe it got clicked on and read a few thousand times, nobody really complained, and more importantly, the world didn’t end.
Honestly, I can’t believe that I was so short-sighted at the time. It’s a bit embarrassing.
I suppose that after many years of working with Standardbreds however, I was a little paranoid. Maybe the trotters have always seemed to take a bit of a back seat to ‘The Sport Of Kings’, but I don’t really see it as an issue these days. It’s horse racing. We’re all in it together. What is good for horse racing is good for both breeds, and what’s bad for horse racing, likewise, is bad for both.
In fact, when discussing their love of horse racing with many who feel like I do, you can really just take the word ‘racing’ right off to some degree, because in many cases it’s truly just the love of the horse that matters most. It’s also what unites us all.
Personally, I just love horses - all horses. When I see police officers on horseback I walk straight over and ask if I may pet their steeds - the horses sense immediately that I’m ‘a good guy’ where they’re concerned, and they usually relax and enjoy a nice head rub.
I’ve seen handsome cabs on the street in both New York City and somewhere in southern Italy, and both times I went directly to the driver and requested permission to mingle with their equine associates. Both times permission was granted, and as soon as I let my new friends nibble on the back of my hand a little they could tell that I was one of them.
We were on a cruise a few years ago, and at a port somewhere in Mexico we went horseback riding on one of the ship’s excursions. As someone with ‘horse experience’ I was given one of the lead horses, but was warned that he had ‘a mind of his own’. The first few times any of the other horses in the pack got up too close behind him he’d pin his ears and start to back up - threatening to kick. I’d give him a little holler and let him know that I meant business, and he fell right into line. He and I became friends rather quickly and he behaved himself much better the rest of the day.
They’re horses. They’re incredible. And even though they’re FAR from being all the same, in many ways, they’re all the same.
On the cover of this very issue of TROT, specifically posted right on this page for you to look at again, is a Thoroughbred. Sacrilegious, right? Hell no it’s not.
We keep the topics of our feature stories as secret as can be, and to some degree, the image chosen to grace our next cover even moreso. When I did (purposely) leak the breed of horse that would be on this month’s cover, a few of the people told were not overly impressed, suggesting that you, our readers, wouldn’t be impressed either. It reminded me of my own short-sightedness from years ago that I mentioned earlier.
I took the chance. But in all honesty it was a very easy decision.
Look at that photo. Really look at it. They say it was Winston Churchill who said that “the outside of a horse is good for the inside of a (wo)man.” Our cover photo this month epitomizes that saying.
Then, if you haven’t read it already, read the story of ‘Korina & Moira’ beginning on page 52. It’s incredible. It’s about a young horsewoman - not just a Standardbred horsewoman or just a Thoroughbred horsewoman, but a horsewoman - who perhaps hasn’t always had the easiest of lives. But she managed to find horses and horses managed to find her. Both have been there when the other has needed them, and both are much better off because of it.
In my opinion, this story is easily one of the best we’ve ever had, and this cover photo is one of the best as well.
Standardbred, Thoroughbred, Quarter-horse, Mustang, Arabian and so on, a horse is a horse is a horse.
So yes, you might see a Thoroughbred on the cover of TROT Magazine. Personally, I see a horse - a magnificent horse. And I see a woman, one that’s worked with both breeds, who has a very special bond with that horse - a horse that was there for her when Korina needed her most.
Horses have made Korina McLean’s life better.
Horses have made my life better.
I’m hoping, for your sake, that you’re able to say the same.
Dan Fisher [email protected]