Hero Worship

So it has been a little crazy here lately with graduations--my daughter's and MINE!!--and my thesis presentation, which was a lot of work but well worth it. News also that the NES Equine Journal in Cardiff, Wales is interested in publishing parts of my thesis and it has been submitted to a conference in Hawaii next January...so no complaints. Just busy.

It was fascinating, however, to discover this article online about, you guessed it, horses as heroes. It mentions Seabiscuit, Secretariat, Barbaro and Ruffian and adds Rachel Alexandra and Mine That Bird to the mix. I'm not sure I agree with the last two--I think it is just too early to determine if they are heroes in terms of inspiring others to emulate their feats (the most important criteria I used to determine my list of equine heroes), but I think it is fascinating that the term is even being considered to describe these race horses.

"It seems that at various times in our history when times are hard economically and physically and people are looking for a feel-good story, it pops up in sports," writes David McCollum. "The psychological boost can come from both man and beast."

I think in terms of Rachel Alexandra and Mine That Bird, what we have is the classic case of the underdog making it big. This was part of Seabiscuit's appeal but Mine That Bird is going to have to race until he is seven, as Seabiscuit did, before he truly earns the title of hero. Rachel is going to have to enter at least one more high profile race and beat the boys at their own game before she earns it. As I say in my thesis, Americans love an underdog, even if he is a horse."

Kris Allen beat the favorite on American Idol and Shawn Johnson ran away with the Dancing with the Stars title. Here's the moral of the story: anyone can win so it is worth entering and trying hard, but I still think it takes more than winning to be a hero.