The time has come for the "Sport of Kings" to realize its place in the American sports lexicon.
A spectator sport that needs to pass into the history books and join other barbaric and greedy spectator pastimes that employ animals for amusement. There is, and has been for some time now, little difference between horse racing and cock fights, bull fighting and dog racing.
Each erroneously labeled sport is based on the same premise. Animals that have no say in the matter other than to please their masters. These same magnificent athletic creatures performing as any circus animal would for treats and, in many cases, faux affection. Animals that while they may have cost someone a pretty penny are nothing more than disposable flesh should they fail to return on their investment.
Thoroughbred horse racing was once a major sport in this country, well before the days of pay-per-view, 24-hour sports networks and fantasy leagues for everything from marbles to motor sports. Before live carnival style broadcasts which allowed for every flaw and foible to be magnified.
But horse racing today is a dying sport, on a day-to-day basis at tracks and OTB parlors across the country followed and wagered on only by a sordid mix of degenerate gamblers and cigar-chewing nonagenarians who have little more than this as their main source of entertainment. It is sad and even pathetic to walk around the concourse at many a race track and try to imagine what was once a civilized industry that has for years now wallowed in mediocrity and perpetual avarice.
I speak from experience, having covered the Triple Crown from barns to the Winners Circle. These are the showcase events, where an international audience gets to see the sport at it's finest. Dressed in colorful hats, replete with celebrity red carpets, and of course presenting their young athletes as those who are cared for with white glove efficiency. Receiving nothing but affection and attention, as they "love to run and show off for the adoring crowds". They were "born to race, bred to be champions", and have it in their respective hearts and souls to flash by the grandstand in a blaze of equestrian excellence.
What is not shown at these events, and rarely if ever witnessed by even those who crowd the grandstands or tune in for those exciting 2 minutes, is the dark and tragic side of a sport featuring truly disposable heroes.
Even those who make their living in this industry are keenly yet often silently aware of the slaughter that takes place on a stunning level. It was only 5 years ago that over 40,000 horses were slaughtered in this country. To be sure, not all of these were thoroughbreds. Investigators cannot get a handle on the exact number because, as one might guess, the industry would rather numbers such as these remain private and hazy at best.
It should also be pointed out that not every thoroughbred owner treats their animals as little more than overseas dog food once their productive days are over. There are many doing whatever they can to insure these proud and prideful animals are neither abused nor slaughtered. The ones who genuinely love their animals and treat them as much more than an investment. They are gaining in number, but are still overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of horses killed because they couldn't turn a profit.
110 comments Last one added 11 months ago — Leave a Comment
Thomas H about 1 year ago
Bravo, Ed, for a wonderfully written, informative article about horse racing. What an eye opener. Quite naturally I've informed our readers about this. Thomas at Sonshi.com
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Virginia Blackerby about 1 year ago
Excellent article. But do you have the courage to on the barbaric sports of hockey and football next?
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Michele June about 1 year ago
There is one big difference between the two, human beings CHOOSE to play hockey and football. Horses have no say in what there fate may be.
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Ed Berliner about 1 year ago
My thanks for the comment, Virginia. The difference between horse racing and the sports you mentioned is the participants in those are able to make a choice in what they do and when they do it. Human athletes are afforded constant protection from physical harm, are paid well, and have unions representing them to air grievances and such. Horses have no such choices. That, and when their careers are over, the option of executing the athlete does not exist. At least, one would certainly hope that is the case. Best, Ed.
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Jason about 1 year ago
Sorry Ed but you're wrong.
Football and Hockey are not just played on the professional level. There are far more people that play in elementary, middle school, high school, and college for no compensation other than the chance to play.
Protection from harm. Well lets see. This happened during a horse race. How much protection does a sprinter get? Comparing racing and football or hockey is laughable.
Unions representing them. Again, you are restricting this argument to professionals only and they are the smallest population of the athletes. Get a clue, pal.
Horses have no choices, ok. What about your dog? What if your dog doesn't really want to be a lap-dog? I'm sure you love your poodle but I have a feeling your poodle would rather be doing something else.
Careers end all the time over random injuries. I lost my soccer scholarship on a torn ACL I got walking to my fridge. No trip, no stumble, just bad luck.
You are very narrow minded, like most people commenting on this article.
The best part is that I'm not even a fan of horses or horse racing. I've never even been on one except a little pony at the state fair when i was 6. You people are just so uneducated I had to say something.
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Wendy about 1 year ago
Ed,
Execute = to murder/assassinate.
Murder = the killing of another human being under conditions specifically covered in law.
I don't think "executing" is exactly the word that describes this situation. It's just anthropomorphism at its best to make it seem more dramatic.
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Wendy about 1 year ago
Gee, Ed, I wonder which side of the horse slaughter act you support. You can't make it much more obvious - so was this actually an article about the tragedy of losing a filly that gave her heart and soul to race? Yes, she was raced in a race she should have been pulled out of after the strain of the race the day before, but horse racing continues to be a BUSINESS. As far as the animals you listed that've been sent to a "tragic" end, like any other business, when faced with big losses, any competent owner is going to salvage what they can. Horse slaughter in this case is a means to salvage money invested, but in the interest of all horse owners (not just those rich few), the slaughter of horses for food, be it human or other, means that the horses at least have a final purpose. Some in the U.S. tend to anthropomorphize horses, and it's toll is already being seen with the closure of the last horse slaughter plants and the abandonment of thousands of horses. These horses are going to die slow and painful deaths as they starve to death, instead of a merciful and quick death with a stun gun. So until we get a hold on this catastrophe that is coming as a result of the ban of the plants, I'm going to focus my efforts on something other than getting the horse racing industry closed down.
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MJ about 1 year ago
To Wendy:
You state "the slaughter of horses for food, be it human or other, means that the horses at least have a final purpose."
Ah, so you want to feed the rich of France, Belgium and any other person in the world who can afford the high price of American horse meat, with our companions. Just for the few cents it's going to bring to you? No matter the absolute barbaric torture they face during the journey and in their final moments.
You are Judas personified.
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Catherine White about 1 year ago
To Wendy
You belong working in a slaughter house
wringing chicken necks for a living.
Making a BUSINESS from pushing young horses too fast and too soon
is inhumane.
How do you sleep at night?
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Landis Marks about 1 year ago
Eight Belles did NOT race the day before. She was stratched God Bless her.
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Jessica Keegan about 1 year ago
Maam:
you are out of line and since I don't have a clue who you are, i'll call you on it. If you think that PETA is going to get the horse racing industry closed down, then you best turn to the one's in the animal world who actually know what is going on. I would like to take a few mins to tell you some of the things that I know about PETA, This might devistate you, so hopefully. 90% of the animals that PETA claims to save are killed. 10% of there animals that are rescued are put in homes of people who are indicted on animal cruelty, or have previous charges of animal cruelty. 50-60% of them are not vegetarians. i have talked to PETA employees that will openly admit that the organization is fraud. What more do you need to know? Thoroughbred racing is a buisness but there is also science behind the things that are done. Weather or not fillies are physiologically built to run in the Derby or not is not the issue at hand, PETA wanting more attention and more money is what the issue is. Just keep that in mind.
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Thomas H about 1 year ago
Wendy making it a business transaction doesn't make it right. Yes we need to be aware of the consequences of new laws but I don't see anything wrong with putting up regulations to further protect animal welfare. In many ways, those laws reflect how we would treat each other as human beings, much like the Bill of Rights did for all Americans.
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Wendy about 1 year ago
The problem becomes - when does it stop? If the ban on horse slaughter is allowed to continue, what's to say that the next target won't become the cattle industry? The swine industry? It just continues on and on, and it becomes a snowball effect that no one can stop. I personally own horses and respect their right not to suffer, to have shelter, food, water, veterinary care, and to live a relatively happy life. I enjoy their companionship and am sad when I sell them. However, it all comes down to the fact that I OWN them. That means they are property, regardless of their cognitive abilities and whatever other properties give them personalities. Humans are not property of other humans in this nation as given by the Constitution, but nowhere are the same rights granted to animals. I know that people are becoming more aware of the abuse that some animals are subject to, and the abuse that some animals endure should not be accepted. However, these cases cannot be allowed to be generalized to the point that all animals are granted "rights." This is dangerous ground that we're treading.
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Jamie Lane about 1 year ago
Horses are NOT property....they CHOOSE to let us have them with us. Trust me, if a horse doesn't want to do something there is no way in hell you or anyone else is going to make them do it.
