In Search of Pegasus
The horse is perhaps the most highly-prized of domestic animals. Today its usefulness has faded, but more effort and money is spent on trying to produce a perfect specimen than ever before.
Perfection has meant different things. Three hundred years ago it was the elegant movements and spectacular leaps still practised today by the Cadre Noir in France, quite different from the skills required from the shire horse of the modern brewery. However, for most people perfection tends to mean speed. Mill Reef, Derby winner and sire of Derby winners, is considered to be one of the best horses in the world. He is now at the National Stud and is worth six million pounds.
Could a better horse be produced? Science can undoubtedly help, but human judgment is considered more important.
Narrator RAY MOORE
Film editor DAVID WOODWARD Editor SIMON CAMPBELL-JONES
Producer CHRISTOPHER LA FONTAINE