So, the other day, I was reading this article about the racehorse Secretariat, you know, the one that won the Triple Crown back in ’73? What blew my mind was this whole thing about his heart. Seriously, this is wild.
I’m not a horse expert or anything, just your average Joe, but this got me curious. The article said that Secretariat’s heart was way bigger than a normal horse’s, like, two and a half times bigger. Can you believe that? I mean, a regular horse’s heart is around 8.5 pounds, but the rumor about Secretariat’s heart, the rumor was that it was 22 pounds!
This got me thinking, how could they even know that? Did they weigh it? So I did what anyone would do – I went down a rabbit hole on the internet. Turns out, they did an autopsy after Secretariat died in 1989. Sad, I know, but that’s when they discovered this incredible heart.
Apparently, the vet who did the autopsy was shocked. He didn’t actually weigh the heart, but he could tell it was massive. He also found the second largest heart was Sham, which is 18 pounds. That’s some serious muscle! I even read a story about this writer, Marianna Haun, who was inspired by Secretariat’s heart size. She wrote a whole book about it! Seems like everyone was fascinated by this.
Digging Deeper
Of course, my search didn’t stop there. I stumbled upon some forum discussions, and you know how those can get. Some folks were saying Secretariat’s heart was because of his mom’s side of the family. Something about a “large heart gene” passed down through the X chromosome. Then there was this other guy in the forum who mentioned Secretariat also had a weird way of running that gave him an extra-long stride, which made him super fast.
Then I found out why they couldn’t just, you know, preserve Secretariat’s body. It’s a sad story, but he got this disease called laminitis, which is really bad for horses’ hooves. He got diagnosed on Labor Day in ’89, and by October, he was gone. Because of the disease and other stuff, preserving him just wasn’t in the cards.
Here’s What I Found
- Size Matters: Secretariat’s heart was rumored to be around 22 pounds, while a normal horse heart is about 8.5 pounds.
- Autopsy Discovery: They found out about the heart size after Secretariat died in 1989 during an autopsy.
- Genetics Maybe?: Some folks think the big heart came from his mom’s side of the family.
- Special Stride: Someone said Secretariat had a unique running style that made him faster.
- Laminitis: This hoof disease is ultimately what led to Secretariat’s death.
Anyway, that’s my deep dive into Secretariat’s heart. It’s crazy how one horse could have such an impact, even after he was gone. It just goes to show you, sometimes the most amazing things come in unexpected packages.