This is the first Kentucky Derby I can recall not watching with bated breath—in fact, I didn’t watch it at all.
Like a junkie in withdrawal, I kept looking to my watch as it approached post-time, hoping a good book would prove sufficient distraction. I’d decided I wouldn’t be a part of it this year—or ever again.
Now, after the flurry of phone calls I’ve just received, you can be sure I won’t be tuning in to bear witness to its tragic conclusion. Though maybe I should—maybe we all should.
As no doubt you’ve heard, or seen first-hand, Eight Belles was euthanized on the track with bilateral fractures of her cannon bones’ condyles (at least that’s the news my vet surgeon consultant had access to at the time of this posting).
One leg is devastating enough, as in Barbaro’s case. Two carries a mandatory a death sentence—and requires it be carried out on the spot. At least the horse racing industry has a heart when it comes to killing its critically wounded competitors. Too bad there are so many of them…
Make no mistake: Horse racing is the most dangerous sport in the world—for the athletes involved. Short of high-stakes mountain climbing, in which humans take huge risks after assessing their own personal outlook on mortality, the "Sport of Kings" wins out when it comes to the athletes’ death toll stats—but without its competitors’ willing compliance.
Take Barbaro. His recent example proved two things:
1-To those who might otherwise have neglected to add up the fatalities, Barbaro proved to millions that horse…racing…kills…horses.
2-The casualties of this sport are lauded for their “heart,” conveniently shifting the emphasis on the crime’s perpetrators (the industry and all of us, its fans) to the glory of the animal—thereby fueling more Triple Crown fandom…and occasioning more deaths.
How sick and twisted is our culture that Barbaro’s legacy (apart from the excellent research into laminitis his prolonged hospitalization facilitated) has become one where the celebrity of the horse’s agony made for a bigger box office draw at the killing of another?
I think I’ll always be ambivalent at the sight of horses streaking down the track. I can’t help but catch my breath at the hammering of hooves and a glimpse of sweaty coats over rippling musculature. Like many among you, I grew up on this kind of equine athletic display.
But with equine genetics pushing animals further into a red zone where just pulling up might mean catastrophic injury, there’s no reason for me to subject myself to the needless slaughter first-hand. I’ll not expose my son to the gladiatorial gore, either. No, thanks, I’ll take my comments off the air from now on.
As you must be too, I’m beyond disgusted by what happened today. That’s why this filly should serve as more than just another needless cautionary tale in the annals of horse racing. It advances a moral imperative to us, her fans, and most of all, to the industry itself: Reform. Fast. Or. Die.
If this tragedy had to happen, all I can say is that I’m glad it happened on the industry’s most “glorious” race day. There’s nothing like a conspicuous catastrophe, without a protracted agony like Barbaro’s and its obligatory spin, to bring the real meat of the issue to the fore: Horse racing as it’s currently practiced is not a sport for animal lovers.
Barbaro’s death was enough for me…will Eight Belle’s be enough for you? If so, I’ll ask you just one favor: Boycott the Triple Crown...at least until the industry responds significantly to the need to reform its practices. That’s not so hard after what you saw today…is it?
|
Especially after spending much of today with a lovely yearling filly. I can't imagine someone RIDING a horse that young, much less asking her to work under saddle at speed.
I may be an optimist, but I hope this tragedy, following so closely on Barbaro, will really turn people off horse racing.
We won't be able to eliminate it completely, buy maybe public outrage will shut down the gambling aspect and drain much of the money out of it. Maybe then we can "put down" the funny hat wearing, mint julip swilling, silly song singing, millionaires that push these poor animals to their deaths.
I don't know why Ruffian or Go For Wand or Union City or Prarie Bayou or Barbaro or any of the others never stopped me from watching horse races, but this filly is enough.
I've watched the Triple Crown and Breeder's Cup races since I was a kid--watched Secretariat. I never paid to see a race. I never paid attention to who sponsored them. I like the think the industry never made a dime off me. But I could be wrong, and I can't bear to look anymore.
And whenever we do have a Triple Crown winner again, I don't think I'll care very much. I don't htink I'll do anything but wince, maybe tear up, and think about what that title costs the horses of the world.
Of course they push all the horses hard. And it is tragic -- how could she have kept running with that injury? Yet, she made it acorss the finish line, second. She paid out for them.
It's obscene and disturbing.
