[Danzig]

Originally Posted by GenuineRisk

Hey, pgardn; I finally saw the exhibit-

On the racing front- it has Citation's trophies from the TC races and the TC trophy on display, which was pretty cool. A six-minute film about horses and humans includes clips from the 2005 Derby and 2007 Belmont. There's also some stuff about the fragility of the racing Thoroughbred- photos of Barbaro's shattered leg and him being brought out of a recovery pool- and while the synthetic track is interesting to see (it shows the layers), it makes it sound like a panacea for racing. But they also had prints of the Thoroughbred's foundation stallions and some stuff on Eclipse, as well as a cast of a skeleton of a famous Standardbred.

I thought it was a really good exhibit- my friend and I spent two hours there and didn't realize it. It starts with the evolutionary history of the horse, moves through domestication and then horse and man through history. There's a great section on equine physiology and some cool interactive stuff- touch screens and things. Lots of cultural stuff- samurai saddles, horse armor, and a hilariously un-PC rodeo poster from the 1800s, advertising lady rodeo riders.

Much to my surprise, the last short film in the exhibit, about three individuals and their relationship to horses featured one of my former riding teachers (from when the stable in Manhattan was still open, now doing therapeutic riding in Brooklyn). It made me remember my husband's grumbly comment to me after he met that teacher: "You didn't mention he was such a hunk." Hee hee.

The exhibit runs until January; I highly recommend. It really makes you realize how much of human history has been shaped by our relationship with the horse. The one bummer is that the museum doesn't put out a book about the exhibit. I thought museums used to do that, but I guess not anymore.

lies...ALL LIES!!