The Horse God Built, Lawrence Scanlan
The Horse God Built, Lawrence Scanlan
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The Horse God Built
The Untold Story of Secretariat, the World’s Greatest Racehorse

Author: Lawrence Scanlan

Narrator: Joe Barrett

Unabridged: 9 hr 34 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 06/27/2017


Synopsis

In The Horse God Built, bestselling equestrian writer Lawrence Scanlan has written a tribute to an exceptional man that is also a backroads journey to a corner of the racing world rarely visited.

As a young black man growing up in South Carolina, Eddie Sweat struggled at several occupations before settling on the job he was born for—groom to North America's finest racehorses. As Secretariat's groom, loyal friend, and protector, Eddie understood the horse far better than anyone else. A wildly generous man who could read a horse with his eyes, he shared in little of the financial success or glamour of Secretariat's wins on the track, but won the heart of Big Red with his soft words and relentless devotion.

In Scanlan's rich narrative, we get a groom's-eye view of the racing world and the vantage of a man who spent every possible moment with the horse he loved, yet who often basked in the horse's glory from the sidelines. More than anything else, The Horse God Built is a moving portrait of the powerful bond between human and horse.

About Lawrence Scanlan

Lawrence Scanlan was born in Toronto and spent the first six years of his life in the northern Ontario railway town of Nakina. He has lived and worked in Toronto, Nelson, B.C. and, for the past thirty-five years, the Kingston area in southeastern Ontario.

Scanlan has worked in newspapers (literary editor of the Whig-Standard, editor of the Nelson Daily News), magazines (managing editor of Harrowsmith), and radio (producer with CBC Radio's Morningside as well as Writers & Company).

He has won three National Magazine Awards and, as a freelancer, written scores of articles on many subjects, including science, sports, literature, travel, and medicine.


Reviews

Too pretty? That’s been said of Secretariat, a big and tall chestnut thoroughbred racing horse also known as, “Big Red.” But “pretty is as pretty does” and Secretariat fulfilled all expectations: Big Red was the only two-year-old ever to win Horse of the Year; and was winner in 1973 of the Triple Cr......more

Goodreads review by Mackay on March 05, 2017

Confession: Secretariat was and is a passion. I suppose one had to be to-the-bone horse mad from birth, and live in that particular time, with high crimes and misdemeanors in the White House, the morass in Vietnam ending as one might expect...and along came a superb, gorgeous horse who did everythin......more

So interesting!! I got this book as a birthday gift and I really liked it! It gave a super unique view on horse racing and the impacts grooms have on their horses! Def recommend for horse lovers!!! Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Pages: 314 Language/TW: 4/10 (some language/content) Format I read: Paperback Genre: N......more

Goodreads review by Dee on June 08, 2024

Audible Plus 9 hours 34 min. Narrated by Joe Barrett (B) I experienced my first heartbreak when I read BLACK BEAUTY by Anna Sewell in elementary school in the 50s. I told myself then that horses needed owners who loved them. Secretariat was such a horse, but he inspired so much love in the men who we......more

Goodreads review by Carol on May 21, 2015

I remember watching Secretariat race during his triple crown races and marveling at his speed and greatness, but this is the first book I have read about his uniqueness. I am especially interested in horses, so this book was of special interest to me, but I believe that it would be so even if you do......more