AllMovie

Filmmaker Liz Mermin explores the fine art of training horses for the racetrack and the complex relationship between humans and animals in this documentary. Paul Nolan is a veteran horse trainer who runs the Toberona Stable of County Wexford, Ireland, where he and his staff helped guide a bay gelding named Accordion Etoile to champion status. Now that Accordion Etoile has retired from racing, Nolan is working with three other horses he believes have potential to be winners -- as well as flaws that could hold them back. Ardalan is a small but powerful horse with a talent for jumping, but he has trouble focusing and sometimes tries to take jumps too big for him. Cuan na Grai is fast but high-strung, and has a history of tendon troubles. And Joncol is big, strong and looks to be Toberona's best hope for another championship. In Horses, Nolan and his team of trainers discuss the finer points of their work and their experience in racing as the people and the horses find ways to communicate with one another (as well as the many other animals that populate Toberona). Originally produced for the BBC, Horses also was screened at a number of film festivals, making its North American debut at the 2010 Hot Docs Documentary Film Festival in Toronto.