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Chelsea Todd about 1 year ago
Ferdinand was the 1986 winner of the derby ( not 1996 )
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Deb about 1 year ago
Thanks for a sobering and well balanced article on horse racing. I cried over Ruffian, read many
horse novels as a teen, and have regularly watched triple crown races just to see those beautiful
animals run. Never again - and I'll do my best to keep my daughter and her friends from falling
in the same trap. As for Wendy, what a perfect post to show how the almighty business dollar has
led to the death of ethics in this country. Just replace "horses" by "people" to get the Nazis. How long
is it until "Soylent Green" is a reality (not soon enough in the case of some posters, I deem...)?
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Wendy about 1 year ago
I can officially call this day a full day. I've been compared to being a Nazi for believing that horse slaughter has a place in this world. Ask anyone who lost family to the Nazis if they feel the same.
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Jason about 1 year ago
There are several problems with your view on this. The most obvious problem is that you are comparing raising horses to the slaughter and imprisonment of MILLIONS of people. Do you know what happened during the holocaust or WWII? You clearly have no education in history and your family was obviously not affected by this tragedy. To someone who lost most of his family, and the rest being forced to be refugees that escaped eventually to America, your comments are extremely insulting. Your blatent lack of education means you should stop talking and go read a lot of books.
I tried my best to use small words so you could follow, Deb.
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Jessica Keegan about 1 year ago
Horses are not people. You can't relate the Holocaust to horse racing. Really it is ignorant if you would even try. Learn a couple things about how the horse functions before you try to make that argument.
Jessica
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Ed Berliner about 1 year ago
Let's keep this discussion going but keep it on target. Bringing any form of genocide or ethnic cleansing has no place in this debate because it simply is not germane to the discussion. And my thanks to Chelsea for catching a slip of the keyboard, as it has been fixed.
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Laurie Fatland about 1 year ago
Ed, thank you for a well-written and heartfelt article. I, too, have spent my life following closely and being involved in the breeding and selling side of racing. I watched the match race where Ruffian paid the ultimate price. I followed the career of Secretariat with amazement and appreciation. I have been and still am involved in the competitive horseworld, although no longer in racing. I own 7 horses which we compete on and ride for pleasure. I am horse lover if ever there was one.
It broke my heart to see this tragic race. It breaks my heart to see the dark side of racing which you so concisely described in your article. But I, personally, do not think it calls for the end of horse racing. Instead I believe it calls for a good hard look at the footing, training, nutrition and support of these amazing athletes before, during and after their careers.
Not every breeder, owner, trainer, jockey, etc. sees these animals as the almighty dollar. Many of these people love and appreciate horses. They glory in the beauty and power of an athlete at the top of his game. They care for their horses during and after their career. Many ex-racehorses go on to careers in jumping or showhorses or simply backyard receational riding. Not all of course. There are the lowlifes, the abusers, the heartless who treat them as just another commodity.
And I don't believe horses only run because they are forced to. A great racehorse runs for the love of it. He glories in it and craves the competition. You've been there, you've seen the light in the eye of a true competitor. This is the horse at his best and lights a fire in the heart of those who see him.
I'm afraid if we end the sport of racing altogether, we lose this appreciation and connection with a magnificent animal. For many people the only time they get a chance to see how amazing an animal a horse can be is through racing.
Rather than calling for the end of racing, I would rather call for major reform that improves the lives of the equine athlete.
As a side note, for a wonderful look at both sides of racing, I highly recommend reading Jane Smiley's novel, Horse Heaven.
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Brandon Alois about 1 year ago
Laurie,
I think your post here is better then the article itself.
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Elaine Smothers about 1 year ago
BRAVO, Mr. Berliner, for an article that tells it like it really is!
I stopped watching or supporting horse racing after Barbaro's breakdown in the Preakness and the resultant facts and statistics concerning this cruel sport came to light. Over the course of a one-year period, an average of ONE horse per DAY dies as a result of injuries sustained on the track. ONE a DAY! Do you think this kind of mortality statistic would be tolerated in ANY kind of sport involving human athletes?
The ignorant comments such as "horses like to to run" are in themselves laughable. Yes, horses like to run, but have you ever actually watched a horse run for the sheer love of it? They do so with their heads & tails high and seem to fairly float over the ground; they don't run at sheer breakneck speed, gasping for air, with a rider on their back beating the hell out of them with a whip for a mile and a quarter! These horses are pushed to the very limits of their physical endurance, and many times resultant deaths, for nothing more than money and entertainment.
Yes, this sport is CRUEL and until something is done to make it safer for the horses, I along with many others will no longer watch or support it. It's ironic; I started watching horse racing in my youth because of my love for horses and now I find myself no longer willing to watch or support it for the very same reason.
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Wendy about 1 year ago
If a horse runs by itself, I agree that it does run with its head and tail held high. However, if you've ever watched a herd of horses run, they run closer to the ground, with their ears back, and with determination in their stride. I'd invite you to watch my 3 year-olds and 4 year-olds sometime. Or watch my horse that works cattle all by himself to the point that he has to be kept out of the pasture that the cattle are in. A race horse is not whipped for the mile and a quarter, if you watch races, they're actually restrained for the first 3/4 or so of the race many times. They WANT to run hard to compete with one another, and the whip is used only at the end to get a horse to run away from its competitors.
I'm definitely not going to say there aren't parts of the industry that need to change to make it safer. I don't personally believe in asking a horse to canter under saddle until it's at least 3 years old, and my horses will never be found running competitive races at the age of two. I know that their skeletomuscular systems aren't ready for it at that time, and they're just babies in their mentality. However, everyone is entitled to their opinions on training methods and theories, however misguided they might seem to me.
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Deb about 1 year ago
Hmm, it is clear that some folks do regular searches on the word "Nazi" using Google so that they can castigate everyone who is perceived as insulting their family history (either that, or Wendy has a convenient friend or alias). No denigration of anyone's suffering was intended. A more perceptive reader might have realized that a simple analogy was being used to point out the similarity between language used by those who justify inhumane actions toward non-human animals "of any cognitive ability" by referral to property rights and language used by repressive human regimes of the past. I guess if I had used "Assyria" rather than the Third Reich, Godwin's Law would not have been invoked and only the well-educated would have followed the analogy. My mistake. I note that the definition of "property" has changed within the past several centuries to the point where it no longer includes women and human slaves. Wendy is rightly concerned over the impact to business if that the definition continues to change. From an ethical perspective, I hope it does.
Ed, I apologize for using an "N" word in my comments and introducing chaos to this thread :P.
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Wendy about 1 year ago
Deb, I'm actually capable of being offended all by myself. I read a LOT about the Holocaust and Nazis during my youth and have actually visited Auschwitz and other sites in Germany that now pay tribute to those who lost their lives. I didn't have to do a "Google" search nor did I have to post under an alias to support myself. I can support my statements without the need to regress to a childish method such as posting under an alias to respond to such an outlandish comparison.
And I'm out on that topic, per Ed's request.
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Julie Pincus about 1 year ago
I agree 100%. We have to stop abusing those amazing and noble animals who are in our care. How can we, in the public, make that heard? Any ideas? If racing doesn't change to protect them, then it should be stopped completely!
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Elaine Smothers about 1 year ago
Wen, I've been a horse owner most of my life and I've seen many horses run both alone and in herds. In neither of the aforementioned, do horses run like they're made to run in thoroughbred racing. And oh, excuse me ... since they hold them back for part of the race it's ok to beat the hell out of them in the backstretch to get them to pull away. Determination in their stride?? I think racing demands a little more than that.
You can promote horse slaughter, cruelty to animals, animals-as-property, and the animals-have-no-rights mentality until you're blue in the face; that's your right in a free speech society. But I pity the 'free spirits' you call property and the end they face when they're no longer of any use to you.
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Deb about 1 year ago
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated” - M. Gandhi
I do worry that the total abolition of horse racing would lead to the wholesale slaughter or abandonment of Thoroughbreds in the short term. The activity needs to be phased out gradually. As in dog rescue, there is far more need for foster homes than capacity, especially for animals with expensive care needs. Perhaps if the gambling aspect were de-legitimized, the organized crime and lowlife involvement in horse racing would decrease to the benefit of those who truly love the animals. By increasing the minimum age for entries to 4 - 5, changing the track surfaces, simply canceling runs on "sloppy" tracks, and broadening funds for horse (and jockey) injury care supported by owner entry fees (to eliminate purely economic euthanasias), I think improvement could be made. The business of horse racing needs to transition to the hobby of horse racing, in my opinion.
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Laurie Fatland about 1 year ago
Here, here, Deb. This is the kind of creative reformist thinking that can make the sport more humane without eliminating it entirely.
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Gail Vacca about 1 year ago
Ed, thank you for saying what has long needed to be said.