I didn't watch, couldn't watch. My mom did and called me in tears. She had horses as a child and loves them, maybe more than dogs. She wanted to know what we could do.
I said: "Well, we could go protest next year . . . " But those rich a-holes won't care, they will laugh in our faces and have another mint julip.
Or . . . we could commit to helping a horse rescue. I keep coming back to that. A place where they retire horses from this sport -- horses whose sperm isn't still making them millions in stud fees.
http://www.AlexBrownRacing.com
A major boycott is in order. Most people don't follow racing - just the big 3 races. And the sponsors are some of our major corporations. I'm going to see if there is a petition over on The Petition Site or Care2. If I do, I'll post the link. If not, I may just put one together myself.
So, I am glad to read your post and only hope that people do boycott. Hitting the industry in the pocketbook is one of the ways to make and point and implement change--change that is long overdue.
When I tuned in to the Kentucky Derby yesterday, I did so with conflict in my heart. As I watched the horses all prance onto the track I thought about how dangerous this was for them and how if their owners and trainers really loved them they wouldn't push them so hard. I looked at all the ridiculous women in the stands with their stupid hats, that have probably never even set foot in a barn, mucked a stall, or brushed a horse, and it made me angry.
And then she died.
I feel guilty for even watching. Never again.
When I worked around Standardbreds (harness racing) we let the horses grow up before they raced. We also jogged them around the track a couple of times before a race to let them warm up. While I know that harness racing isn't perfect, and can still be dangerous, this just makes a whole lot of sense to me. All horse lovers should boycott this sport.
Even if these horses were not killed on the track, what about those whoa re too slow, come up slightly lame, have chronic lameness issues, or just don't win the purses? These get dumped on the market and often have not 'come down' from the track- they are often high strung, nervous, not easy to handle, have obvious or chronic lameness issues, and they only know the track. The males will ALL be stallions- which makes them less desirable for most people wanting a riding horse.
If we make horse slaughter easier in the US, we are making the byproducts of the horse racing industry easier to get rid of,.. they can make a few hundred getting rid of their 'byproducts' rather than having to find other solutions.
Another reason I'm all for the banning of horse slaughter. Let the industry self-regulate their economic issues.
If you took away tax incentives for breeding and racing horses, I think you would see a lot of these so called horse lovers get out of the business real quick. Taking the profit out of racing could only help the horses.
I like your statement; Horse Racing Kills Horses. That would make a great bumper sticker.
Will animal cruelty charges EVER be considered??
I am still appalled and horrified by what I witnessed yesterday. I cannot support or watch this most inhumane, "sport," again. I will join you and not watch this happen again and again...Ruffian, Barbaro--now THIS??
UNACCEPTABLE!
This practice of racing horses sickens me.
Perahps the only difference is the 'class' of the person participating in the sport, along with the bad hats.
I really, really, dislike PETA, but I hope they make a big stink about this one.
Would it really cost that much to let these horses stay at pasture for another year and allow them to develop more before putting so much strain and pressure on their bodies? Considering that some of them start racing before they are actually 2 (they are considered 2 by they governing body on Jan. 1 the year their second birthday will be in, but they can be as young as a year and a day), is it any surprise that so many break down? Most of the time pleasure horses don't start their training until age two, let alone competition.
In the National Football League, itself a dangerous and rough arena, rules and equipment are constantly updated to protect its players....Where is the mind of the racing association?????????Is it engulfed by greed and tradition? We should boycot viewing and attending all races until the tracks(synthetic surfaces have proven safer) and rules(fillies versus colts) are changed!
The killing of Eight Belles has made many of us genuinely heartsick since the first Saturday of May. Those on some horse racing blogs, out for fast, easy money, the new American way... wealth without work, are unconscious and oblivious to the extreme danger these magnificent creatures are subjected to.
I am thrilled with the campaign PETA has launched demanding much stricter standards for the racing industry, and ultimately, to abolish horse racing completely. The Thoroughbred can be used for eventing and other purposes, and is a breed so incredible that they should be more sacred to our culture than certain animals to others. Instead, they have been chronically exploited, and literally run into the ground.
The culture of "get rich quick" folks need to find their way. Either they 're living beyond their means, or are addicted to gambling. Race horses, per se, should not be exploited for the gains of said culture, or the phenomenally wealthy who amuse themselves at the expense of a living creature.
As the fox said to the Little Prince, "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye." It is time for the race horse ghouls to take heart.
