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Born to Run: A Racehorse Grows Up
Text and photographs follow a thoroughbred race horse from its birth through training to the first race as a two-year-old.
- GenresNonfictionAnimals
Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
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February 19, 2025
In 1988, 49,221 Thoroughbred foals were born in America. At the time, Louisiana wasn't considered a major Thoroughbred producer. Arguably, the largest breeder of Thoroughbreds in Louisiana at the time was Franks Farms, where the first part of this book takes place. The rest is done at Louisiana Downs, which I think is the track nearest to Franks Farms.
Of course, none of this information is in this slim paperback. The text is very dry, stating only the most basic of basic facts and nothing else. Despite the subtitle, we do not follow one foal from birth to his or her first race. This looks at a whole bunch of horses, from newborns to two year old maidens, over the span of a week, or however long it took for Johnson to take all of the photos.
The photos are better than the text, but not by much. Some are too dark, too cluttered or just too dull to be of much interest to me. There was one superlative photo on page 14 of three yearlings at play. I was also interested to see the youngsters getting their first lessons under tack in a round pen. Although round pens for training are now standard, they sure weren't in 1988.
The last page, which really is the only page worth reading, mentions that not all foals born at Franks Farm would be good enough to become racehorses. The last sentence reads, "And even if a thoroughbred never sees a racetrack, it was still born to run with a spirit and beauty that few animals can ever equal."
Amen to that.
Unfortunately, in the late 1980s, the vast majority of racehorses wound up being sold for slaughter after their careers ended. Even those lucky enough to go to be saved for breeding were usually still slaughtered after they became old enough to be infertile.
Of course, none of this information is in this slim paperback. The text is very dry, stating only the most basic of basic facts and nothing else. Despite the subtitle, we do not follow one foal from birth to his or her first race. This looks at a whole bunch of horses, from newborns to two year old maidens, over the span of a week, or however long it took for Johnson to take all of the photos.
The photos are better than the text, but not by much. Some are too dark, too cluttered or just too dull to be of much interest to me. There was one superlative photo on page 14 of three yearlings at play. I was also interested to see the youngsters getting their first lessons under tack in a round pen. Although round pens for training are now standard, they sure weren't in 1988.
The last page, which really is the only page worth reading, mentions that not all foals born at Franks Farm would be good enough to become racehorses. The last sentence reads, "And even if a thoroughbred never sees a racetrack, it was still born to run with a spirit and beauty that few animals can ever equal."
Amen to that.
Unfortunately, in the late 1980s, the vast majority of racehorses wound up being sold for slaughter after their careers ended. Even those lucky enough to go to be saved for breeding were usually still slaughtered after they became old enough to be infertile.
Displaying 1 of 1 review