I am a Thoroughbred trainer who more and more with each and every passing day is beginning to believe that there is just no hope left for this industry. The continued blatant disregard for the welfare of our Thoroughbred athletes by owners, trainers, and the industry itself, is an outrage to those of us within the sport who actually do love and respect our horses.
I am sick to death of greedy, wanna-be horsemen chewing these horses up on the racetrack and then tossing over to the backstretch "meatman" as if they were nothing more than yesterday's trash.
For years now, many truly caring and professional horsemen have been begging and pleading with the industry to step up to the plate to address the critical welfare issues affecting our Thoroughbred athletes, and thus far our pleas have time and time again, fallen upon deaf ears. We have begged for the industry to assist in funding Thoroughbred retirement programs, and other than a handful of tracks offering token support, for the most part the tracks have done NOTHING to help us help our horses transition into new homes and careers once their racing days are over.
For decades upon decades, tens of thousands of Thoroughbred horses have been sent to low end auctions where they endure unspeakable fear and suffering, only to be further tortured enroute to a heinous death at an equine slaughter plant. This is positively heartbreaking and categorically unacceptable. It has to STOP!
If the Thoroughbred racing industry doesnt immediately step up to address ALL welfare issues facing these incredible animals, then Im with you...lets bury horse racing in the graveyard of inhumanity right alongside the Greyhound industry.
Gail
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Patriica Bewley about 1 year ago
The truth always hurts and you have told it. The Sport of Kings is really the Sport of Shame and the wealthy owners and breeders do not do nearly enough to set up a safety net for the retirement of race horses. It is called GREED , folks. As a life long racetracker , the days of caring more for horses is over, now they are treated like machinery and when they can't make any more money they are brutally killed. What a society we have become, cold, uncaring and greedy. I for one think the Jockey Gabriel Saez kept whipping that, filly in the lane to an uncecessay end. A good Jockey knows when his horse has given all they can and she did, he didn't have to punish her, she had second, couldn't get first , so why? One more thing Wendy, sad when you sell your horses, unbelivable .
Patricia Bewley , Vice President , the RACE Fund.
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MJ about 1 year ago
Bravo, for an honest article about horse racing.
I used to be a fan of racing, even attended the Belmont Stakes every year, until Ruffian. I watched Ruffian's race and realized that this "sport" was completely on the wrong track.
Over the years, I've learned a lot more. Perhaps much more than I wanted to know and that, of course, includes horse slaughter.
The truth is that these horses are being trained too young, raced too young, bred for speed instead of soundness, and if that wasn't enough there is the very dirty, under the radar business of Nurse Mare Foals: http://www.lastchancecorral.org/foal_rescue/foal_rescue.html
As Mr. Berliner has said, there are those owners who do treat their horses with respect and do care what happens to them after they race, but they are few and far between.
For me racing was over with Ruffian, but my love for horses will never be over. I will fight until horse slaughter and abuse is a thing of the past.
Please, call your senators and representatives and ask them to support and bring S 311 and HR 503 to a vote!
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MJ about 1 year ago
Bravo, for an honest article about horse racing.
I used to be a fan of racing, even attended the Belmont Stakes every year, until Ruffian. I watched Ruffian's race and realized that this "sport" was completely on the wrong track.
Over the years, I've learned a lot more. Perhaps much more than I wanted to know and that, of course, includes horse slaughter.
The truth is that these horses are being trained too young, raced too young, bred for speed instead of soundness, and if that wasn't enough there is the very dirty, under the radar business of Nurse Mare Foals: http://www.lastchancecorral.org/foal_rescue/foal_rescue.html
As Mr. Berliner has said, there are those owners who do treat their horses with respect and do care what happens to them after they race, but they are few and far between.
For me racing was over with Ruffian, but my love for horses will never be over. I will fight until horse slaughter and abuse is a thing of the past.
Please, call your senators and representatives and ask them to support and bring S 311 and HR 503 to a vote!
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Beth Kinnane about 1 year ago
Tp Wendy: Eight Belles did not run in the Kentucky Oaks. She was entered in both the Oaks and the Derby, was scratched from the Oaks and entered in the Derby. She did not run in both races, no one in their right mind runs a horse two days in a row. Ed's commentary and most of the reponses illustrate the profound level of ignorance out there when it comes to anything about horse racing when terrible events like this occur. Mostly its people who know nothing about horses. Yes, there is a MINORITY of players in this business who are bad actors, who race horses who have no business running, etc. But they are the minority. The fact is, whether we ride them or not, or pop them from a gate at a racetrack or not, horses will run and occasionally break their legs doing it. It is a fact of nature. Over 100 horses raced yesterday at Churchill Downs - one broke down. Racing goes on all across the country year round, and most days at most tracks, nobody, human or equine gets hurt. Now, onto the ethics versus aesthetics argument. If there are vegetarians among you, you are more than welcome to keep standing on your soapbox. Otherwise, everyone else who had eggs for breakfast and is looking forward to a steak dinner tonight has no business wagging their fingers at the thoroughbred world for its alleged cruelty. First of all, we're not trying to hurt them, in fact, its the last thing we want - a considerable difference between racing and blood sports such as cockfighting, bullfighting and dogfighting. Secondly, as much as it is aesthetically displeasing to me, I cannot say it is ethically wrong for anyone to slaughter a horse for consumption, be it for human, canine or feline use. The problem that happened with the slaughter of horses in America is that it wasn't regulated because we don't eat them here. So the treatment the animals got on their way to their end was horrible. My point is, Eight Belles lived a far better life than the animal you are probably going to have for dinner later. The truth is most of these animals live a better life than most humans on this earth, including the ones who actually provide their hands-on care day in and day out. It was a freak incident, even Dr. Bramlage said in all his years he had never seen anything like it. Due to the adrenalin still pumping through her veins, she felt little or no pain before the injection that ended her life. So before you decide to throw the baby out with the bath water, learn about what you speak.
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Catherine White about 1 year ago
A terrific article, Ed, and one that is long overdue.
Horse racing has indeed become a blood sport.
I have "before" and "after" pictures of big stakes
winners who make their owners rich, and then,
instead of being given a good retirement, were
sold 20 times until they ended up in the hands
of someone who starved and deydrated them.
Wendy sees this as all part of the BUSINESS.
In Canada, thank heavens, animals have been
removed from the "Property" section of the
Criminal Code. So, Wendy, in this country,
you do not OWN an animal....you have a
responsibility to it. Your posts indicate
you are a horse trader. No wonder
these animals just represent dollars
to you.
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Jack Peters about 1 year ago
This is a wonderful article about the realities of horse racing. Human athletes can choose whether or not to train for a sport and when to quit. Horses cannot make that choice and are pushed until they drop dead as was the case here. The filly should not have been in this race when it was noted several weeks ago that she had a bad ankle. But, greed and power won over, and she paid the price. Yes, she was humanely euthanized which is far better than the slaughter house, but she had no say in whether she should race or not. This is no longer a sport - it is animal cruelty. Horses, if they could talk, would most likely want to be a family pet, graze in the pastures, be with other horses, and live a long happy life. How many more tragedies do we need until the industry comes to an end? The owners of Eight Belles can buy another horse if they want and continue to make money. It's a lot like the puppy mills - as long as people bet and want champions, animals will suffer. And all they want to do is please their masters!
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Ed Berliner about 1 year ago
Beth, I fear you have missed the point. Certainly horses will run and suffer broken limbs as any animal, including human beings, may do in the course of any activity. However, the majority of those horses were not doing so for the profit and gambling value to man.
The point here is the wanton manner of disrespect some of these trainers and owners show an intelligent creature in driving them to exert themselves past what could be a point of injury. The horse
can't tell anyone where they hurt, when they hurt, and what's too much.
Regarding your comment about only 1 death out of 100 horses, consider that in a nationally televised event such as this, owners and trainers are much more cautious about allowing a horse to break down in front of an audience this large for what it might do to their industry and wallet. I have been told by more than 1 person in the industry how they are casually asked to take every precaution insuring things like this do not happen while the cameras are rolling.
Want more proof of this? At Del Mar race track near San Diego, when the national broadcast cameras were not running, there were 55 horse deaths from 2004-2006. I'm sure your response will be how few deaths there were in a 3 season span, but how much attention did this receive from any form of media? What action has been taken to see how many of these were senseless deaths that could have been avoided? And if this is at one facility, how many more might there be at tracks not only in America, but around the world? As an aside, I have yet to delve into how much of the investment many owners recoup thanks to insurance, thus making disposal of the animals much more efficient than trying to save one from injury.
Allow me to add this portion of an article from "The New York Sun" for your consideration.
