by Charity Nicole Robertson

Created on: June 20, 2010   Last Updated: October 10, 2010

Many people think of the Great Depression as something horrible and for many it was, but during that time period a crooked legged horse came into the picture. He was a grandson of the great Man O War, though if you could have seen him, you might have wondered where all of the beauty in the family ran off to. This ungainly colt was named Seabiscuit and he had a rough start in life, but went on to become a legend and to earn more media attention then Hitler.

Those who were close to Seabiscuit thought of him as extremely lazy, because he loved to sleep several hours at a time. His first trainer,Sunny Jim Fitzimmons, just couldn't get him to run his best and during his two year old season he ran thirty-five times which is more races than most horses run in a lifetime. In those thirty-five races, he only won five and came in second seven times, which is a pitiful record.

Finally, Seabiscuit's owners and trainer got tired of him because he got to the point you couldn't get around him. Every time someone went near him, he would lunge at them. So, his owners decided to sell him for 7,500 dollars and Charles S. Howard, who worked in the automobile business, was the lucky one to buy him, though he didn't know that at the present. 

Now, Seabiscuit had a new trainer, Tom Smith, who understood him and began to rehabilitate him. At this time Seabiscuit was two hundred pounds under weight and had little desire to eat. Smith placed him in a large roomy stall and moved in a calm horse for company. Soon, a stray dog made his home with Seabiscuit and the farm's monkey also decided that he was pretty special, and spent most of his time around Seabiscuit's stall.

Smith's main preoccupation was Seabiscuits' need for a good jockey. Red Pollard was the young man he chose and with his help, Seabiscuit began running with all his heart. In his first race he ran unimpressively and in his next eight races he won a few, but without any real results.

His last two races that season began showing people a little of what was to come in the future. Tom Smith began aiming him towards the Santa Anita Handicap, which was one of the most important and highest earning races during that time. Seabiscuit ran awesomely, but he was badly bumped outside of the starting gate and sadly lost by a nose.

From there he began pulling in the wins and practically nobody could beat him. As, a four year old, Seabiscuit won eleven out of fifteen races and was considered the highest

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