Champion Hansen deserves better
Updated: February 7, 2012, 12:36 PM ET
By Paul Moran
Special to ESPN.com
(excerpts)
This is about silliness, the ill-considered stripping of dignity from a proud animal by an owner in the earliest rapture of Derby fever, a mighty [
] struck on behalf of tastelessness, an affront to the breed. And it's only February. Most of these horses will be exposed between now and early May. Some will be embarrassed. Only one, however, will be embarrassed in a manner never before seen -- or for that matter imagined -- in thoroughbred racing.
This is about plans for Hansen; not his connections' racing or training plans, but a plan so bizarre that it tests the gag reflex and may in some states qualify as a misdemeanor.
Hansen, champion 2-year-old of 2011, Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner, is about to become a circus horse.
Hansen, unaware that he will soon to be turned into a sideshow, may not be a horse of a different color but he is indeed a horse of a color rare in young thoroughbreds -- technically grey or roan but in fact almost-white, more typical of a much older grey. He is a striking animal of considerable talent and, left alone, unmistakable charisma. That is the good news.
The bad news is that Dr. Kendall Hansen, the breeder and majority owner, has decided that it is a good idea to color this colt's mane and tail on race days, announcing this jaw-dropping lapse in judgment last weekend in a blog post.
In his next race, Hansen will have a bright blue tail and blue-and-yellow mane to match the owner's silks. Subsequently, Dr. Hansen proposes leaving the decision on color scheme to the colt's fans. "If this is as fun and popular as I hope it will be," Hansen writes, " … perhaps for the Kentucky Derby we will let fans choose the color."
Why stop there?
Feathers in the mane, brightly colored of course (make sure they don't clash), would make a fashion statement. Or, why stop there? A Mohawk? Advertising? Go Daddy.com perhaps? Paint him like a stock car. Piercings? Why stop short of being comprehensively ridiculous?
Hansen, the human, and his partners are entitled to color their horse in any scheme they chose. Taste is not a requirement of licensing in any state.
The thoroughbred is a proud breed, the aristocrat of equus caballus, capable of stirring deeply the human soul. The carousel horse is painted in bright colors and travels short distances in tight circles. The former, the product of centuries of genetic study, is coddled, trained and ridden by hard-working dedicated humans with deep appreciation and respect for the animal. The latter is more closely associated with children and clowns.
Someone with influence should impress upon Hansen, the human, that Hansen, the horse, needs nothing less than having his tail and mane artificially colored. Grey is a color. Alteration serves no serious purpose, is -- really -- disrespectful and only denigrates the animal's -- and owner's -- image.
Hansen, the human, apparently believes that exterior decoration of his horse may be fun.
Fun in racing involves winning and a horse of Hansen's ability has the potential to provide many occasions for celebration even with his tail and mane left pristine. Unadulterated, Hansen, if he continues to win important races, will accumulate many fans. His coloring, untouched, is attractive. The cadre of fans will grow in lockstep with his advance toward the Derby. A win on May 6 at Churchill Downs, even if completely white, would propel him to wild popularity. With the exception of providing fodder for an insipid television sidebar somewhere along the road to Louisville, a colored tale and mane will do nothing to serve Hansen's interests and image or that of the sport.
Hansen, the human, and his partners are entitled to color their horse in any scheme they chose. Taste is not a requirement of licensing in any state. But one of racing's great underpinnings is tradition, of which there is far too little consideration nowadays, and thoroughbreds come in a narrow range of color -- bay, dark-bay or brown, chestnut and grey or roan. What nature has determined appropriate after centuries of selective breeding should remain held safe from human whim gone terribly awry.
