07/10/2021
My Hooman would say that champions are born, not made...and the apparent making reveals the champion that was always there.
The chestnut foal was born with an ear and eye that were set a full inch higher on the right than they were on the left, resulting in a tendency to tilt his head as though he were in a permanent state of confusion. As a weanling, he was either injured or stricken with a pernicious virus of the spine, leaving him with an unnaturally twisted neck. Either because of the misaligned eyes or because he favoured the neck, Your Host carried himself in an unusual way that was most noticeable when he cantered or galloped. In turn, this oddity earned him a number of unflattering nicknames: âTwister,â âOlâ Sidewinderâ and âThe Freak.
In the San Pasqual Handicap, Your Host went down. The c**t struggled to get up â and kept on struggling until he managed to stand. His exercise rider said: âThere he stood, broken and in horrible pain, but his funny cock-eyed head was up and he whinnied at meâŚ.a faint, desperate sound. It was the first time he had ever asked me for help. I knew he needed me then and I could do nothing but take him by the head and weep. I donât think I ever felt so empty and lost as at that moment.â
The c**t had shattered his shoulder, fracturing the ulna in his upper foreleg in 4 places. The decision was made to do as much as could be done to save Your Host â but this was 1951 and the medical possibilities were very limited.
Veterinarians began the work of trying to save Your Host, while the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) â reflecting the publicâs concern for the popular c**tâs well-being â monitored each and every intervention. Finally, after trying a range of treatments aimed at getting the bone to fuse on its own, the decision was made to bed down Your Host in sand, immobilizing him in an effort to buy time for the fracture to heal. Even though he was a high-strung individual and in great discomfort, Your Host cooperated in a manner that suggested he seemed to understood that he was in a battle for his very life. He didnât struggle and he didnât complain. He just hung in there, grimly. After several weeks spent in this kind of traction, the fracture showed signs of mending.
Once he was on his feet again, the c**t had to learn to live with a right foreleg that was shorter than the left and lacked full mobility when extended.
Your Host turned out to be a very successful sire. His progeny include the stakes winners Miss Todd (1953), Social Climber (1953), Blen Host(1953) and Windy Sands (1957), who got, in turn, the multiple stakes winning champion, Crystal Water (1973). However, Your Host will best be remembered as the sire of one of the greats.. the mighty Kelso (1957).
Your Host died in 1961, leaving the world a splendid son and several other outstanding offspring. Plagued all his life by ridicule, mishap and misfortune, Your Host met every challenge with both grace and dignity. His is a story that must always be remembered, since it represents the essence of what makes thoroughbreds unique and why they fill us with inspiration and awe.
Story from http://thevaulthorseracing.wordpress.com/2011/03/12/shine-on-the-story-of-your-host/
