Finished another free book, and this one seemed much better than the new Affirmed book, which I quit on about 1/3 of the way through. That one isn’t worth the price, but I recommend Crazy Good, the story of Dan Patch. I knew next to nothing about the subject horse, outside of a mention in the Music Man, but this was well written, had no obvious glaring errors like Affirmed, and seemed very thoroughly researched. I’m keeping this one for my horse library instead of trading it back again.
Very interesting to read about some of the horse’s problems, too. He apparently required an extra-wide sulky and pretty major corrective shoeing on his left hind, or he banged it on both the cart and himself when he got going at speed.
Made me wonder, though, how fast harness horses go today? Dan Patch’s best time was 1:55 flat for the mile. Since this was over 100 years ago, I assume they have beaten that. Thoroughbred tracks at least have gotten much better, and I assume harness tracks also have, as well as maintenance of them. But what is a “good” time today? And if it’s still anything close to 1:55, I’m even more impressed with the horse.
Highly recommend this book. A very good read. :yes:
About 15 years ago, those were the open horses!