The title is a bit misleading because this book ended up being a bit more about Secretariat's groom Eddie Sweat than the horse. But overall it's a very thorough study of both as the author really did his research on Secretariat and the people who surrounded him, most especially his groom who spent more hours of the day with him during his racing years than anyone. I appreciated the perspective on racing grooms who become so attached to their charges they almost feel like their horses are their k More...

Morgan Sawyer
Ms. Emmett
Academic English 10
4 April 2013
“The Horse God Built” by Lawrence Scanlan tells the inspirational story of a young black men living in South Carolina who struggled keeping a job before finding the career that was made for him. Eddie “Shorty” Sweat, Secretariat’s groom, the only two-year-old ever to win horse of the year, the Triple Crown winner in 1973, and the only horse listed on ESPN’s top fifty competitor of the twentieth century; Eddie was an amazing buddy, defender More...

You can debate whether Secretariat or Man o' War was the greatest Thoroughbred of the 20th century for years. That's not what Lawrence Scanlan does in this book. This book is about the relationship of one man and one horse: Edward "Shorty" Sweat and Secretariat.

Eddie Sweat was Secretariat's groom from the time he began racing as a two-year-old until the day Big Red (the horse's nickname) was sent to the paddocks of Claiborne Farm as a stud-horse. Sweat lived and breathed, ate and slept that hors More...

Confession: Secretariat was and is a passion. I suppose one had to be to-the-bone horse mad from birth, and live in that particular time, with high crimes and misdemeanors in the White House, the morass in Vietnam ending as one might expect...and along came a superb, gorgeous horse who did everything he was asked better than any other horse ever had with panache.

This book, while it shares that passion (see the subtitle, World's Greatest Racehorse, which spurs the questions, Man O' War? Eclipse? More...

I liked this book, but not as much as I thought I would.It proported to be a book about the great race horse Secretariat and his groom Eddie Sweat, exploring the great love and deep connection between the two. I f that is what the book truly explored it would have been a fascinating read for me, a HUGE Secretariat fan ever since he won the Kentucky Derby on my 9th birthday.

That is not, in my opinion, what the book ended up being about. The book spent very little time talking about Secretariat, a More...

This writer is amazing, he has taken his time and gone into the real story, behind the scenes, this book is about the truth. Mr. Sweat was a hard worker and a noble man. I am truly enjoying this book, the front cover is beautiful. I was at Claiborne Farm last week and took the tour is was amazing. My cousin Ron Turcotte rode that horse in 1973 and won the Triple Crown, my Mom Donna Culbert and her sister Judie Spraske continue to shine every time we hear Secretariat's name because we are so prou More...

This book isn't really well written but I"m enjoying the story only because Secretariat is such an amazing animal.
I think only horse people would have interest in this one as it's not particularly well written.

Scanlan focuses on the bond between Secretariat his groom, Eddie "Shorty" Sweat and how necessary Eddie was to Secretariat's success on the track. In focusing on Eddie Sweat, Scanlan brings attention to the grooms, hot walkers and exercise riders of the backstretch who more often than not go unrewarded and ignored.

The book sometimes feels disjointed, but despite this flaw, Scanlan writes about Eddie and Secretariat with warmth and passion. If you simply want a book about Secretariat, this isn't More...

Despite the book's title, it is NOT a biography of Secretariat or his groom.

Scanlan presents a view of thoroughbred racing, focusing more on the business end. The book is inspired by Secretariat, but the horse is not dealt with in great depth, outside of memories. This book is more in the way of Searching for Schindler.

This isn't to say the book is bad; it's not. Scanlan writes well and the stories are interesting. At times the editing could be tighter. If, however, you like horses and/or TB ra More...

This is a neat biography of sorts. Scanlan sets out to write a book about the greatest thoroughbred racehorse in history, Triple Crown winner Secretariat, but ends up focusing on the life and role of his groom, Edward "Shorty" Sweat. Scanlan admits to being surprised himself that the book turned out that way, but the story of the unsung heros of the track, being the grooms, was integral to the story of the great horse himself. I particularly enjoyed Scanlan's background story about the journey h More...

This book was ok, it wasn't really what I wanted to read. I wanted to the story of Secretariat running for the triple crown and the issues that the people around him faced during this run.

This book basically says in long drawn out or repetitive descriptions that Secretariat was a great horse and Eddie Sweat was a great groom. Some parts of the book you even forgot you were reading about Secretariat because it would go off and talk about some other horse altogether.

It was still an enjoyable boo More...