Because “thoroughbreds are bred for flashy speed and to look good in the sales ring … the animal itself has become more fragile” and that “to keep the horses going,” they’re all given Lasix (which controls bleeding in the lungs), phenylbutazone (an anti-inflammatory), and cortiscosteroids (for pain and inflammation). Those drugs, although legal, can also mask pain or make a horse run faster. Labs cannot detect all the illegal drugs out there, of which there “could be thousands,” says the executive director of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium. Morphine, which can keep a horse from feeling any pain from an injury, was suspected in the case of Be My Royal, who won a race while limping. One trainer was suspended for using an Ecstasy-type drug in five horses, and another has been kicked off racetracks for using clenbuterol and, in one case, for having the leg of a euthanized horse cut off “for research.” A New York veterinarian and a trainer faced felony charges when the body of a missing racehorse turned up at a farm and authorities determined that her death had been caused by the injection of a “performance-enhancing drug.”
“There are trainers pumping horses full of illegal drugs every day,” says a former Churchill Downs public relations director. “With so much money on the line, people will do anything to make their horses run faster.”
And to your point regarding a "profound level of ignorance", I will only allow my 20+ years covering sports, including many a Triple Crown event and local races at NY, South Florida, and California tracks to speak for itself.
I trust this will assist you in separating this baby from the bath water. Best, Ed.
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Debraa Bennett about 1 year ago
I wonder why the SPCA dosnt do something about horse racing. Its a cruel sport that starts these young animals training and running races at the age of two when their bodies have not yet finished growing. No wonder they fall apart on the track. Money,money,money is that why nothing has been done to help these animals, I think so!
Debra Lee Bennett
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Beth Kinnane about 1 year ago
Ed, I do not deny, a I said, that there are bad actors in this game that need to be weeded out. Just because you have covered racing for 20 years doesn't mean you know a lot about horses. Not singling you out, but most reporters covering horse racing (who only show up on the big days) don't know squat about them. I spent 2 years of my life as a reporter and covered Keeneland, The Derby, the Breeders' Cup. I am no stranger to the backstretch. I have worked with horses all my life, and, in fact work for a breeding farm in Kentucky. I plan the matings for the mares, and always plan them with a balance for speed and soundness, encourage people many times NOT to breed certain horses at all because of physical faults and soundness issues. I personaly want all horses to run drug free - though I can make far more allowances for lasix than I can bute or cortico-steroid use. I want the claiming game changed so that people cannot use those races to "dump" horses that are past their usefullness as racehorses. As in, if you put a claim in on a horse, and it fatally breaks down during the race, that is now your dead horse. If a horse is claimed but fails to finish a race, that claim should be null and void. That alone would chase off a lot of n'er do wells right off the bat. Mostly, people who don't have the jack to be in the game and properly care for their animals, owners and trainers alike, need to stay the hell out of it. Too many people jump in when they have the money to buy one, whether to breed or race, without considering the cost of maintaining the animal. I spend a lot of time educating people on that note as well. But just because some people are abusing the system and their horses doesn't mean all of them are. We do not need to treat those isolated, headline grabbing incidents as epidemics. And I certainly can't say Mr. Porter or Mr. Jones fall into the bad actor category. And again, I say, if anyone's sitting their munching on a Big Mac or any other non-organically raised animal, you've got no business calling out the horse industry for "abusing" animals. Ladies, if you're wearing nail-polish, the hardener is made from horse hooves, if you are on PREMARIN the drug is made from urine collected from stall bound, deydrated pregnant mares. You can read it right there in the name - PREgnant MARe uRINe. Football and baseball fans, the object that makes your sport go round is made from animal hide. My point is, before everyone gets on a high horse to indict the sport, go look in your fridge, in your closet, in your medicine cabinet and see how you are abusing animals with the products you buy and eat. Spend an afternoon on the backstretch, spend an afternoon at a stockyard and get to me on that.
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jeremy wollenburg about 1 year ago
what about cows they are slaughtered more than horses and you guys are arguing about one horse killed in a kentucky derby and we wouldn't be arguing if she wasn't killed in the kentucky derby either
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Deb about 1 year ago
Beth, your experience does provide insight into what happens at the breeding shed and at claim races. I'm sure these would be useful subjects of discussion, especially with respect to neglectful owners without enough money to feed or care for their horses. However, this revelation also shows that you have much to lose from any ramping down of the horse racing industry, putting you in a conflict of interest position in this debate. In addition, I am continually amused at people who claim that folks who hold an opposing position on a subject must be uneducated hypocrites (i.e, "don't know squat", etc.). Questioning the education or sanity of your opponent hurts your argument. Unfortunately for all of us who have strong feelings on various subjects, there will always be someone smarter who disagrees with us. By the way, I think the First Amendment provides freedom of speech even for omnivorous animal lovers ;). No nail polish, Big Macs, PREMARIN, or horsehide for me - but even if I partook of these forbidden fruits, I would get an opinion anyway.
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Beth Kinnane about 1 year ago
Actually Deb, as much as I love the sport, I can always go do something else. I am not an owner or trainer, and while the business does pay my bills, I am not getting rich off of it. In fact, most people in the business are not rich and aren't getting rich off of it. I do not own any horses right now, I can't afford them, and rarely gamble on them, for the same reason. Conflict of interest is quite irrelevant. That's like saying I don't have a right to an opinion defending something I happen to know a lot about against ill-informed opinions of people who don't. I work in the business and have seen some of its ugly side, and it does have one. And as I do love horses, if I felt like, overall, the sport was rank with miscreants I would walk away from it. As I said in an earlier post, those few don't mean we need to throw the baby out with the bathwater. I did not mean to imply that anyone who doesn't know anything about horses has no right to an opinion. As a former journalist and an American, the First Amendment is sacred to me. But a horse breaking down in a race does not immediately mean that the horse was being abused, was on illegal medication or shouldn't have been run to begin with. The fact of "A" does not necessarily mean that "B" is what caused it. She could have done the same thing galloping across a field.
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Deb about 1 year ago
Hi Beth. Of course, you get an opinion regardless of your connections to the subject. Being closely tied to the industry is both good and bad in this debate. It is good because you have first hand knowledge about some issues that others may guess about. Your arguments would be much stronger if they stuck to your primary source information rather than criticizing the other side's qualifications. The flip side of the close connection is that people have a hard time being objective about the business that pays their wages. As a scientist I have to look hard at whether the source of information is reliable. Very likely you are a truthful person since you didn't hide your connections, but the conflict of interest is a source of doubt. Whenever great emotion is involved, the truth suffers. This is why medical studies funded by drug companies are scientifically questionable. On the other topic, I am not particularly concerned that Eight Belles was drugged, beaten, overmatched by males in this race, etc. Probably these issues didn't apply in her case. I am worried that a sport where the participants are coerced to perform and which has a death rate of 1.5 - 2 per 1000 races is unjustified as entertainment. Few humans (well, perhaps astronauts) would gladly perform daily tasks given that risk factor (far worse odds than fighter jet pilots in combat, etc.). Most of us only face that kind of odds going under general anesthesia (and then only because we must to fight even worse odds from disease or injury). Yet, we are led to believe that these fillies and colts are treated as royalty. In ancient Rome, gladiators and charioteers lived like today's rock stars or NFL "heroes", but were coerced (as slaves) to undergo risky competitions. It would be a positive step for our society to move beyond this type of business. Again, I love to see the horses run, but I want them to be as safe as they can be before, during, and after their careers. The current industry sees them as a commodity, so, unless that changes, I won't be supporting horse racing further. The worse exploitation of animals in other industries is a different (although worthy) topic, so it is just a bait-and-switch tactic to bring those issues to the table in this debate (as is the hoary saw, "babies are starving in Africa/civilians bombed in Iraq/ozone layer disappearing, and all these people can talk about is a horse" ;) ).
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Jan Ols about 1 year ago
Hi Ed I really enjoyed your article it is a shame that now comments have turned into the slaughter/ anti-slaughter debate. What I would like to know is why recently every Breeder's Cup and major stakes race (Derby, Preakness, Belmont, etc.) end up with horses with catastrophic injuries. I have attended many Breeder's Cup races I remember watching the French horse Arcanques at Santa Anita win at 130 to 1 odds back in 1983. No injuries at all. Is it that there is a lack of oversight going on or just really greedy trainers and owners are making poorer decisions in the last couple of years? Also what role does the new poly surface play in all this?
I have owned horses all of my life and am involved with horse rescue (over the winter we rescued two more that will turn into great children's ponies). I have shown hunter/jumpers, three day eventing and dressage I have to say that over the past twenty years I have seen many many abuses in all sports at all levels. Remember when jumper trainers used to use electric prods to make horses jump clean? And I watched a respected German dressage trainer "teach" a horse to do one tempe changes with a lunge whip in each hand...
