Smithsonian Magazine, June 8, 2022
For almost a century, the bones of the renowned racehorse had been kept stored and mostly forgotten in a fourth-floor attic of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.
“Objects like Lexington’s skeleton and the painting of him from the 1850s conjure the past and transport me there,” Brooks says. “It’s the real magic of a place like the Smithsonian and its affiliated museums.
By recognizing and conserving these things—sometimes small, sometimes forgotten or overlooked—we get second and third chances to connect with the past and find meaning there. For me, it is the indispensable scaffolding from which my imagination can soar.”
Source: "The Lost Story of Lexington, the Record-Breaking Thoroughbred, Races Back to Life," Smithsonian Magazine, June 8, 2022
Lexington (from Wikipedia)
Lexington won six of his seven race starts. Perhaps his greatest fame, however, came as the most successful sire of the second half of the 19th century; he was the leading sire in North America 16 times, and broodmare sire of many notable racehorses. Born March 17, 1850, he died July 1, 1875.
Lexington was a bay colt bred by Dr. Elisha Warfield at Warfield's stud farm, The Meadows, near Lexington, Kentucky. Lexington was by the Hall of Fame inductee, Boston (by Timoleon by Sir Archy) from Alice Carneal by Sarpedon.
Lexington stood 15.3 hands (63 inches, 160 cm) and was described as having good conformation though he had a distinctive "moose head" profile. At stud, he developed a willful and somewhat vicious temperament.
Lexington (from Wikipedia)
Under the name of "Darley," Lexington easily won his first two races for Dr. Warfield and his partner, "Burbridge's Harry," a former slave turned well-known horse trainer. Burbridge, being black, was not allowed to enter "Darley" in races in his own name, so the horse ran in Dr. Warfield's name and colors.
He caught the eye of Richard Ten Broeck who asked Dr. Warfield to name his price. "Darley," the son of Boston, was sold in 1853 to Ten Broeck acting on behalf of a syndicate who would rename him Lexington. Affixed to Lexington's pedigree, Dr. Warfield wrote: "The colt was bred by me, as was also his dam, which I now and will ever, own . . . E. Warfield."
A syndicate made up of Richard Ten Broeck, General Abe Buford, Captain Willa Viley, and Junius R. Ward, bought Lexington for $2,500 between heats (or during the running of his race), so tried claiming the purse money when he won. Failing that, he tried to deduct the purse money from the sale price. But Dr. Warfield held out. His new owners immediately sent Lexington to Natchez, Mississippi to train under J. B. Pryor.
Lexington (from Wikipedia)
Lexington raced at ages three and four; although he competed only seven times, many of his races were grueling four-mile events. Lexington won six of his seven races and finished second once.
One of his wins was the Phoenix Hotel Handicap in 1853. On April 2, 1855, at the Metairie race course in New Orleans, he set a record running four miles in 7 minutes, 19 3⁄4 seconds, running against time.
Even with his complex and hard-fought rivalry with the horse Lecomte (also a son of Boston, both born just after Boston died), he was known as the best race horse of his day. His second match with Lecomte on April 14, 1855, was considered one of the greatest matches of the century.
But Lexington had to be retired at the end of 1855 as a result of poor eyesight. His sire, Boston, had also gone blind.
Conservation work in 2010 revealed that Lexington had had a massive facial infection that resulted in his going blind.
Lexington, stud record
Lexington stood for a time at the Nantura Stock Farm of Uncle John Harper in Midway, Kentucky, along with the famous racer and sire, Glencoe. Sold to Robert A. Alexander for $15,000 in 1858, reportedly the then highest price ever paid for an American horse, Lexington was sent to Alexander's Woodburn Stud at Spring Station, Kentucky.
He stood for a price of $100 until 1861, when he first led the sire list, and it was increased to $200.
He stood for a limited public fee of $500, the highest in the country and comparable to the leading English stallions, in 1865 and 1866 before being restricted to private stud duties only.
Called "The Blind Hero of Woodburn," Lexington became the leading sire in North America sixteen times, from 1861 through 1874, and then again in 1876 and 1878.
Lexington's history (1850-1875) (from Horsetalk, August 31, 2010)
During the Civil War, horses were forcibly conscripted from Kentucky Farms to serve as mounts. Lexington, 15 and blind, was hidden to save him from such a fate. He was part of the first group of horses inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1955.
He died July 1, 1875, at Woodburn Farm, and in keeping with his status, was buried in a coffin in front of the stables. In 1878, his owner, A.J. Alexander, through the auspices of Dr. J. M. Toner, donated his bones to the US National Museum. Professor N. A. Ward of Rochester, New York, was asked by the Museum to supervise the disinterment and prepare the skeleton for exhibit. The articulated skeleton was eventually put on exhibit at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, Behring Center.