Raymond Woolfe has written the definitive book on Secretariat, but Scanlan uncovers the untold side of the great horse's story with his examination of his relationship with his groom, Eddie "Shorty" Sweat. (The key is not to let the book's title mislead you; the phrase "The horse God built" is used in the book as a description of the horse, that's all.)

Though a bit scattered and jerky at times in its narrative, Scanlan writes with such feeling that it's easy to forgive him for not being Laura Hi More...

So far, it's been OKAY. I'd rather read about the horse than about the groom. The two other racehorse books I read, Seabiscuit and Man O'War are excellent in comparison. I couldn't put them down. This one I can put down...but we'll see...the verdict is still out...

Just one day later and I've completed a 180. This book, once I stopped having expectations of it being a tale of Secretariat and stopped being disappointed at it not being a tale of Secretariat, opened my eyes to the author's purpose o More...

Not well written. I kept reading hoping to read more about Secretariat and didn't. Read some other reviews and realized I wouldn't. So have quit. Completely fine with reading about Eddie Sweat, but there isn't enough there either. The author's decision to write it in first person is odd. Do we care about him? I certainly don't. There's a line that ends ". . . the bronze is cold. Cold comfort." Yikes.

This book is about an unusual side of horse racing, the relationship between the horse and the groom. Secretariat won the 1973 Triple Crown (Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes). Many books have been written about him, about his breeder, his owner, his jockey, and his amazing racing career. But nothing has ever been written about Eddie Sweat, Secretariat's groom. Eddie Sweat loved, nurtured, fed, bathed, protected, and nursed Secretariat. It is an interesting question to ask, "how much More...

This Book was more about the groom than it was about Secretariat. And he isn't what I was interested in. It was about the conditions the grooms have to live in when they are with the horse but that's not what I was looking for.

I bought this book a year ago, and only after the Kentucky Derby did I decide it was time to pick it up. I'm a huge Thoroughbred racing enthusiast, and after such a great Derby I figured I should read about arguably the greatest racehorse of all time.

I really loved this book. It wasn't Seabiscuit by any means, but I learned a lot about Secretariat and his groom Eddie Sweat. You so rarely think about the grooms and their contribution to the sport, but they're so important. I thought this was a to More...

For some reason I thought this book was written by someone who knew Secretariat. It actually was not--the author researched the great horse and wrote about the people who knew him. The author repeats himself and lacks focus on his central theme of the relationship between the horse and his groom. I enjoyed skimming it but do not recommend it.

I loved this book. I read it before the movie came out and was so pleased to read of the character and heart of this true champion. I highly recommend this book. It made me laugh and made me cry.

What a fresh and lovely look at a well known racing legend. I loved the spin on this tale -- the unsung hero in Secretariat's life. Uplifting, well written, and suitably nostalgic, this book made me want to (and force my husband into watching along with me) look up and watch the famous Belmont win -- still impressive after all these years. Teamed up with the movie that's out now... I think you could reignite the fever for the horse that it seems that God perfected.

I read this book a couple of years ago and loved it! It was a wonderful book about the horse, of course, but also about the groom who cared for him.

A little disjointed, but a good account of the plight of grooms and backstretch workers.

I love that race horse. He is the fastest there was, is, and will be. <3 Secretariat

Shows a shocking side to the relationship of Secretariat and Eddie Sweat.

very good. not just about the horse but about the people around the horse.

heartwarming, funny, beautiful book excellant, I loved it.

I thought I would love this book, I didn't. I got 17% through with it according to my kindle and hated it! I am not sure if it got better from then but I abandoned it. I love Secretariat, but I did not like this book. But, I did like all the WI refrences and when it talked about Arlington track because I have been there :)

Much more interesting than the Bill Nack book bio of the same horse, this story centers more on the people around Secretariat as well as the lesser-known stories of him and the racetrack world in general. Focused especially on Eddie Sweat, Secretariat's groom, it paints a picture of the backside of the track that's both sad and uplifting. Recommended for horse nuts; non-horse people will be bored.

This book was okay. If you are getting this book to read about Secretariat - get a different book. I was wanting to read about Secretariat so i was a little disappointed and so it took me a long time to get through it.

Lawrence should titled this one "The Lives of the People that anything to do with The Horse God Built and My Trips to Visit Them"

This book was a bit more meandering than my liking. The idea of exploring the relationship between Secretariat and his African American handler was original and interesting. Unfortunately, most of the book was filled with various rabbit trails. The book does emphasize the importance of love in any relationship, even of the horse-human kind.