There are no easy answers perhaps updated regulations in racing (like restricting maiden races to 4 year olds and eliminating racing for 3 year olds and younger) and other regs could help. Please remember that there are so many horse owners in all disciplines who compete and truly love and take care of their equine partners. Thanks.
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Olivia White about 1 year ago
Bravo to Ed, Elaine, Catherine, Gail, Deb, MJ, Patricia, Laurie, Julie, Thomas. You all demonstrate the intelligent compassion that applies the Golden Rule to all of our earthly "neigh"bors, not just to two-footed ones.
Since this subject was brought up, it deserves a reply: Yes, I've taken the slide down the slippery slope that Wendy is worried about. I became a vegetarian, then a vegan, about six years ago, when I learned about the slaughter of horses and, eventually, about the way all animals are slaughtered. The more I read about all aspects of the "owner"-human/"owned"-animal relationship, the more I realized that civilization must evolve -- and is evolving, if glacially -- beyond that kind of exploitive, ultimately destructive-to-all-beings mentality.
I also realized that it's natural for humans to want to do right by animals, and unnatural to want to "use" them for our gain (money, power, prestige, food). Unfortunately, most of us involuntarily let our natural affinity for animals depart from us at some point during our childhood. More accurately, we're gradually pulled away from that affinity by deceitful propaganda foisted on us by those who make money from breeding, trading, racing, betting on, experimenting on, killing, wearing and eating animals. Our already desensitized parents, teachers and preachers unwittingly aid the mercenary propagandists by smothering our tender affection for our creature "cousins."
Some of us have "awakened" from the hypnotic, desensitized state we were in. We've gladly returned to our roots -- our innate "childlike" love for animals. This pure kind of love seeks to protect animals, both domesticated and wild, from all forms of human harm. We see through the faulty predatory-prey theory as it applies to man. We've realized that it's counterproductive, not to mention cruel, to try to dominate animals, as if they ARE our property (in spiritual reality, they're not, and our human laws will keep evolving until they reflect that reality). We've realized that man isn't here to compete against animals, but to learn to peacefully share the planet with them.
Back to Ed's blog: I'm grateful to Thoroughbred trainer Gail for having the moral courage to conclude -- and publicly declare -- that the business that she once loved, that rewarded her both monetarily and emotionally over the years, has become a greedy horse-eating machine that deserves to be put to death.
Eight Belles, your life goes on, because the stuff you are made of -- LOVE -- never dies. The same holds true for every other animal who has been the pawn of human selfishness. May those who are responsible, either directly or indirectly, for your premature exit from earth, "snap" out of their self-justifying, self-righteousness, self-absorbed trance, and learn to love with a heart as good and pure as the heart of a racehorse.
P.S. to Beth: I do not wear nailpolish. I do not take Premarin (or any drugs, prescription, OTC, or illegal -- ever). I no longer buy leather or wool or silk or any other product made with the "help" of animals. People "unlearn" hypocrisy by degrees, though. Same way they learned it in the first place....
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brrl rcr about 1 year ago
How could this be animal cruelty? If you think its because its dangerous and they may have to be euthenized, there is a risk for these type of things in everything. You want to make this sport illegal because of the dangers and risks? Maybe we should ban crossing the streeet too. The only horses that make it to the track and do well are the ones who love it and try as hard as they can. This is a business for the breeders and owners of the animals. If the animals did not like it, then they would not run as hard as they do. These horses are treated extremely well with love and care. They fed,and treated well and are truly loved. They run because its in their blood and they would not run if they didn't like it. This is the first horse that has died in the Kentucky Derby and it was not because of the humans.
R.I.P. Eight Belles. You were a strong, brave filly who tried with all your heart. Whoever said you had no chance with all of the colts was wrong. You did a great job. I can see you running around the track in heaven right now with Barbaro. <3 xox
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Thomas H about 1 year ago
Beth, if horse products are outlawed there will substitutes. You can guarantee it because of our free and competitive markets. Plus shouldn't you recuse yourself in this debate because you're profiting from race horses? How can you NOT be for perpetuating this "sport?" You're talking about drugging horses with lasix (just as Ed mentioned) like the horse is taking aspirin and mating horses like so many puppy mills out there. Come on. You're too deep in it to be impartial to how horses should best be treated. All I know is Eight Belles is dead like so many horses every year and you're in the thick of it. You've drank the Kool-aid and just don't know it.
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Beth Kinnane about 1 year ago
Thomas - I get paid an hourly wage to work in th business, as most who work in it do. I should recuse myself from a debate on a topic I know a lot about? Should all the Animal Rights people recuse themselves because they have an agenda, as well? Anyway, I am not profiting from this game at all. I work in it, I am not an owner or trainer and rarely gamble, because I cannot afford it. I don't drink anyone's Kool-Aid, not even my own. Ed likes to toss around that 55 horses were injured (not killed, injured) at Del Mar during a very aberrant stage a couple of years back. But he doesn't state how many horses were actually raced in those 2 seasons, which would have been at least 1500-2000, which means less than 1%. But they were dropping like flies, according to Ed. Where breeding them is concerned, we are breeding far fewer thoroughbreds than we were 20 years ago, when the average foal crop was around 50,000. Now they run about 35,000-40,000. In the meantime, despite the fact that on-track attendance is down, the actual demand for racing product has gone up, due to the availability of simulcast wagering. Horses can hurt by running, period, with or without us on their backs, whether they run out of a gate at a track or not. You know we lost two colts in the last 8 months here at the farm. One was kicked so hard by a mare it shattered his shoulder. We had to put him down. Another was kicked so hard by his own mother, it just the right spot, it ruptured his spleen and he died. Both incidents reflect perfectly normal behavior in horses. Mares kick at foals that are not their own and mares kick at their own foal to discipline them. That's just life being a horse.
"
"You're too deep in it to be impartial to how horses should best be treated." Okay, so tell me, Thomas, what do you when a horse is colicking? And no you can't cheat and Google it.
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Beth Kinnane about 1 year ago
Thomas - I get paid an hourly wage to work in th business, as most who work in it do. I should recuse myself from a debate on a topic I know a lot about? Should all the Animal Rights people recuse themselves because they have an agenda, as well? Anyway, I am not profiting from this game at all. I work in it, I am not an owner or trainer and rarely gamble, because I cannot afford it. I don't drink anyone's Kool-Aid, not even my own. Ed likes to toss around that 55 horses were injured (not killed, injured) at Del Mar during a very aberrant stage a couple of years back. But he doesn't state how many horses were actually raced in those 2 seasons, which would have been at least 1500-2000, which means less than 1%. But they were dropping like flies, according to Ed. Where breeding them is concerned, we are breeding far fewer thoroughbreds than we were 20 years ago, when the average foal crop was around 50,000. Now they run about 35,000-40,000. In the meantime, despite the fact that on-track attendance is down, the actual demand for racing product has gone up, due to the availability of simulcast wagering. Horses can hurt by running, period, with or without us on their backs, whether they run out of a gate at a track or not. You know we lost two colts in the last 8 months here at the farm. One was kicked so hard by a mare it shattered his shoulder. We had to put him down. Another was kicked so hard by his own mother, it just the right spot, it ruptured his spleen and he died. Both incidents reflect perfectly normal behavior in horses. Mares kick at foals that are not their own and mares kick at their own foal to discipline them. That's just life being a horse.
"
"You're too deep in it to be impartial to how horses should best be treated." Okay, so tell me, Thomas, what do you when a horse is colicking? And no you can't cheat and Google it.
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Cowgirl 006 about 1 year ago
yes i totaaly agree with you brrl! it is true, the only horses that make it to the track are the ones that truly love it and have a heart in what they were born to do. what is this u may ask? well it is only 1 thing. RUN! so i thin k we should stop with all of the rude comments about stopping this sport because its a buisness just like hocky. take this for example. Joe Thorten can brake a bone, or get killed playing hockey, anybody can. and also for who ever reading this that rides horses and is thinking horse racing is bad then you should quit riding horses because this could happen at antime ypu were riding you horse so i would just leave it at that for now!
( i have true faith in you 8 Bells and i hope that you are doing well up there and hope that you do well. you no what they say the grass is greener on the other side and she is loved here and there! you will be missed) <3 xoxo :(
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Thomas H about 1 year ago
Barbaro and Eight Belles enjoying themselves in heaven, probably with Ferndinand and Ruffian too? Whatever it takes to make yourself feel better about this industry's continuing tragedies I suppose. OK I'll play along ... one thing's for sure: in horse heaven they're not getting whipped by jockeys running themselves to death in a silly race for people's entertainment. But why not since some of you here said TBs "enjoy" it so much on earth right?
