Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Greetings:

Late last year there were a series of posts regarding Frank Hopkins, his
endurance feats, and one of his horses, Hidalgo.  As you may know, Disney
Studios is developing a film based on Hopkins and Hidalgo (there is a still
photo on page B2 in today's Wall Street Journal from the film -- Are all of
the non-paint horses really Arabians?).  I found this link with some more
information on Hidalgo and Hopkins:

  http://www.higherpowered.com/horse_articles/historyphorse.htm

and I've reproduced the relevant part from near the middle of the web page.


Best Regards,

Tom Noll
SW Idaho

______________________

Old-timers like Frank T. Hopkins, probably the greatest long-distance
endurance rider who ever saddled a horse, proved the virtues of the American
mustang many times. A former dispatch rider in the United States Army,
Hopkins developed his endurance-riding ability carrying dispatches for
frontier generals and his horse-handling skill as a specialty rider in the
Buffalo Bill wild-west shows. All in all, Hopkins won more than four hundred
races in the late 1800s, when endurance riding was the rage, and for most of
those rides he was mounted on a mustang.

One of his lengthy rides started at Galveston, Texas, and ended at Rutland,
Vermont. He covered the eighteen hundred miles in thirty-one days and
finished two full weeks ahead of the rider who came in second. Another of
his best performances was made in October, 1893, when he covered
approximately one thousand miles from Kansas City, Missouri, to Chicago,
Illinois. Hopkins was the only man to complete the grueling ride, which he
did in twelve days six hours.

One of the first proponents of the mustang and the Paint Horse, Hopkins
became internationally known not only for setting unbeatable records in
endurance racing but also for the excellent quality of the horses he rode.
His ranch in Wyoming Territory was the home of a number of good western-type
stock horses and one outstanding Paint Horse, Hidalgo. Described as a
cream-and-white Paint Horse, Hidalgo was bred on a Sioux Indian reservation
in South Dakota. Since he came into the world before the days of pedigrees
and family lines, it can only be assumed that he was of "western stockhorse
blood," and was descended from horses brought to this continent by the
Spanish conquistadors. He was known as an American mustang and possessed the
indefatigable endurance typical of the breed. Hopkins obtained the young
Paint from the Sioux about 1882 and owned him until 1890.

At the World's Fair in Paris in l889, Hopkins was approached by Rau
Rasmussen, a freighter who dominated most of the trade from Aden to Gaza, to
enter his Paint Mustang in a three-thousand-mile endurance race across the
Arabian desert. Rasmussen had heard of the American mustangs' hardiness and
asked Hopkins if he would be willing to pit one of his best against prized
Arabian horses. Hopkins accepted the challenge. The desert endurance race
was a true test of a horse's strength and stamina. To be able to complete
the course, a horse must have a healthy constitution, incredible power, a
staunch spirit, strong legs, and sure steps. Beginning in Aden, in southern
Arabia, the course followed the Persian Gulf and then turned inland over the
barren sandy land along the borders of Arabia, Iraq, and Syria.

The contest had been held annually for a thousand years, and in the past had
always been won by an Arab horse. In the words of Anthony A. Amaral, writing
of this famous race:



Slightly over one hundred horses started on the ride from Aden. The great
caravan of skilled Arabian riders rode their most prized mounts. They were
spirited, accustomed to the difficulty of the sands, accustomed to the sun
that sprayed exhausting heat upon them. Even among the mass of mounted
horsemen, Hopkins stood out with parti-colored, 950 pound Hidalgo from the
American plains.

Hopkins held Hidalgo at a steady pace as they made their way through the dry
heat and over sandy soil. The march progressed to the Persian Gulf and up
toward Syria and then along the border of Iraq and Arabia. Each day the
riders started with the sun, following it until they were marching into it.
Horses dropped by the way, some exhausted, some lame. At the end of the
first week, the scarcity of water and the meager diet the horses were forced
to exist upon in the barren country had culled the inadequate horses. The
strung line of riders dwindled daily.

Entering the second week of the grueling trek, Hopkins made his move and
started to pass the other desert riders. In the wake of the sand kicked up
by Hidalgo, treasured Arabian horses of the Bedouins fell farther and
farther behind, while Hidalgo kept to a steady pace.

On the sixty-eighth day of the ride Hopkins rode Hidalgo to the finish
stone, leaving behind him three thousand scorching miles.

The tough Paint Mustang was the winner by thirty-three hours over his
nearest competitor. The only American Paint Horse in the history of Arabian
endurance racing ever to win the historic race, Hidalgo did it, and did it
on merit.

__________





=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp

Ride Long and Ride Safe!!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=