Nearly everyone knows the story of Seabiscuit thanks to the recent movie about the famous race horse. Before the book of the same name was published a few years ago, most people were unaware or had forgotten about the famous little horse that won so many races and so many hearts in a time of great hardship for the United States. Seabiscuit was truly a horse from which legends are derived, and only a few horses since then have captured the fascination of the American people like Seabiscuit.

Little Horse, Big Attitude

Seabiscuit was a small horse by race horse standards. Most thoroughbreds are a large, strapping 16 hands or so, but not Seabiscuit. But although he may have been a little horse in comparison to those he was running against, Seabiscuit had a big attitude. The horse was born in 1934 and discovered at the track by trainer Tom Smith on June 11, 1935 as a coming-two year old. Tom Smith had been hired by Charles Howard, a man who had worked his way to money from the ground up.

According to the story, Smith had noticed an immediate connection between himself and Seabiscuit and realized right away that Seabiscuit was a special horse. This was despite the fact that the horse had lost just about every one of the races he had run in so far. Smith and Howard took Seabiscuit in and in August of 1936 the spicy horse met his match in jockey Red Pollard. Pollard and Seabiscuit made an incredible team and by 1937 they were winning races, and Seabiscuit’s popularity grew almost immediately.

Soon, Seabiscuit had surpassed the infamous race horse War Admiral in earnings and popularity. The horse was so popular and so successful that he even received death threats by those who were intimidated by him. A plot that was uncovered to fill Seabiscuit’s nose with sponges made newspaper headlines across the country. Seabiscuit was famous for his heart and his courage. In a match race against his nemesis War Admiral, Seabiscuit beat him by several strides, completely winning over the nation in a time of depression and hardship. Radio broadcasts of the famous race are still available.

The famous horse died at the young age of 14 on May 17, 1947, but he still lives on in articles, his book, and movie. For more information, check out the book or rent the movie to enjoy the life of such a famous and notable race horse.