Talk:Blackie (American horse)

Discussion

Although I've not the citation for it, there is a somewhat famous newsreel featuring Blackie swimming across the Golden Gate Channel. Although he is mostly a known in the bay area and surrounds, I would think that he's also famous amongst horse historians (we do make horse historians now, don't we?)

-OrinR 18:17, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

If he swam across the golden gate channel, that would be notable. Standing in one spot every day for 28 years, while mildly remarkable, is not. (grin) Montanabw^(talk) 19:01, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

I've added articles and video of Blackie's swim across the San Francisco Bay in October 1938. Now that's notable! Maddogprod 19:14, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

I'm not sure that's the same Blackie. The swim doesn't show up in the articles I looked at about the Tiburon horse, and he is never referred to as a reace horse, while the swimmer is. However, the horse that stood still is definately "notable," since he received widespread coverage in SF Bay Area daily newspapers, an article in Good Housekeeping, and has had a park, a street, and a creek named after him, plus a book and a statue. (I spent two hours on this the other night and lost it all in a crash, :doh!:) I'll add it again when I can.--Hjal 02:48, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

I wasn't so sure either, in fact I doubted it because I'd never heard that part of it either, but the last paragraph says: " Later, a statue of the horse was erected in Marin County at Blackie's pasture." so unless they're confused, it probably is the same Blackie. I'd love to see your other info when you recover it --

Maddogprod 15:20, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

The Blackie who stood in Blackie's pasture in Tiburon is definitly not the same horse that swam between Marin and San Francisco. If you look at Blackie from Tiburon you'll see he has white "socks": http://www.blackiethehorse.com/blackie.htm but if you look at the film of the swim, that horse is totally black, he doesn't even have the white mark on his forehead that Blackie had. Case closed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Filmemulsion (talk • contribs) 05:20, 16 October 2007 (UTC)

I have done extensive research on this subject, and feel that the case is definitely not closed, but wide-open. Both Blackie the Tiburon horse and Blackie the horse who swam the bay were the exact same age- 12- at the time when Blackie swam across the bay in 1938. Blackie the Tiburon horse is confirmed born in 1926 on his gravemarker, which would make him 12 at the time of the swim. On the old video footage, the narrator says Blackie is 12. Also, the differences in the two horses can be explained by the aging process. The horse who swam the bay does not have a swaybacked condition, while the horse of Tiburon does. Lordosis (or swaybacked condition) is usually caused by aging, or when a horse no longer exercises but gains weight. Thus that could explain the difference in how his back looks. As for the white hair on the bottom of his legs and the white hair spot on his forehead, again, that could simply be a sign of aging. The photos and video footage are taken nearly 20 years apart. And when a horse lives as long as Blackie, it's easy to understand why he would develop some white hair. This is the other side of the argument, thus you can see why the case is not closed but open for debate. Franklomax (talk) 23:26, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

I updated the main page with two working links to local newspapers- the Tri-Valley Herald and the Oakland Tribune. Both of these newspapers identify Blackie as the horse who both swam across the bay and lived and is buried in Blackie's Pasture. It seems that you removed the information about Blackie swimming the bay earlier on your own arbitrary opinion and comparison of photos from different eras, without any references to back up your claims that Blackie is not the horse who swam the bay. To be fair and include your opinion, I stated in the last paragraph that there is a debate regarding whether or not Blackie is 1 horse and not 2 different horses. But it is not fair to arbitrarily remove information about Blackie just on your own opinion. Especially when newspaper reports contradict what you are claiming. Franklomax (talk) 17:53, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

I, for one, find it strange that discussion found its way onto the article page when it should have stayed here, on the discussion page. It stayed there a long time, too, and I feel it obviously goes against WP:NPOV. I'm referring to the following passage:

"White socks and white blazes don't appear as a horse ages, they are born with them and die with them. The Blackie in the film swimming the Golden Gate bears no resemblance to the Blackie that lived out his final years in Tiburon. My guess is that there are lot of black horses and a lot of them were named Blackie for obvious reasons. Here are the websites with the film and photos, you be the judge:[1], [2], [3]."

That is a valid opinion to have, Filmemulsion, but it belongs here, not in the article. Personally, I can't say, as I'm not an expert on horse aging (do we make experts on horse aging?), but I do feel that the existing wording gives this opinion a fair shake. Please be kind and return the favor.

-OrinR (talk) 11:48, 18 December 2008 (UTC)