Takeaways
- “Casey’s Shadow” is a 1950s movie about a down-on-his-luck Quarter Horse trainer from the Louisiana backcountry who wants to move into the big leagues.
- Help the American Farriers Journal staff in compiling a list of farriers’ “Top 10” favorite equine movies.
- A New Mexico farrier made up his mind before Burney Chapman ever took the necessary Horseshoer’s Union test that he was going to get a passing grade.
A few weeks ago, my son Mike and I watched the 1978 movie Casey’s Shadow during our regular Wednesday evening movie night. If you’ve never seen this movie, it’s the tale of a Quarter Horse running in the Labor Day weekend All-American Futurity at New Mexico’s Ruidoso Downs.
The story is the fictional tale of a down-on-his-luck Quarter Horse trainer from the backroads of Louisiana who wants to go big time. Played by veteran Hollywood actor Walter Matheau, trainer Lloyd Bourdelle dreams of winning the prestigious All-American Futurity.
Trainer & Client Furious
Bourdelle sends one of his three sons, Buddy, to an auction to buy a racing Quarter Horse. Instead, Buddy comes home with an old Quarter Horse broodmare which infuriated both the trainer and his biggest client who thought he was going to get a runner. Soon after, they learn the broodmare had accidentally been bred to a top Quarter Horse stallion called Sure Hit. The mare gives birth to a colt that was named “Casey’s Shadow” after one of the trainer’s other sons.
I don’t want to spoil the movie for you, but the colt goes on to run at Ruidoso soon after the trainer turned down a huge offer for the horse.
So what’s the hoof-and-leg angle in the movie? Well, after the race, “Casey’s Shadow” pulls up lame, and the vets want to put the horse down. But trainer Bourdelle uses his track winnings to have the vets mend the horse’s legs.
Again, I’d urge you to watch this classic movie with your family. It is a good one.
We’re pulling together a list of the best horse movies enjoyed by farriers…
Share Your Favorites
Watching this nearly 50-year-old movie inspired me to pull together a “Top 10” list of the best horse movies as rated by farriers and their family members.
So, please take a few minutes to let me know what you and your family consider to be your five favorite equine movies. Maybe the movies are Secretariat, Seabiscuit, Black Beauty, War Horse, or one or more not so famous equine movies that caught your eye.
From your responses, we’ll pull a movie list together and ask farriers to vote for their favorite movies.
Before October 15, please send along a list of your family’s five all-time favorite horse movies to me at lessitef@lessitermedia.com. All we need is the names of your favorites — nothing else.
This is a great opportunity to get the whole family involved in helping pick your top horse movies. I look forward to seeing your list of movie favorites.
Burney Chapman & the Horseshoer’s Union Test
Since the Ruidoso racetrack plays a key part in Casey’s Shadow, I’m sharing an item from the America Farriers Journal archives.
Years ago, my wife and I spent the Labor Day weekend at the All-American Futurity at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico. At that time, this quarter miler was the richest horse race in the world.
During the time Pam and I were in Ruidoso, I spent a “Shoeing For a Living” day with Jody Roberts, a shoer from Capitan, N.M., who shod at Ruidoso Downs.
He told me long-time Lubbock, Texas, shoer Burney Chapman, who reinvented the heart bar shoe for laminitic horses, was involved in one of Roberts most embarrassing moments as a farrier. As it turned out, it was much more of a problem for Roberts than for Chapman.
“Burney and his son, Baker, came to the Ruidoso track to work on a laminitic horse, but the shoer’s union wouldn’t let him work on the grounds until he took the union test,” he recalls. “They assigned me to determine whether he passed or not. Burney was so much more talented than I was that I was totally embarrassed.
“However, I’d made up my mind before Burney ever took the test that he was going to get a passing grade.”