Horse races are nothing like hockey games. Even if you can make a plausible argument that just as many hockey players die each year as TBs (which is untrue), you still have the fact that dead hockey players chose to play and TBs didn't. Big difference.
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brrl rcr about 1 year ago
Ok think what you want, but you obviously have had nothing to do with horses or racing to think it is cruelty. did you watch the race? do the horses actually get whipped to death? i dont think so. the horses run because they like it and they want to. do you notice how the jockeys have to pull them up to stop them? this is because they are running at their own choice of spead. you can tell when a horse does not want to run because they have their own way of letting the rider know. they will buck rear, wont move, or take of to make the rider fall or hurt.
and sure it is entertainment for some people, but also a business, sport and people enjoy it. if you do not like the racing then why dont you just keep your rude comments and oppinions to yourself.
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Thomas H about 1 year ago
How are my comments rude and why should I keep my opinions to myself? Because I disagree with you? The fact remains that a good number of horses die every year for this industry and people should start asking questions. You're right it's a business and people enjoy it but at what cost? People enjoy dog fighting but we draw the line somewhere. I'm not saying horse racing is like dog fighting yet perhaps this is an activity that we need to start drawing lines as well. Why are you so against putting up precautions and stricter rules so the horses you claim you love so much are protected? Sorry that outsiders intrude in your "sport"; it may take outsiders and third party members to see what's really happening. Fish sometimes don't see water.
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Ed Berliner about 1 year ago
Jan makes a very good point in this discussion. Stay on point, people. This is not a debate about slaughter or anti-slaughter, and it is not meant to take on the vegan way of life. This is about a decaying sport that has fewer and fewer people every day paying attention. A sport that receives national attention a handful of times every year while the real issues at hand are glossed over or ignored completely.
And remember that out of chaos comes intelligent thought.
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Beth Kinnane about 1 year ago
Ed, I do not deny, a I said, that there are bad actors in this game that need to be weeded out. Just because you have covered racing for 20 years doesn't mean you know a lot about horses. Not singling you out, but most reporters covering horse racing (who only show up on the big days) don't know squat about them. I spent 2 years of my life as a reporter and covered Keeneland, The Derby, the Breeders' Cup. I am no stranger to the backstretch. I have worked with horses all my life, and, in fact work for a breeding farm in Kentucky. I plan the matings for the mares, and always plan them with a balance for speed and soundness, encourage people many times NOT to breed certain horses at all because of physical faults and soundness issues. I personaly want all horses to run drug free - though I can make far more allowances for lasix than I can bute or cortico-steroid use. I want the claiming game changed so that people cannot use those races to "dump" horses that are past their usefullness as racehorses. As in, if you put a claim in on a horse, and it fatally breaks down during the race, that is now your dead horse. If a horse is claimed but fails to finish a race, that claim should be null and void. That alone would chase off a lot of n'er do wells right off the bat. Mostly, people who don't have the jack to be in the game and properly care for their animals, owners and trainers alike, need to stay the hell out of it. Too many people jump in when they have the money to buy one, whether to breed or race, without considering the cost of maintaining the animal. I spend a lot of time educating people on that note as well. But just because some people are abusing the system and their horses doesn't mean all of them are. We do not need to treat those isolated, headline grabbing incidents as epidemics. And I certainly can't say Mr. Porter or Mr. Jones fall into the bad actor category. And again, I say, if anyone's sitting their munching on a Big Mac or any other non-organically raised animal, you've got no business calling out the horse industry for "abusing" animals. Ladies, if you're wearing nail-polish, the hardener is made from horse hooves, if you are on PREMARIN the drug is made from urine collected from stall bound, deydrated pregnant mares. You can read it right there in the name - PREgnant MARe uRINe. Football and baseball fans, the object that makes your sport go round is made from animal hide. My point is, before everyone gets on a high horse to indict the sport, go look in your fridge, in your closet, in your medicine cabinet and see how you are abusing animals with the products you buy and eat. Spend an afternoon on the backstretch, spend an afternoon at a stockyard and get to me on that.
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Beth Kinnane about 1 year ago
"Beth, I fear you have missed the point. Certainly horses will run and suffer broken limbs as any animal, including human beings, may do in the course of any activity. However, the majority of those horses were not doing so for the profit and gambling value to man."
That is neither here nor there to the horse. The fact that people may gamble on them and owners and trainers may make money on them has nothing to do with a broken leg. And because of the very fact that yes, a lot money can be made on them (the exception, not the rule), the last thing we want to have happen is a breakdown, fatal or not. The vast majority of racehorses finish their careers intact, whether they breed on, go out to pasture or are retrained for some other use. If we had horses breaking down at every racetrack, every race, every day that would be one thing, but we don't. For the record, I work in the business at hourly wage level. I do not own any horses right now, nor do I make money buying and selling or racing them. I also rarely gamble on them, because I can't afford it. I don't have a personal profit motive in defending the sport. I can always go do something else for a living. I stay in it because I love it, I wish to improve the breed through my knowledge of pedigree and conformation, and want to help in whatever way I can make the sport and the future for the animals better. What happened to Eight Belles is awful and I have cried more than a few tears for her. But knee-jerk reactions about banning the sport is going to fall on my deaf ears from people who can't see the forest for the trees. If you are that passionate about it and really believe that what we are doing is cruel, then look at yourself and how your life uses and, in some cases, abuses animals. Everybody who has pleasure horses has to stop riding them. No more horses in police departments. No more canine units for police departments. No more zoos because you need horse meat to feed the big cats. No more cosmetics, no more medicines made from animal research or bi-products. No more animal products in the refrigerator. No more leather shoes, handbags or anything. No more fur anything, especially from China, where they beat animals senseless and often skin them alive. No more fast food. no more driving your car (you might hit a deer, squirrel, raccoon, stray dog). Eight Belles lived a good life. She was loved and well cared for. Something bad happened that brought a quick end to it, but she was not tortured to get there. A horse that is beaten into submission is not going to be good at anything, especialy racing.
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Ed Berliner about 1 year ago
Beth, indeed you have missed the point. The fact that people do gamble on them while owners and trainers make money on them is the exact point of this discussion.
To owners and trainers, horses are a business and nothing more. They are there to make a profit, either on the track that day or in the breeding sheds later in life. People do not gamble on losers, they gamble on the horses kept competitive by any means. The more they gamble, the more the tracks make. The more the tracks make, the more the owners and trainers make, and so on down this food chain.
This is anything but a knee jerk reaction, rather a growing cycle that shows no sign of abating. As more owners and breeders over breed these animals, as is already the case, they are genetically creating animals that are more prone to breaking down and being killed. Certainly they are killed humanely, but were there not such a massive profit margin riding on their heads, they may not have to be killed at all.
Your arguments about police horses, pleasure horses and zoos are the true danger here and undoubtedly the real knee jerk. Those animals are cared for at a level most racing horses will never know. They are not whipped to excess, not injected with a bevy of chemicals, not forced to run for their supper or their lives. Of course, your arguments from there wandering into so many other avenues is specious at best. And I respect your chosen profession. However, an hourly worker at a race track sees little or nothing of what goes on in the board rooms. That's not to denigrate what you do or your stated love of the animal, simply a fact. In that sense, Elaine's point is certainly something to consider.
I might suggest you also do more homework on the issue. They still talk about the rash of horse deaths at Del Mar near San Diego 2 years ago, where during the first 18 days of racing 11 horses had to be "humanely retired" due to racing injuries. 11 in 18 days is more than an anomaly.
In the small country of Macau, press reports there have boasted of race horses being shot when they can no longer win.
In the US alone, over 5,000 race horses are retired every year. Where do all these horses wind up? Many are sold to overseas interests, raced until they drop or can no longer race, then executed for meat or their hides.
A recent study showed that for every 22 races in North America, at least one horse suffers an injury that will prevent them from every racing again. Where they go remains a well guarded industry mystery.
Another study estimated that over 800 thoroughbreds will die fro racing related injuries in North America alone. Start to consider the high cost of vets to bring these horses back to health, and it's not hard to connect the owners financial dots.
Eight Belles lived a good life. For a mere three years. That's a life? That is merely an existence, and one in the end meant for nothing more than creating a new profit margin and allowing yet another insensitive businessman wear a lapel pin and take home a trophy.
Of course, no one asks the horse if he or she would have surrendered that life for a piece of scrap metal.