During his time at the Smithsonian, Lexington was so forgotten that on a fourth-floor attic catwalk of the National Museum of Natural History, he was listed simply as Catalog No. 16020.
Lexington, back in Kentucky
After two decades of negotiations with the Smithsonian, Lexington is now in a permanent display created just for him at the Kentucky Horse Park's International Museum of the Horse, courtesy of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.
When Bill Cooke, director of the International Museum of the Horse, first contacted the Smithsonian requesting the loan of Lexington’s skeleton, the horse was on exhibit in the National Museum of Natural History’s Osteology Hall as a fine example of equus caballus.
“We couldn’t remove a specimen that occupied such a prominent place in the exhibition,” says Linda Gordon, collection manager in the Division of Mammals at the museum.
Lexington, back in Kentucky
In 1999, Lexington traveled across the street to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History where he provided context to the story of the first mass-produced stopwatch that split time into fractions of seconds. When that museum closed for renovations in 2006, Lexington was finally available for loan.
“His place in the Osteology Hall has been filled with a zebra skeleton, so Lexington’s skeleton was cleared for loan requests,” Gordon says. “This was my first big loan to an Affiliate museum, so the staff of Smithsonian Affiliations was very helpful in nudging me and keeping me on track.”
Lexington, back in Kentucky
What appeared to be a simple loan became more challenging as Gordon lined up a conservator, a bracket-making specialist, and a packing and shipping company.
“At first, we thought the armature running through Lexington’s spine was damaging the skull,” Gordon explains. “Our experts examined the bones closely and realized that the damage had occurred during the horse’s lifetime. He had had a massive facial infection that resulted in his going blind.”
Once it was determined that Lexington’s skeleton would not be damaged by further display, Gordon’s team cleaned the bones, made minor repairs, and prepared them for travel.
“Although the skeleton was mounted a long time ago, they did a really good job. The skull is perfectly balanced on the best point for the armature. It’s a lost art — no one does this today,” Gordon says.
Smithsonian Magazine
Scott’s painting of Lexington arrived at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) in a surprising way. The canvas came as part of the bequest from Martha Jackson, a highly influential dealer of abstract art in mid-century America.
As an outlier in Jackson’s collection of works that included paintings by Abstract Expressionists Jackson Pollock and Franz Kline, questions abound as to why she would purchase a 19th-century equestrian portrait.
Thomas J. Scott
Thomas J. Scott was born in Tullytown, PA, (Bucks County) in 1824. His family relocated to Philadelphia where Scott attended Central High School, studying graphics with Rembrandt Peale.
He attended the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, graduating in 1846, and worked as a druggist for a few years, but decided to move to Kentucky and was painting horses by 1856. Scott painted horses for the most important early turfmen in Kentucky including Dr. Elisha Warfield, John M. Clay, James Grinstead, and Major B. G. Thomas.
He learned to draw from Edward Troye, one of the first American painters to specialize in animal subjects. He traveled the US, painting most of the famous racehorses of his day.
After the Civil War, he settled in Tullytown, PA, with his wife and wrote articles for the magazine Turf, Field and Farm.
Note: may also have worked in slaughter house, studied anatomy
Edward Troye
On July 16, 1839, Troye married Corneila Van de Graff of Scott County, Kentucky, and settled in central Kentucky where he lived for the next 35 years. While living in Kentucky, Troye painted portraits and race horses for the local families, working primarily for the Steele and Alexander families, and Alexander "Keene" Richards.
Her also taught French and drawing at Spring Hill College from 1849-1855.
Later he and Richards traveled to the Holy Land where he painted horses, Damascus, Syria cattle, the Dead Sea and the bazaar of Damascus while Richards bought Arabian horses. Bethany College, West Virginia, retains copies of some of these paintings.
In 1869, he moved his family to a 700-acre cotton plantation in Madison County, Alabama. Troye returned to Kentucky and resided at the home of longtime friend Keen Richards until his death from pneumonia on July 25, 1874.
Edward Troy
Troye's best works, between the years 1835 and 1874 (prior to the birth of photography), are true-to-life delineations of historical American Great Plains horses. He painted Southern US pre-American Civil War thoroughbreds.
Little was known of Troye's work in the eastern US until 1912. Since then, more than 300 of his paintings have been found, of which three-fourths have been photographed since 1912.
In addition, he is the author of The Race Horses of America (1867).
George Stubbs, from the National Gallery, London
Classified as a sporting painter, and as such excluded from full membership of the Royal Academy, Stubbs is best remembered for his paintings of horses and his conversation pieces.
Having studied anatomy, his pictures of horses are among the most accurate ever painted, but his work is lyrical and transcends naturalism.
