Houyhnhnms?

Lemuel Gulliver, a great traveler, once came upon a nation of horses called Houyhnhnms (pronounced, with a whinny, who-in-ums), who were gifted with sound reason and a noble spirit, and ruled benevolently over an unprepossessing tribe of humans called yahoos. A British stable owner named Frank Coton felt he had a near-Houyhnhnm in his eight-year-old gelding, Black Diamond. One day last week, he led Black Diamond clopping into a Nottingham movie theater (which had been cleared of yahoos); the horse, perspiring heavily, watched as a newsreel of 1952's Grand National Steeplechase was run off twice.

Coton's theory: "If humans can be educated by watching films, can't horses too? I think so. Who knows? He might feel like imitating Teal [this year's Grand National winner] after he's seen it." But Black Diamond was not Houyhnhnmly enough. In South Nottingham's Point-to-Point Steeplechase on Easter Monday, Black Diamond placed fifth.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.