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Elaine Smothers about 1 year ago
Beth, let me get this right. You're 'no stranger to the backstretch', you work for a breeding farm, but your arguments FOR the horse racing industry and its treatment of thoroughbreds is to start talking about Big Macs, Premarin, nail polish, footballs & baseballs, the contents of the fridge, closet, and medicine cabinet, and spending an afternoon at the stockyard???
If you really know as much about the industry as you claim, then you realize that breakdowns on the track are not just an isolated, headline grabbing incident, but an almost daily occurrence at racetracks across the country (it's just the celebrated races with large press coverage that make it into the news).
Deflecting the topic of conversation to all the other 'wrongs' in the world doesn't make the horse racing industries treatment of thoroughbreds any less wrong ... and while some owner/trainers may treat their horses better than others, all in all, the horses remain the voiceless victims in a world predominated by materialistic greed.
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Beth Kinnane about 1 year ago
Everyone saying I am deflecting to all the other wrongs in the world are completely missing the point as is Ed where the money making issue is concerned. If I am riding my pleasure horse across a pasture and she breaks her leg or if a racehorse breaks a leg at the track, the fact that the latter involves money or gambling is neither here nor there to the horse that has to be put down. You dislike it because people can profit from it. My point is, it cannot be okay to risk horses in non-profit producing ventures but not okay if money is involved. It's okay to use horse or it's not, we can either ride horses or we can't. Period. And either way, we accept the fact that horses will break their legs. Because in the end, the money has nothing to do with the horse, now does it? I am not a vegetarian, nor will I ever be, though I would consider myself a conscientious carnivore. But I get fed up with people who wear leather, eat industrialized meat and use other animal products try to get on some high moral ground when a horse breaks down in a race. Pigs and cows are slaughtered so you can eat them at the ballpark and make footballs and baseballs. That's okay but racing a horse isn't? And don't tell me there isn't any gambling on those sports. Ed keeps harping back to that abberant run of breakdowns at Del Mar a few years ago, but fails to mention that the CHRB legislated that all racing surfaces in California be switched to synthetic matreials. Doesn't mention the reduction in injuries at California racetracks since that time. I have admitted that there are bad actors in the game. We need to get rid of them. Ed keeps spitting out statistics I am fully aware of. But, in a perfect racing world where no one used or abused medications, legal or illegal, no one used a whip, and no one got to bet on them, and we raced them, occasionally, they are going to still break down sometimes. I am not justifying any REAL cruelty to animals at all. I am not using the examples of other uses of animals to say that makes it okay for us to abuse horses. I am saying the horses are not, as a whole, being abused. And before you accuse me, take a look at yourself. A horse suffering an injury, fatal or not, is not abuse. It's an accident. Now, if it can be proven that a trainer knowingingly ran an unsound horse, string him up from the nearest tree. I want all those jerks out of the game. But you are also calling out horse racing for being materialistic and greedy? Oh, that's right, baseball, footbal, basketball - it's all for the love of the game, no greed involved in there. You know what, as much I think it should be, at least in horse racing its legal for the athletes to be on steroids. In the meantime, you are all welcome to come to the farm in Kentucky where I will be happy to take you on a tour and show you how horribly we treat our horses.
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John Moss about 1 year ago
Ed,
I find it hard to believe you've been as close to the sport of horse racing as you portray -- because if you have, you'd want to try your best and save the sport, not call for it to end.
Go read the quotes from Larry Jones and the Churchill vet -- this unfortunate and tragic injury had nothing to do with what happened during the race. It was a freak accident, and that's all it was - an accident.
I was born into horse racing, and have loved it since I was a kid. I too have seen the good and bad of the sport -- but it's not the only sport with problems.
What the Sport of Kings needs is people to lead it with open minds, capable of looking at the good, bad, and ugly -- and doing whatever it takes to fix it. That includes doping. That includes treatment of horses after their time on the track.
I personally know people who run rescue farms in Kentucky for race horses no one wants anymore. I'm sure you know of these places... but where are they in your article? Instead, you focused your article on the "bad apples" of the sport. It was completely one sided.
It seems you tried to take advantage of a tragic situation, and influence people caught up in the moment. And that's a shame, Ed.
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Ed Berliner about 1 year ago
John, thanks for your comments. Unfortunately, I have seen this industry wallow in it's own excuses for well over 20 years and have yet to see a concerted effort from those such as yourself and from higher levels to enact any substantial change.
As for comments from the owner and trainer, they like so many others continue to gloss over the issue of horses with still-developing bones and muscles being asked to exert themselves to levels that in many cases are ill-advised for animals still growing. Ask any vet and they will tell you that in itself can and often does lead to such incidents.
Of course this is not the only sport with problems, but this is the one sport where the athletes are slaughtered for not pleasing their masters.
I have sided with this industry my entire life, always fascinated and captivated by the colors, the sounds, and these majestic animals.
This industry has been criminal in it's lack of leadership in truly doing something about what is a greater problem than anyone would dare tell above a whisper for fear of driving a dying sport, and their respective bank accounts, into oblivion.
And you are correct. I am taking advantage of the tragic situation, but this time not to obfuscate and hide behind the silks of cowards who refuse to take meaningful action.
And I apologize to no one for it. Best, Ed.
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Deb about 1 year ago
I bow to your eloquence, Ed, and your courage in taking this opportunity to inform and influence. I would just add that Larry Jones is now saying that racehorses are treated great relative to rodeo animals (where he started - !!). He said, "This is a kind sport to horses. I came out of rodeo -- and I'm not saying bad things about rodeo -- but there are other sports that are much harder on animals than racing." Saying that horse racing is better than rodeo is hardly a great testimonial, in my opinion. I also don't see how anyone could actually know what caused Eight Belles' fractures until the autopsy report is released. Propagation of microfractures into a macroscopic fracture could plausibly have occurred during the stretch run and displaced as she slowed. In any case, the following websites do a reasonable job of tallying the dead over the past year or so:
http://www.horsedeathwatch.com/ http://scrollsequus.blogspot.com/
I'll be showing these to my horse-loving daughter and her friends to help nip the "Joe Camel" effect in the bud for the next generation. You know, if it was just the excessively "game" Black Gold, Ruffian, Barbaro, and Eight Belles, I might still be a fan, but they are the visible tip of a large, unsightly iceberg of dead horseflesh. This needs to stop.
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Lyn Squires about 1 year ago
Such a well written article on a so called sport. "Sport of Kings" not anymore, it is just to make money. Greed is what drives the owners and any cost to the horses. To take such a majestic animal and run them into the ground. They run when their legs are to frail to carry them. Then will run until the bitter end for their trainers. Horses are the creatures with a big heart, not the so called owners who only pretend to love and care for them.
Horse racing isn't any different than the greyhound tracks. If they don't win, they die it is as simple as that. Sometimes they are just abandoned right there at the track. It is too bad their isn't a horse rescue. I am sure there are willing agencies that would rather try to adopt and foster rather than slaughter them only to end up on someones dinner table or a can of dog food.
In todays society, humans will go to any extreme at the expense of the animal for the love of money.
Such a sad legacy to leave to our children.
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Valerie Kennedy about 1 year ago
Thank you to this writer. He has pointed out succinctly and truly the state of racing. And while many people know about the ugly side of what goes on in the industry, few have the courage to tell the story. It needs to be told...over and over again, until change is made.
I watched my last Derby yesterday. I cannot witness or support this sport anymore. We are drawn to racing for the beauty and splendor of its athletes, but for some time now I have not understood why people who would do anything for a picture with a Smarty Jones or some other equine superstar have not responded to the abysmal deficiencies that exist within the sport. The casual indifference to the death of "Eight Belles," that presumes simply moving on to the next horse is shameful and speaks loudly to the selfishness and fickleness to many of those who patronize horse racing. And what of the horses who die the horrible death of the cruel path former racehorses take to be slaughtered? For their splendor and grace they are met with torture, punishment, pain and death. This monied sport needs to look beyond the live-in-the-moment, line-your- pockets-now mentality that is at levied with a "win at all costs" attitude that treats the athletes of the "sport of kings" like so much garbage. As they pass before the crowds, there is awe at their majesty and power. They are given their task. They perform it. They try their hearts out. Horseracing needs to be held ACCOUNTABLE. It needs better regulation. It needs fixing or it needs to go away.
Valerie
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Valerie Kennedy about 1 year ago
Thank you to this writer. He has pointed out succinctly and truly the state of racing. And while many people know about the ugly side of what goes on in the industry, few have the courage to tell the story. It needs to be told...over and over again, until change is made.
