Lessons From Race Horses And Vegetable Soup 

On Saturday, June 6, 2026, something notable happened at the Belmont Stakes, the third race of the Triple Crown in the horse racing world. It’s notable because it transports us beyond just the horse race. It’s a life lesson for us also. Here’s what author Kerri Roberson shared on her Facebook page after the race. 

“The most dangerous horse in America isn't the one leading the race. He's the one running last. Twice now, Golden Tempo has done something that shouldn't happen. At the Kentucky Derby, he was dead last entering the first turn. Then he won. This weekend at the Belmont Stakes, he disappeared into the back of the pack again. Then he won. 

Most of us spend our lives terrified of falling behind. We measure progress by position. By titles. By paychecks. By followers. By who got there first. Golden Tempo seems to have a different philosophy. While every other horse fights for position, he settles in and waits. Patient. Unhurried. Certain. As if he understands something the rest of us are still trying to learn.

I love stories like this. The Cinderella story. The underdog. The unpredicted. Why? Because life has a way of convincing us that if we're not leading, we're losing. If we're not first, we're forgotten. If we're not where we thought we'd be by now, we've somehow failed.

Yet this remarkable horse keeps proving something different. The race isn't won at the first turn. Or halfway home. Or even when everyone else thinks the outcome has already been decided. Sometimes the story unfolding in front of you isn't the one you expected. It's simply waiting for the right moment to reveal itself.

Most people see last place. Golden Tempo sees unfinished business. The world calls it the last place. Golden Tempo calls it timing. And maybe that's a bigger lesson than horse racing.”

Yes, I realize that stories like this are not the norm for most horses (and people). There have been many horses that started last and finished last. But in Golden Tempo's case, as well as Secretariat's case, and many other horses, they overcame the odds and finished first. And many times, it was just a case of timing, determination, commitment, and having the right jockey steering the horse through the maze of the other horses to victory. But the biggest factor is a horse that responded to the stirring both inside and outside of the horse.  

Everyone has greatness in them. The key is getting the greatness out of them. Many people have close to the same capacity and competence, but one succeeds while the other doesn't. Why? Much of the answer is the person who gets to where they want, with an inner voice that stirs them up to keep going no matter what happens. Stirring ourselves up is that place inside of us, giving us the pizzazz to keep on, keeping on.

When things don't go my way, when I am not recognized, when I don't feel like I'm going anywhere, when I want to stop, I use my 'stir myself up' self-talk, “Ed, get a checkup from the neck-up”, rhetoric. I use those spurs on my boots in the stirrups and give myself the spur (lightly, of course). The word stirrup comes from the phrase "stir up".   

Let's look at the word "stir" as an adjective. Stir means Inspiring: Exciting, rousing, or deeply emotional. Often used to describe a speech, song, or performance that produces strong, positive feelings. Example: "She gave a stirring speech at the graduation ceremony." Another use of stir as an adjective means active: Busy, lively, or bustling. Example: "They ran a stirring business in the heart of the city."

Many times, people today are like vegetable soup. They have all the vegetables to get to where they would like to go. But inaction, discouragement, being told they are a victim, life, inactivity, lethargy, and the like, have paralyzed them. They can't see their vegetables (gifts and talents) anymore because they've sunk to the bottom of the bowl. There’s nothing wrong with them. They need to be stirred up by way of reminder that their soup has lots of vegetables in it. The soup needs some stirring to bring out all those great things in people to help them achieve their purpose and destiny.  

The Apostle Peter saw that the church was becoming sedentary and needed some stirring. Here’s what he wrote to them, “This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing you, in which I am stirring your sincere minds by way of reminder…” 2 Peter 3:1 In other words, Peter can remind them, but the people had to wake up, shake up, and put on their makeup, and stir themselves up to love and good deeds.  

When I was a pastor in Phoenix, people would come up after my message and say, "I've heard that before." I answered, "Maybe you're hearing it the second time because you never applied it the first time." Everyone needs to be stirred up and reminded about God and of how God is with us. That's why you go to church, read your Bible, and get some guides by your side from church to encourage you when your vegetables have floated to the bottom of the bowl.

What's our stirring takeaway? Get your motor running, head out on the highway, because you aren't born to be mild, you're born to be wild, in the way God created you - and Golden Tempo neighs, Amen.