Category: Black Stallion

2nd chapter – Black Stallion contest

Here’s the next chapter. Another book, another question…which book? Where did it come from? Can you find it??

2nd story:

Alec Ramsay sat still and straight in his saddle, seemingly unaware of the thousands of eyes upon him. He wore black racing silks, and beneath his peaked cap the whiteness of his face made a startling contrast to his racing colors and the burly black horse beneath him.

They were third in the parade to the post for the running of the classic Belmont Stakes. Alec wished they had drawn an outside position instead of the number 3 slot. He didn’t like being so near the rail. Henry’s instructions were to hold Satan until the field approached the middle of the backstretch before making his move. It would have been easier to do this from an outside post position.

The parade had passed the clubhouse and was now opposite the grandstand. Alec didn’t have to look to know that it was overflowing with people. The tumultuous roar from the stands took care of that. And he knew their eyes were upon Satan, wondering if the big three-year-old would win the Belmont Stakes, as he had won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, to take his place among the few great horses of the turf who had captured the Triple Crown! They wondered only because of the condition of the track. It was ankle-deep in mud after a heavy morning rain, and the early June sky was still overcast as a fine drizzle fell.

The last remaining doubters of Satan’s greatness asked themselves, “But can he race in the mud? He never has, you know.”

Alec’s hand went to the thick, muscular neck of the colt as Satan sidestepped quickly to the middle of the track. He spoke to him, and the heavy ears swept back at the sound of his voice; then the restlessness left Satan’s giant body and he was back in line as the field continued parading past the stands.

From the pushing, heaving wave of people at the rail, a man shouted, “Hey, Ramsay! You think it’s a horse show?”       the rest of 2nd book chapter (pdf)

 
Send us your answers or questions here on the blog or on the forum.
There are more coming so check back when you can …

You can find all the books and movies at your local library or at; www.theBlackStallion.com.
thanks for reading … and writing!
tim

Cass Ole’ !!

Here’s a great magazine article from Western Horseman about the star of The Black Stallion film, Cass Ole’. He was one fantastic black Arabian stallion who had exceptional training from Hollywood legend cowboy Corky Randall and became quite a STAR in his own right. There were amazing stunt horses and “trick horses”, quarter horse and others, to help make the impossible – possible, but that Cass Ole’, he was something else.
To honor Cass Ole’ we’ve put the Bucephalus on sale … something to bring you a little luck as you sail on the Drake towards your own adventures! We’ll be adding more articles, some that you may never have seen, and even a whole new section with magazines and Stallion history from all over the world. Check back again soon!

Enjoy the ride – Tim Farley

for the rest of the story click here (pdf) western horseman

“The Black Stallion” at the New York Film Festival


NYFF17: Family Matinee of “The Black Stallion”
Posted by Jeffrey Bloomer on 2.17.2012

The quintessential tale of a boy and his horse, The Black Stallion screens Saturday at 11am in a special 50 Years of the New York Film Festival family matinee at the Walter Reade Theater.
Although now widely regarded as a classic, The Black Stallion came to NYFF in 1979 with an uncertain future; United Artists, its distributor, didn’t show much interest in it. But after it screened at the festival, positive notices started to roll in, and it went on to a leggy box office run and two Academy Award nominations (though, puzzlingly, not one for its spectacular cinematography). Roger Ebert named the film the best of 1980, and Pauline Kael wrote it was “proof that even children who have grown up with television and may never have been exposed to a good movie can respond to the real thing when they see it.”
Based on the first of a long series of books by Walter Farley, the film picturesquely chronicles the relationship between a boy and his iconic stallion, initially after they are shipwrecked on an island together and eventually on the racetrack. The simple story resonated profoundly enough to inspire a sequel, prequel, television adaptation and myriad imitators in the years that followed.
Come see a magnificent 35mm print this weekend, with tickets just $6 for kids (children 4-12 should be occupied by an adult). And don’t forget to check out our ongoing Family Films series, with daily screenings throughout the February school break and more titles coming soon.
Below is a full list of all the films that played alongside The Black Stallion at the NYFF in 1979:
Luna
Bernardo Bertolucci, Italy/USA, 1979
The Golden Coach
Jean Renoir, Italy/ France, 1953
The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie
Chuck Jones, USA, 1979

Black Jack
Ken Loach, UK, 1979
WIse Blood
John Houston, USA, 1979

Short Memory (La Memoire Courte)
Eduardo de Gregorio, France/Belgium, 1979
Angi Vera
Pál Gabor, Hungary, 1979

Nosferatu, The Vampyre
Werner Herzog, West Germany/USA, 1978
Mad Wednesday
Preston Sturges, USA, 1950
Scarface
Howard Hawks, USA, 1932
The Europeans
James Ivory, UK, 1979

Molière
Ariane Mnouchkine, France, 1978

Best Boy
Ira Wohl, USA, 1979
Other People’s Money (L’argent des autres)
Christian de Chalonge, France, 1978
Alexandria… Why? (Askandrie…Lie?)
Youssef Chahine, Egypt/Algeria, 1978
My Brilliant Career
Gill Armstrong, Australia, 1979

Primal Fear (Mourir à tue-tête)
Jan-Marie Martell Canada, 1978

In a Year of 13 Moons (In einem jahr mit 13 monden)
Rainer Werner Fassbinder, West Germany, 1979

Without Anesthesia
Andrzej Wajda, Poland, 1978
The Wobblies
Stewart Bird and Deborah Shaffer, USA, 1979
The Young Girls of Wilko (Panny z Wilka)
Andrzej Wajda, Poland/France, 1979
Peeping Tom
Michael Powell, UK, 1959
The Marriage of Maria Braun
Rauber Wrber Fassvubder, West Germany, 1978
SPECIAL EVENT: AMERICAN INDEPENDENTS
Film shown were: The Cold World, Shirley Clarke; Heartland, Richard Pearce; Trash, Paul Morissey; Ice, Robert Kramer; Glen and Randa, Jim McBride; Alambrista (The Illegal), Robert M.Young; Badlands, Terence Malick; Gal Yung Un, Victor Nuñez; Killer’s Kiss & The Brig, Stanley Kubrick; Bush Mania, Haile Gerima; Crazy Quilt, John Korty; Northern Lights, Jon Hanson and Rob Nilsson; Sweet Sweetbck’s Badasssss Song, Melvin Van Peebles; Scenic Route, Mark Rappaport.

Black Stallion Audio Books!

When the steamer Drake is shipwrecked off the Spanish coast, only two passengers survive. One is Alec Ramsay, a young American boy. The other is the Black Stallion, the wildest of all wild creatures. Stranded together on a desert island, boy and stallion develop a deep and wonderful understanding. The Black Stallion is the horse Alec has always dreamed of – beautiful, free-spirited, and astonishingly strong. Alec is determined to tame him and bring him home to New York. But the job turns out to be more difficult and dangerous that he ever thought possible, for a wild Arabian stallion will not settle down easily into the quiet American countryside. Generations have been captivated by Walter Farley’s heartwarming story of the extraordinary horse and the boy who loves him. To this day, The Black Stallion remains one of the best-loved books of children around the world and a classic of children’s literature. ©1941 Walter Farley

Buy, download and listen to “The Black Stallion” audio book, unabridged, at Audible Audiobooks.

Story by: Walter Farley
Narrated by: Frank Muller
Running time: 5h 9min

Click here