Born in Liverpool, Stubbs was the son of a leather worker, who spent his early career painting portraits and developing his interest in anatomy. In the later 1740s he lived in York and supplied illustrations on midwifery.
Following a brief visit to Rome in 1754, he settled in Lincolnshire, where he researched his major publication, The Anatomy of the Horse. In about 1758 he moved to London, which remained his base.
Early clients for his sporting and racing paintings included many of the noblemen who founded the Jockey Club. Like Gainsborough, he later painted scenes of peasant life, as well as studies of wild and exotic animals. He also became known as a printmaker and for his paintings in enamel on Wedgwood earthenware plaques.
Edwin Landseer (1802-1873)
Sir Edwin Henry Landseer was an English painter and sculptor, well known for his paintings of animals, particularly horses, dogs, and stags. However, his best-known works are the lion sculptures at the base of Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square.
Born in London, the son of the engraver John Landseer, he was something of a prodigy whose artistic talents were recognized early on. He studied under several artists, including his father, and the history painter Benjamin Robert Haydon, who encouraged the young Landseer to perform dissections in order to fully understand animal musculature and skeletal structure.
Landseer's life was entwined with the Royal Academy. At the age of just 13, in 1815, he exhibited works there as an “Honorary Exhibitor.” He was elected an Associate at the minimum age of 24, and an Academician five years later in 1831.
Edwin Landseer
In 1823 Landseer was commissioned to paint a portrait of Georgiana Russell, Duchess of Bedford. Despite her being twenty years older than he was, they began an affair.
He was knighted in 1850, and although elected to be president of the Royal Academy in 1866 he declined the invitation. In his late thirties Landseer suffered what is now believed to be a substantial nervous breakdown, and for the rest of his life was troubled by recurring bouts of melancholy, hypochondria, and depression, often aggravated by alcohol and drug use.[6] In the last few years of his life Landseer's mental stability was problematic, and at the request of his family he was declared insane in July 1872.
Edwin Landseer
Landseer was a notable figure in 19th-century British art, and his works can be found in Tate Britain, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Kenwood House and the Wallace Collection in London. He also collaborated with fellow painter Frederick Richard Lee.
Landseer's popularity in Victorian Britain was considerable, and his reputation as an animal painter was unrivalled. Much of his fame – and his income – was generated by the publication of engravings of his work, many of them by his brother Thomas.
His appeal crossed class boundaries: reproductions of his works were common in middle-class homes, while he was also popular with the aristocracy. Queen Victoria commissioned numerous pictures from the artist. Initially asked to paint various royal pets, he then moved on to portraits of ghillies and gamekeepers.
Edwin Landseer
Then, in the year before her marriage, the queen commissioned a portrait of herself, as a present for Prince Albert. He taught both Victoria and Albert to etch, and made portraits of Victoria's children as babies, usually in the company of a dog. He also made two portraits of Victoria and Albert dressed for costume balls, at which he was a guest himself. One of his last paintings was a life-size equestrian portrait of the Queen, shown at the Royal Academy in 1873, made from earlier sketches.
Landseer was particularly associated with Scotland, which he had first visited in 1824 and the Highlands in particular, which provided the subjects (both human and animal) for many of his important paintings, including illustrations for the Waverley Edition of Sir Walter Scott's novels.
Video of Horse Anatomy
Horse measurement—hand
Used since ancient times, the measurement was originally based on handspan, so quite a lot of variation was possible depending on the culture using it.
In 1540, King Henry VIII standardized the measurement in England as 4 inches, which subsequently spread across the rest of the British Empire over the next several hundred years. This 4-inch standard was widely adopted and is still the preferred unit in the UK, USA, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and Ireland. Metric units are mostly used in other parts of the world, as well as by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports.
Light riding horses are typically 14–16 hands, larger riding horses are 15.2–17 hands, and heavy or draft horses are usually 16–18 hands. Growth can also be influenced by genetics and nutrition.
For comparison, Secretariat stood 16.2 hands . He was noted for being exceptionally well-balanced, described as having "nearly perfect" conformation and stride biomechanics.
Secretariat
Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred racehorse who is the ninth winner of the American Triple Crown, setting and still holding the fastest time record in all three races.
He is regarded as one of the greatest racehorses of all time. He became the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years and his record-breaking victory in the Belmont Stakes, which he won by 31 lengths, is widely regarded as one of the greatest races in history. During his racing career, he won five Eclipse Awards, including Horse of the Year honors at ages two and three.
He was nominated to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1974. In the List of the Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century, Secretariat is second only to Man o' War.
