 |
| Brian Crowley, aboard Arcadius, celebrates with groom Percy Warner after winning the Iroquois. |
In a quote after the race, his jockey, Irishman Brian Crowley, told The Times: “I don’t get attached to horses, I just don’t, but with him, it’s different; he’s the one horse I would be close to. I’m not being a drama queen, I’m not just going on about it. I fed him carrots every day. I rode him, I schooled him. What a horse. I can’t believe it. I’m crying over a horse. I can’t believe it. You find out what you are when something like this happens, you find out how much you care.”
Seattle Slew's longtime groom, Tom Wade, had this to say about his famous friend, "In a sense, he raised me. I taught him nothing; he taught me everything I know."
Another thing Wade said about his feelings for the Triple Crown winner was this, " I wanted to live my life for Slew to be proud of me."
I get that. And isn't that bizarre, in a way? Trying to live in a way that would make our horse's proud? Try telling a non-horse lover that and tell me what reaction you get. In all honesty, though, there absolutely are times when I don't do something because I know Sug wouldn't approve, just as there are times I will do something because I know she would.
Mr. Crowley is right. You do find out what,and who, you are with horses. I was mentioning this to a (non-horsey) friend and she found this hard to believe. "What about your family? Where do they fit in? Don't you try to make them proud?"
Well, I guess there you have the difference between those who love horses and those who don't. If you are a horse lover, the horse IS your family.
Anyway, that's just what I was thinking this morning.
Thanks for reading!
Amy
