"Beautiful Jim Key" by Mim Eichler Rivas

I cannot say I was expecting much of anything when beginning my read of Mim Eichler Rivas’ “Beautiful Jim Key”.  Perhaps, in this manner, I shared a piece of the same cynicism that drove the crowds who saw him perform into initial disbelief.  So this was the purported ‘world’s smartest horse.’  So he was touted as being able to read, write, tell time, debate politics, answer questions with distinguishable though, and so forth and so on…

In our own 21^st century of doubt (Jim’s time came at the turn of the last century: 1889-1912), where no one believes anything on the mere tenet of faith alone, and the realm of the impossible is attributed to typical Hollywood-fairytale storytelling, who cares about a horse who could do anything (sans talk) any twelve-year-old boy could?  The whole idea reeked of sideshow phoniness.

Then, as is often the case, when a book is prematurely judged by its cover, I actually began to read the words and discovered a story bigger than any one horse – even a beautiful horse who could think.

In essence, “Beautiful Jim Key” is the story of the progeny to a stolen sheik’s Arabian mare and a famous Hambletonian, searched out by a former slave/home-spun remedy doctor/horse whisperer, who was nursed to a vigorous health by a miracle liniment touted in Doc Bill Key’s medicine shows during the post-Civil War days of the Old West.

The horse exhibits an unusual interest in learning, and is thus taught by the patience and kindness Doc Key came to exemplify.  It is also the theme Albert Rogers, the New York promoter who happens upon the unique act, utilizes to gain access into the bigger venues.  Humane treatment to animals was just in the initial stages at that time.  Various organizations, precursors to today’s SPCA and city Humane Societies, pocketed the cities.  Key, Key, and Rogers helped bring a stronger visual to their message than otherwise known.

Two aspects are important to bring forth when discussing this book, “Beautiful Jim Key”: Rivas’ writing is superb.  Even if one is an extreme horse hater, or an overt cynic who won’t believe anything without the testament of his own eyesight, the writing here will make a believer – much like Jim Key made a believer out of all those non-believers in his day and age – out of anyone

The second reality people should know when entering into reading this extraordinary tale is that it is not just the story of a horse.  This is the story of every person who made “Beautiful Jim Key” into the Arabian Hambletonian Hundred Thousand Dollar Equine Wonder that he was.  Rivas’ delivers in bringing to life these historical characters, making them more than simply words on a page that lead nowhere.  She progresses Jim’s story through the annals of U.S. history, as it unfolded, and shows how every other story is pertinent to his own.  There is no drifting into irrelevant tangents.  She plots a course, maintains it throughout, and delivers to a public a century after “Beautiful Jim Key”, a wonderful book.

Fantastic read.