Welcome to our link roundup, where we share our favorite stories from around the Internet! Know a link that should be included? Email it to americasbestracing@gmail.com!

In wonderful news, the recently concluded Marylou Whitney Collection, an online auction of the late philanthropist and Thoroughbred owner’s partial estate, raised over $400,000 for backstretch workers at Saratoga. (Albany Times-Union)

This is a beautiful essay on the nature of horses as prey animals, and a woman who found strength to heal because of that connection. (New York Times)

Horses and pie baking?! This is my idea of paradise. (Cadillac News)

Congratulations to Checkers, the latest equine to become a Breyer model horse! Be sure to watch the video – it’s incredible. (King 5)

The All American Appaloosa Congress in Oklahoma is a horse show that’s raising money to send kids to college. (News 12)

Still laughing at this five minutes later:

This is a harrowing but ultimately happy video of a riding instructor and police officers teaming up to save a horse from a burning barn in Pennsylvania. (WFLA)

Thousand Words is officially in the Kentucky Derby picture! (LA Times)

If you’re reading this on Monday, Aug. 3, that means it’s the anniversary of the very first horse race at Saratoga. (Lompoc Record)

What are the most suitable horse breeds for kids? This is a good list, although it forgot Thoroughbreds. (Flux Magazine)

I like Fred Snow, who turned a Missouri golf course into a horse sanctuary. (WHIO)

This essay intertwines Bojack Horseman, early 20^th century Russian literary criticism, mythology, and trauma, so buckle up. (The New York Review of Books)

Here’s some good advice about caring for horses in the summer months. (tor.com)

A century-old horse-drawn buggy just returned home to Miami. (WHIO TV)

I wish this had been around when I worked at Tampa Bay Downs: there’s a place where you can ride ponies on the beach in the Bay area! (NarCity)

Reece McCook is an 18-year-old rider challenging stereotypes in the equestrian world. He’s launched a program called Ride Out Racism and dreams of opening a riding school in Coventry’s inner city. (Coventry Telegraph)

A horse farm called Heroes on Horseback in Bluffton, SC is a haven for those suffering from PTSD, traumatic brain injury, and more. (WSAV)

Tiny barrel racers!!

Black equestrians across the country are finding power and peace through horseback riding. This is a fantastic look at Black horse culture in the United States. (Condé Nast Traveller)

Colt Reddin wasn’t going to let cerebral palsy stop him from celebrating his birthday on horseback and surrounded by his heroes from the police and fire departments. (KLTV)

Brianna Noble became an icon when she rode her horse Dapper Dan to a protest in San Francisco last month; now, her Heels Down Fists Up event is raising awareness and money to bring low-income children into horseback riding. (SF Gate)

Helmet Lab, which rates the safety of helmets for football and other high-impact sports, is finally rating riding helmets. Thank goodness – riding accidents apparently make up over 45% of traumatic sports-related brain injuries. (The Roanoke Times)

I am jealous of literally every living thing in this video.

“...If there’s a little girl out there she can look up and see ‘hey there’s someone that kinda looks like me doing it,’ ...I think that’s important.” Genay Vaughn is one of the top African-American equestrians in the world, and she’s hoping to ride in the Olympics. (CBS Sacramento)

If you’re bored, can I recommend this AI that just randomly creates unique My Little Ponies? (This Pony Does Not Exist)

How wonderful is this? The annual Chincoteague pony auction was held online for the first time ever, and it raised more money than it ever has. Just under $400,000 was raised for the community’s volunteer fire department. (Horse Talk New Zealand)