October, 1929: the American people had to change everything about their daily lives; a
long and relentless recession in the stock market had begun. The Great Depression was detrimental to the United States; people lost jobs, homes, family and had no food. Motivation and hope was lacking, but in a time where horseracing was a large form of entertainment, a horse named Seabiscuit and his team of Red Pollard, Tom Smith and Charles Howard garnered massive amounts of attention because of his underdog aura and ability to defeat the odds.
Seabiscuit was an outsider to the horseracing world: he was small and stubby, had an awkward gait, and was extremely stubborn and lazy. Somehow, despite all of these setbacks, this horse became one of the fastest race horses of all time. He embodied the spirit that people were looking for and was a symbol of hope and encouragement. However, Seabiscuit would not have been able to become the horse he had been without his team. Charles Howard, Red Pollard, Tom Smith, and Seabiscuit all had to rise up. The power of these three men and this horse who could have been so overlooked by the ones in the spotlight, was remarkable.
Charles Howard, a previous car seller, decided to take a completely different path and invest in horses. He had the patience and kindness to work with two men and a horse who were all of lesser quality than he could have afforded. He could have bought the best racehorse, along with the best trainer and best jockey. Instead, he displayed immense kindness by welcoming two men who weren’t welcomed and was patient with a horse that was extremely difficult to deal with. American people who looked into this story were motivated to defeat the depression when they saw his willingness to accept the “lesser” and make them into the best.
This work could not have been done without the patience and extreme talent of trainer Tom Smith, who worked tirelessly to transform Seabiscuit.
Tom Smith and Charles Howard set out on a mission to find the perfect horse. Smith was different than most