Horse by Geraldine Brooks

A Book Not Just About Race Horses, but About Race

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Horse has two overlapping storylines. One is set in Washington D.C. in 2019. The other is set in Lexington, Kentucky in 1850. The modern-day story features a Black PhD student, Theo, who is studying art history. In helping an elderly female neighbor haul junk to the curb – the junk has a sign that says FREE STUFF – he encounters two things: a bit of racism in her reaction to him and also an interesting equestrian painting, possibly from the nineteenth century, right there in the heap.

The modern-day story also features an Australian woman named Jess who manages the vertebrate Osteology Prep Lab at the Smithsonian. (Osteology is defined as the branch of anatomy dealing with bones.) She is called upon to locate the skeleton of a horse for another scientist, Catherine, who is studying great thoroughbred racehorses – whose skeletons still exist – to see what bone structure allows horses to run fast while avoiding injury. Thus, Jess learns that the Smithsonian’s attic is in possession of the “articulated” skeleton of the greatest racing stallion in American history, Lexington.

Early on in the novel, Theo and Jess meet. Thinking he might be able to earn a few bucks by writing about his find – How to figure out if there’s any value to a painting you’ve plucked from the trash – he turns to an editor he has worked with at Smithsonian magazine. Of course, the subject of his equestrian painting is Lexington, and of course while hanging around the Smithsonian, he meets Jess, and of course – as he would expect – he encounters a bit of racism in their first not-so-cute-meet.

The second storyline gives the history of Lexington starting with his birth in 1850. His trainer was a Black man, Harry Lewis. Harry’s expertise with horses allowed him to amass the funds to buy himself out of slavery. His son Jarrett, however, was still enslaved. (Jarrett is a fictional character while Harry Lewis is an historical figure.) Jarrett was thirteen when Lexington entered the world. And Lexington became his world.

Another main character enters the tale when Dr. Warfield – who owns Lexington and Jarrett – brings in Thomas J. Scott to create paintings of the horses at his farm. Jarrett becomes Scott’s very able assistant, a relationship that continues through the years.

Over time, as Lexington was sold to new owners, so was Jarrett. He was Warfield’s Jarrett, then Ten Broeck’s Jarrett, and then Alexander’s Jarrett. Not until the very end does he become his own man, Jarrett Lewis. Through it all, the reader learns about the treatment of the Black people who were so important to the sport as grooms, trainers, and jockeys. And of course, we learn all about horses, horse racing, and the amazing career of Lexington.

In her “Afterword,” the author sums the book up perfectly when she says it is not just about race horses, but about race. And trust me when I say she is not just talking about race issues in the time of the Civil War, but also in present day America.

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More from the author’s Afterword:

• These details about Lexington’s racing career and years as a stud sire are true: He covered 960 mares, resulting in 575 foals. Many of these foals went on to be outstanding champions, four of them winning the Belmont Stakes and three winning the Preakness – Preakness himself was a Lexington foal.
• Lexington’s skeleton was hidden away in the attic of the Smithsonian before being loaned to the International Museum of the Horse in 2010.
• The artwork of Thomas J. Scott was rediscovered when an employee at the University of Kentucky, Gordon Burnett, rescued a discarded painting from a neighbor’s curbside throwaways.

A brief afterword from me:

Click here to see…

• A photo of Lexington’s articulated skeleton on display at the International Museum of the Horse in Lexington, Kentucky.
• And a photo of Thomas J. Scott’s 1888 painting, “Portrait of Lexington,” which is a gift to the Smithsonian American Art Museum from Mr. and Mrs. David K. Anderson, from the Martha Jackson Memorial Collection.

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Click here to learn more about Horse on Amazon.

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If you like my writing, I hope you will check out my new book, Chai on Life. “Chai” is a mystical word in Hebrew. It is pronounced “high” making this book High on Life with a Jewish slant. It is available wherever books are sold including Amazon.