GirlsHorseClub.com Blog » DVD and TV

Seabiscuit: A Long Shot Becomes a Legend

GHC — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 15:18:52 +0000

by Madelaina, age 12

After watching this heart-warming story of such a magnificent horse I decided to dedicate this blog to the movie, and ease off all those goosebumps on my arms!

The film is based on the award-winning book by Laura Hillenbrand and tells the true story of Seabiscuit, a bay stallion sired by Hard Tack, and with his grandsire being Man o’ War he had a lot to live up to. But at first this young colt seemed hopeless in races. He lacked the feistiness of his ancestors and was mistreated, turning him into a dangerous mess. However, Charles S. Howard discovered him one day and was determined to turn him into the fine horse he was to become.

He recruited his crew one by one, discovering Tom Smith and asking him to be the trainer. He later found John “Red” Pollard while he was hot walking a horse. Soon, through hard work, racing at the top of the game, scolding, and crippled legs, John and Seabiscuit managed to pull it off in the end, riding to victory. As I followed every scene I could feel the wind blowing, the butterflies in my stomach and the shouting in my mind. I felt like I was racing as well.

“You know, everybody thinks we found this broken-down horse and fixed him, but we didn’t. He fixed us, every one of us. And I guess, in a way, we kind of fixed each other too.”

~~Dialog from Seabiscuit spoken by Toby Maguire who played the character of Red Pollard

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Heartland on TV!

GHC — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 14:24:59 +0000

by Cassie, age 11

A great horse series for any older horse girl, Heartland by Lauren Brooke has become one of my favourite horse series. Recently while surfing channels I made an awesome discovery — Heartland is going cable in Canada!

Heartland is a horse sanctuary that Amy Flemming’s mom opened. After a tragic accident, Amy fights to save her beloved home, taking every risk she needs to. Amy uses methods such as herbal oils and TTouch to mend the broken spirit of horses.

Heartland is a great series and now that it’s going cable you don’t want to miss it! Check out the official Heartland TV Site at CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) to see times and dates.

GHC NOTE: Although the Heartland TV site appears to offer full episodes for online viewing, we were unable to get that feature to work. Hopefully you have better luck — it would be great to watch this show online from anywhere in the world!

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Behind-the-Scenes: Women in American Horse Racing

LeadMare — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 13:27:13 +0000

At the end of May we previewed a new documentary titled Women in American Horse Racing that chronicles the history of women in this male-dominated sport and talks about their impact on the industry. We know you like to hear what inspires the work of other writers and artists, so we asked the creators, John and Sandy Ronan of American Storyboard, to tell us a bit about what happened behind-the-scenes to inspire and motivate their incredible effort.

Sandy and I were sitting one afternoon talking about horses and racing because we had recently been to Saratoga. Both of us have always loved horses and horse racing, and Sandy had horses when she was a child in Pennsylvania. We were talking with enthusiasm and a little nostalgia because the summer meet at Saratoga was over. Later that night, we were on another topic: movies. Our non-profit, American Storyboard, had done a movie on an historic schooner in Gloucester, MA, and we were looking for a new documentary topic. Somewhere in that second talk — BINGO! — we thought of linking racing to a new movie. That simple idea, almost three years ago, was the moment we began.

The next step was to narrow the topic down. Many movies had been made on racing and we didn’t have the urge to repeat that work or the money to imitate it. We needed a topic of interest that would not be a duplication of earlier work. I don’t remember the details, but because my wife is a social worker and concerned with working women, and because I have taught many years and have been concerned with students (a majority of whom are women) getting jobs, we hit on the topic of women in racing. A little research showed that almost nothing visual had been done on women in the sport of racing! This documentary needed to be made. We were off and running.

In the process, we met many wonderful people in all occupations at racetracks: jockeys, executives, outriders, grooms, and others. All of them impressed us with their genuine love for horses and love for racing. As one women says in an interview, “It’s not really a job. It’s a passion.” These people were happy at their jobs. Most of them were not getting rich and had little chance of being part of a Kentucky Derby or Breeders Cup victory. That made no difference to them. They liked being around and caring for horses and most had begun their careers very early. They had fallen in love with horses at five or six and starting training or riding shortly after.

We are happy to give some recognition to the women who are changing the racing business in a big way, but so far have gotten little recognition. It’s a start!

~~John and Sandy Ronan

We know some of you dream of working and effecting positive change in the horse racing industry. If you have questions for John and Sandy, feel free to ask and hopefully they will have time to respond.

Also, we have a copy of the DVD kindly donated by American Storyboard. If anyone is interested in writing a review, please use the “Contact” link at the bottom of the page to let us know. With permission from a parent (if you’re underage), we can mail the DVD and it’s yours to keep in exchange for writing an unbiased review.

NOTE: Unfortunately the DVD won’t work everywhere in the world, so you need to live in the US, Canada or someplace where you can view a DVD in NTSC format. If you’re not sure, check out this map (green = NTSC).

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REVIEW: Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

GHC — Wed, 30 May 2007 13:23:46 +0000

Author: Anna Sewell
Title: Black Beauty
Category: Books, DVD
Genre: Fiction

Our Rating:

Reviewed by Animalsrkool, age 12

I expect most of you horse gals have either read Black Beauty or seen the movie. It’s an amazing book, written by a woman who believed in what she was writing. The movie is quite different from the book, as is often the case.

Anna Sewell wrote Black Beauty, one of the best-loved animal stories ever. This book, written about 130 years ago, changed the way people saw and treated animals, especially horses, forever.

Black Beauty tells the story of a strong and sweet-natured horse and his many owners, of varying levels. It also tells of his friends and a small part of their lives. A lady called Ann Lindo was so shocked and upset by this story that she started a rest home for equines. It’s first resident was a overworked cab horse, like Black Beauty himself. This home is still helping equines today. You might have heard of it — it’s called The Horse Trust in London, England.

If you’ve not read or seen Black Beauty yet, I think you should do so as soon as possible.

Editor’s Note: The story of Black Beauty, originally published in 1877, is now in the public domain, which means no one owns the original text so it can be freely distributed.

Click here to read the FREE Black Beauty e-book!

If you prefer a hard copy, you should be able to find Black Beauty at your local library.

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PREVIEW: Women in American Horse Racing

LeadMare — Sun, 27 May 2007 14:18:46 +0000

The nice people at American Storyboard, the award-winning non-profit film company, sent us this info about their new production Women in American Horse Racing. We have not seen the DVD, but expect to do so next week and will share our impressions. Here’s the blurb:

From jockeys to grooms, and from outriders to executives, Women in American Horse Racing shows how talented women are shaping the industry. Produced in Massachusetts, the film draws on interviews with working women and features material from racetracks around the country. It also highlights prominent women of the past, including the legendary trainer, Mary Hirsch, and Hall of Fame star Julie Krone. A special nod is given to Suffolk Downs for its early welcome to women in racing. The documentary will be an important resource on the history of women in sport. Sponsors include Autotote, Inc. and The Daily Racing Form. The film was produced by John and Sandra Ronan, with associate producer Christian Teja. American Storyboard is interested in cooperative promotions with other non-profits concerned with racing or cancer research. We also invite queries from the press and from sales representatives and outlet managers.

If you’re interested in attending the premier event on June 16th, which includes a race with all women jockeys at Suffolk Downs Racetrack in Boston, Massachusetts USA, contact:

John J. Ronan
President, American Storyboard
5r Magnolia Avenue
Gloucester, MA 01930
jronan@northshore.edu
978-525-2022

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