Secretariat
At age three, in 1973, Secretariat not only won the Triple Crown, but he also set speed records in all three races. His time in the Kentucky Derby still stands as the Churchill Downs track record for 1+1⁄4 miles, and his time in the Belmont Stakes stands as the American record for 1+1⁄2 miles on the dirt. [He won by 31 lengths] His controversial time in the Preakness Stakes was eventually recognized as a stakes record in 2012. Secretariat's win in the Gotham Stakes tied the track record for 1 mile, he set a world record in the Marlboro Cup at 1+1⁄8 miles and further proved his versatility by winning two major stakes races on turf.
He lost three times that year: in the Wood Memorial, Whitney, and Woodward Stakes, but the brilliance of his nine wins made him an American icon. He won his second Horse of the Year title, plus Eclipse Awards for champion three-year-old colt and champion turf horse.
Secretariat
Secretariat grew into a massive, powerful horse. Standing 16.2 hands (66 inches, 168 cm) when fully grown, he was noted for being exceptionally well-balanced, described as having "nearly perfect" conformation and stride biomechanics. His chest was so large that he required a custom-made girth, and he was noted for his large, powerful, well-muscled hindquarters. An Australian trainer said of him, "He is incredible, an absolutely perfect horse. I never saw anything like him."
Secretariat's absence of major conformation flaws was important, as horses with well made limbs and feet are less likely to become injured. Secretariat's hindquarters were the main source of his power, with a sloped croup that extended the length of his femur. When in full stride, his hind legs were able to reach far under himself, increasing his drive. His ample girth, long back and well-made neck all contributed to his heart-lung efficiency.
Secretariat
The manner in which Secretariat's body parts fit together determined the efficiency of his stride, which affected his acceleration and endurance. Even very small differences in the length and angles of bones can have a major effect on performance. Secretariat was well put together even as a two-year-old, and by the time he was three, he had further matured in body and smoothed out his gait.
Secretariat's length of stride was considered large even after taking into account his large frame and strong build. While training for the Preakness Stakes, his stride was measured as 24 feet, 11 inches. His powerful hindquarters allowed him to unleash "devastating" speed and because he was so well-muscled and had significant cardiac capacity, he could simply out-gallop competitors at nearly any point in a race.
When he crossed the finish line at the Belmont, he was running 49 mph, and gaining speed. An average Kentucky Derby speed is 39 mph.
Secretariat
His weight before the Gotham Stakes in April 1973 was 1,155 pounds. After completing the grueling Triple Crown, his weight on June 15 had dropped only 24 pounds, to 1,131 pounds. Secretariat was known for his appetite—during his three-year-old campaign, he ate 15 quarts of oats a day—and to keep his muscles in good condition, he needed fast workouts that could have won many a stakes race.
Seth Hancock of Claiborne Farm once said,
"You want to know who Secretariat is in human terms? Just imagine the greatest athlete in the world. The greatest. Now make him six-foot-three, the perfect height. Make him real intelligent and kind. And on top of that, make him the best-lookin' guy ever to come down the pike. He was all those things as a horse."
Secretariat at Belmont
Martha Jackson
Martha Jackson was an American art dealer, gallery owner, and collector. Her New York City based Martha Jackson Gallery, founded in 1953, was groundbreaking in its representation of women and international artists, and in establishing the op art movement.
(née Kellogg; January 17, 1907 – July 4, 1969)
Jackson attended Smith College from 1925 to 1928 where she studied English. She moved to Baltimore during the war where she studied art history at Johns Hopkins and the Baltimore Museum of Art.
In 1949, following her interest in making art, Jackson moved to New York to attend the Hans Hofmann School of Art. Already an art collector, she took Hoffman's advice to become an art dealer, using sales from her personal collections to fund her gallery.
Martha Jackson
In 1953 Jackson opened the Martha Jackson Gallery in a brownstone on East 66th street in Manhattan. In 1955 the gallery moved to East 69th street, where it remained until Jackson's death in 1969.
Working with the assistance of her son, David Anderson, Jackson's gallery was known as an artist-friendly establishment that represented an international roster of artist from the US, England, Holland, France, Spain, Israel, Japan, and Canada.
The gallery was the first in the US to exhibit Gutai, the Japanese postwar collective, and also one of the first to represent women, including Louise Nevelson and Alma Thomas, who became the first African American woman to mount a solo show at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.
Martha Jackson Gallery Poster—Philadelphia Museum of Art
Resources—PBS
The Pack Horse Librarians of Appalachia
NOTE: Book we read, The Giver of Stars, Jojo Moyes
Equus: Story of the Horse, Part 1: Origins
Equus: Story of the Horse, Part 2: Chasing the Wind
Why the Quarter Horse is Built for Speed
American Horses (mustang, appaloosa, Morgan, quarter horse)
How Horses went from Food to Friends
Video interviews
Next Week:
Discussion of
Horse, Geraldine Brooks