ridecamp@endurance.net: About Equus the Horse (long)

About Equus the Horse (long)

Roberta Lieberman (rlieberman@phillips.com)
Wed, 3 Sep 1997 14:36:37 -0500

Kathy Myers wrote:
> Equus magazine's namesake started his carreer on the Arab race
track...
I was wondering whatever became of him. Who's got him now and what
rides has he been in recently? Sheesh... he must be up around 20
years of age by now.
~Nikki>>>

Guess I'd better take on this one, since I bred and raised Equus and
wrote the series in EQUUS. Recently, some questions about him came up
on the Arabhorse list. I submitted this reply:

How EQUUS and Equus came to be...a brief history.

Those of you who remember the first issue of EQUUS back in May 1977 may
also remember the introduction of a fuzzy gray Arabian foal of the same
name. Little "E" was foaled at Desert Hills Arabians on May 21, 1977, a
son of the Russian import *Magnat (Aswan x Monopolia by Ofir) out of my
first purebred mare, KY Kharousel (Har-El Ferza by Ferzon x Cicada
(double-Rafgar granddaughter with tail female line to Niteza (*Witez II
x Nafa).

For three years, I wrote a monthly column chronicling the birth,
training and ultimately the racing of Equus. He was a little squirt,
but well put together, game and speedy. We started him under saddle
carefully as a two-year-old, which raised many eyebrows then, but he
progressed well under the watchful eye of his advisors, led by Medical
Editor Matthew Mackay-Smith, DVM. Back in those days, the terms
"sportsmedicine," "progressive loading" and "specificity" were new to
most horsefolk, but they soon would become household words (in October
'81, we published "The Equine Athlete," a special issue setting out
the fundamentals of physiology and training of the athletic horse in
the popular press.)

Raising Equus in the magazine was a dream come true, and the little
gray fireball took all of us on a wild ride. We hauled him to Florida
for his first races (we got dirt in our faces but learned a lot), then
in May, he came into his own with a five-length victory on the turf
course at Fair Hill, MD, trouncing Saam and the best of his generation
in the IAHA Eastern Derby semi-final. From there it was on to the
Arabian Super Derby at Arlington Park in Chicago, where Equus battled
with Saam all around the track, losing to his rival by a narrow
margin. That's when we found out he had pharyngitis, which ultimately
spelled the end of his racing career but didn't slow him down on the
trail.

It was fun riding this little Ferrari when he came home to Maryland. I
remember riding him on the golf course bordering our farm when early
one morning, the sprinkler system went on and away he went like a
sprinter out of the gate. But Equus never tried to unseat his rider
and always did everything he could to stay under you. He was quick and
smart, but he had a great heart and a terrific sense of humor. He
completed two competitive trail rides with ease and probably would
have made a fine endurance horse.

Later, Equus went to live in Florida with his good friend, equine
artist Lynn Wade, who used to ride him through the orange groves.
Recently, Lynn reminisced:

"One of my fondest memories is of riding him through the orange
groves, picking and eating tangerines and oranges as we went, the air
smelling like a tropical paradise. One of my least fond memories is
the moment I discovered that a railroad track ran through this quiet,
peaceful grove and that a gigantic freight train was coming (fast) and
there was no way I could get far enough away that he wouldn't be
undone by the sound of it. Because of the orange trees, you could
only see in front (tracks) and behind -- couldn't see the thing
coming, until it was in your lap. I just turned him to face the
track, slapped him on the neck and said, "Well lookit, Monkey! Here
comes a train!" I'm sure that Breyer model has nothing on him for
still stiffness at the moment that train came roaring past! He was
rooted stone."

Indeed, Breyer recently released a model of Equus. It claims to be him
in his racing days, but actually he looks more like the mature
gentleman that he turned into after his dapples turned to white. Equus
just celebrated his 20th birthday at his home at Arabian Hill Horse
Park in Franktown, Virginia, where he has lived for the last 10 years.

He had a couple small crops of foals when leased in North Carolina.

EQUUS the magazine is just now putting the finishing touches on its
20th anniversary celebration issue for this November. EQUUS also
published a collection of the Equus story series which is available in
softcover, monograph format.

Best regards
Bobbie Lieberman
rlieberman@phillips.com

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