SFisher, PETA's goal is not the reform or abolition of horse racing. PETA's goal is the abolition of domestic animals. They've said so, quite directly. They're not feeling grief for the tragedy of what happened to Eight Belles; they're dancing a jig because it's an emotional event that they can exploit.
Okay, third try on the stupid letters. And want to emphasize _stupid_, because the first two offerings included one letter, the last, that was so far off on the right-hand side that it was less than half visible. And, yes, I will continue to comment on this every _single_ time the always egregiously bad design of this "security" feature goes off the cliff into unusability.
There are serious problems in horse racing, major problems that are hurting the individual horses and the thoroughbred breed. Fixing those problems, though, is not what PETA is about. PETA is about teh _extinction_ of horses, and dogs, and cats. and cattle and sheep and pigs, too. Everything that doesn't live wild and away from human beings--oh, wait,they're for the extinction of feral cats, too.
Too young, Steriods (17 hand filly on fine legs) Big Brown 2 3/4 yr old colt running on cemented feet and needle "trainers"
Grand colt (Bi g Brown) 2 1/2+ that finished first across the line but he has 2 quater cracks in the front and maybe his hooves won't shatter. Will I watch him next time on the track. No. I'll wait for the a.m. news and if it's another death I can turn away. Use and abuse.
This has to stop. The good minded people of this country have had enough.
PETA has outlined a list of criteria submitted to Chairman Robert Beck, Jr. which, if you care to research, does't begin to approach the statements you've made about PETA's stand on horse racing. If you can provide verifiable links and research that support your argument, I'll be interested to read them. PETA is against factory farming, fur farming, animal testing, and animals used for entertainment purposes, and is also against the chaining of backyard dogs, which is more than understandable. Nowhere does PETA claim to be advocating the extinction of horses or any other breed of animal. What PETA opposes is "specieism" and the excessive inbreeding as found in Thoroughbreds, which often leads to fatal neurological problems, as was the case with "With a City" a few years ago. This does not mean they advocate the extinction of horses.
By no stretch of my imagination am I able to understand what ideas you entertain about PETA. The organization may at times seem radical, but their best interest is surely not in "dancing a jig" because of the emotional event Eight Belles was killed because of. PETA, as other conscientious organizations, seeks to end the casualties on the race track, like that of Eight Belles, Barbaro, and countless others, recently and in the past, who have been the victims of irresponsible and greedy trainers, owners, and jockeys, as well as the betting public out to make a fast, quick, fat, buck....all the easy way, and at the expense of horses.
People advocating animal rights are accused of being "bleeding hearts," and so on. Better to have a bleeding heart -- than no heart at all.
Fillies will run their hearts out. Good fillies are more keen than their brothers. Whipping this filly more than 4 four times down the stretch was abuse. She was running second with all her heart. Did the jock believe that abusing her would make her overcome Big Brown? No way could she overcome his performance, so why couldn't Eight Bells jock settled for second place and be kind to her???
Broke both front legs
, the first crack came down the strech, the leg broke after the finish line and then the off leg couldn't support the weight and broke.
2 ,3/4 year old Steriod induced muscle bound 17 hand filly!!! Running on pen thin legs.
Owners, breeders, needle trainers , high tax bracket people must be accountable for the deaths, and the cripples that they produce yearly. PETA isn't my ideal however I'm leaning in their direction when it comes to the racing horses. My youngest, is a excerise rider and has real bad stories to tell about the Throughbred racing people.
Fillies will run their hearts out. Good fillies are more keen than their brothers. Whipping this filly more than 4 four times down the stretch was abuse. She was running second with all her heart. Did the jock believe that abusing her would make her overcome Big Brown? No way could she overcome his performance, so why couldn't Eight Bells jock settled for second place and be kind to her???
Broke both front legs
, the first crack came down the strech, the leg broke after the finish line and then the off leg couldn't support the weight and broke.
2 ,3/4 year old Steriod induced muscle bound 17 hand filly!!! Running on pen thin legs.
Owners, breeders, needle trainers , high tax bracket people must be accountable for the deaths, and the cripples that they produce yearly. PETA isn't my ideal however I'm leaning in their direction when it comes to the racing horses. My youngest, is a excerise rider and has real bad stories to tell about the Throughbred racing people.
I'm sure your youngest could write a book about the abuses of the horse racing industry. It's time someone writes one.