I watched my last Derby yesterday. I cannot witness or support this sport anymore. We are drawn to racing for the beauty and splendor of its athletes, but for some time now I have not understood why people who would do anything for a picture with a Smarty Jones or some other equine superstar have not responded to the abysmal deficiencies that exist within the sport. The casual indifference to the death of "Eight Belles," that presumes simply moving on to the next horse is shameful and speaks loudly to the selfishness and fickleness to many of those who patronize horse racing. And what of the horses who die the horrible death of the cruel path former racehorses take to be slaughtered? For their splendor and grace they are met with torture, punishment, pain and death. This monied sport needs to look beyond the live-in-the-moment, line-your- pockets-now mentality that is at levied with a "win at all costs" attitude that treats the athletes of the "sport of kings" like so much garbage. As they pass before the crowds, there is awe at their majesty and power. They are given their task. They learn it. They try their hearts out. Horseracing needs to be held ACCOUNTABLE. It needs better regulation. It needs fixing or it needs to go away.
Valerie
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Ellen-Cathryn Nash about 1 year ago
Thank you for this article. I rescue off track Thoroughbreds and I have had a son of 'Seattle Slew,' a grandson of 'Secretariat,' and now a great granddaughter of 'Secretariat', as well as a great granddaughter of 'Njinsky' and also another mare who is a great granddaughter of 'Mr. Prospector.' All were slaughter bound because they could not run fast enough.
The entire sport could be abolished under the RICO act. The owners and trainers lie about the drugs the horses are given daily during their entire careers, and the vets are payed to stay silent. The 'Sport of Kings' was dethroned almost 40 years ago when I, as a child' watched 'Ruffian' run on her dangling hoof in the 'Match Race' against 'Foolish Pleasure' at Belmont. I have not been able to watch a horse race since.
I did not watch the Derby, and as far as 'Barbaro' is concerned, I think he should have been put down at Pimlico. The world was lied to as when a horse suffers that extensive of an injury it is bad enough. To recess 80% of his 'good' right hind hoof due to laminitis was disgusting. Laminitis can be dealt with by slow barefoot trims. Then to say he 'foundered over the weekend' enraged me. A horse does not founder over the weekend. Dr. Richardson should go down in the history books as 'The Butcher of Barbaro'. Had they given him a prosthetic leg he would still be alive and fully able to stand stud. But for what? More Thoroughbreds that won't win the Triple Crown?
There are plenty of wonderful rescues who take these 'throwaways' and rehabilitate them. It takes a very long time to rehabilitate an off track horse, they are going through drug withdrawal, are confused, and they don't know how to interact with other horses. They need to learn to BE a horse.
The French do breed horses for the purpose of slaughter in that country, however, they just can't seem to get enough of our Thoroughbreds, American Quarterhorses, and Mustangs. Let them eat cake and not our horses, no matter which breed they are.
Ellen-Cathryn Nash
Manes and Tails Organization
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Thomas H about 1 year ago
I just don't understand why some fans and lovers of horses are so dead set against stricter regulations to ensure the safety of horses. If the question is how far do we go, then the answer is as far as the abuse (if any) and deaths of TBs drastically reduce. No we can't prevent freak accidents but after the discussion here and around the Internet I highly suspect in Eight Belles's case it is not all that unusual.
The good thing that might result of Eight Belles -- and I can envision it already since I'm a businessman myself -- is that the executives who run the Kentucky Derby will do whatever it takes to prevent injuries and deaths from happening at Churchill Downs as much as they possibly can in the future. They need to stop fans from leaving. They will turn over all the ills and tricks owners and trainers play. They will start asking and enforcing rules. Who knows they might even put up stricter rules as the result of the experience. If they're smart businesspeople they'd do that.
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Beth Kinnane about 1 year ago
Well Thomas, on this we CAN agree. I am all for stricter regulations: no drugs, stricter whip rules (there are safety issues involved in why a jock needs to carry one, and no its not so they can beat them), uniform rules across state lines and, harsher punishments for violators. I want claiming rules changed so the races can't be used by trainers to dump horses that are passed their racing days. I want a percentage of all Jockey Club registration fees to go for an Equine 401k program to provide for them after they retire, and for owners to be held accountable for their horses once they leave the track, as in revocation of racing licenses for owners caught neglecting, abandoning or abusing their horses. On the breeding end, I want restrictions on the number of mares a stallion can cover in one season (too many to the same stud, same sire line increases homegenity in the breed and unsoundness). So, no, I am not saying my sport doesn't have its warts. But they can be burnt off.
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L ACORAH about 1 year ago
BRILLIANT. SIMPLY BRILLIANT. LET THE TRUTH BE TOLD AND THE LIES TAKE HOLD.
THANK YOU ED....SOMEONE REALLY NEEDED TO STEP UP TO THIS SUBJECT.
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Linda Simpson about 1 year ago
This was a wonderfully written article about the truth in horse racing. You touched on all the points that one needs to know about how these magnificent animals are treated.
I hope one day this practice of racing babies will come to a close but as long as money changes hands humans unforunately will use and abuse.
As for sports played by humans, let's not confuse oranges and apples, humans have a choice, the horses don't.
Bravo Mr. Berliner for an exceptional article on 'The Shame of Kings'
-
Respectfully,
Linda Simpson
Grey Oaks Farm
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Beth Thompson about 1 year ago
Thank you for speaking the truth about this sad industry. They are running these horses too young and too hard. And there is far too much abuse and cruelty for those poor horses who are not successful. If this industry hopes to survive and maintain fans, it needs a re-work from the ground up. Eight Belles, RIP.
Beth Thompson
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Judith Jaehn about 1 year ago
GREAT ARTICLE ED, I sure hope that group of people are enjoying their Blood Money from Belles.
These people sold their souls along time ago. Liberation for all animals
Judith
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haley mcmahon about 1 year ago
Ed,
I've always enjoyed Thoroughbred racing, but clearly Barbaro's situation and the 1000's others who
break down show us it has to change. They say they want to keep the sport as it has always been
historically. Well they haven't always pumped them up with drugs.
Slaughter is just another way for "certain" industries to make a lot of money. It is a horrific death
for these horses. If more people were aware of what goes on they would be sickened.
As for the Thoroughbreds, there needs to be limitations on breeding with hefty fee's for regisration
to provide some kind of retirement when they show no talent on the track. I myself have
taken in 3 OTTB's. I think of them headed to a slaughter house and it turns my stomach.
Haley
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Daniel Muth about 1 year ago
Listen, any industry that makes that VAST majority of its money off gambling, is going to be populated by a cohort of scumbags intent on making a quick buck. Evidence the savory characters you'll find at your local cockfight, dogfight, or "them little ponies" at the dog track. Why is horse racing somehow immune from the rules that govern all other sport. I can't go to the window and place a bet when I'm at the Tigers game. Incidentally, this is exactly why all major sports are vehemently paranoid about gambling and have done much to eliminate the influence of betting on sporting outcomes. 1) this helps the fairness of the game, but 2) it leads to the better treatment of the participants. Eliminate gambling and the treatment of horses will improve, but it would also lead to the death of the sport. Not many people are interested in horse racing outside of the sportsbook. This is another reason to do away with it. Horse tracks are nothing but giant roulette wheels, surrounded by those lusting for money, and a minority few interested in horse racing.
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a v about 1 year ago
Thanks for remembering Ferdinand - that is a tragic story as is Eight Bell's story. What makes me so sad and upset is that there was much controversy to put her in the race. I hate to say it as I know the owner and trainer are in despair over this, but it really was greedy. She should never have been put in the race, but the owner would not have it any other way. So sad...I was a die hard racing junkie before Barbaro and haven't watched a race since that happened. I actually forgot about the derby...then for some reason turned my TV on in the afternoon and saw the news coverage before the race...went to my car and turned it on on the radio...screaming for joy in my car for big brown...only to be sobbing a few minutes later. My heart sank to the ground when they started talking about Eight Bells and what happened. To think in 5 minutes after she started the race she was dead. I can't handle it. I used to read Barbaro's diary written by his trainer every day. It was the saddest day when they took it offline after he died. It was the saddest day when he died. It was the saddest day when Eight Bells died. I'm angry at her owner and the trainer for putting her in the race. It was not right and that poor girl had to pay and now so many people are so hurt from this. I don't know if I will ever get over this. This was the final straw for me. :(
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a v about 1 year ago
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/horses/2008-05-04-chelokee_N.htm
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Jennifer Humphrey about 1 year ago
Ed you should lost your job over this!
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Murphy Lewis about 1 year ago
Have you ever been on a thoroughbred? Have you ever tried to stop one from running off with you when it feels like it? Have you ever seen a thoroughbred dance and jig when still injured because it wants to run? I think not. These horses love what they do. Run full out? Maybe not. But run, absolutely. Shame on you for capitalizing on an unfortunate event and making it your stepladder to fame. Shame on you for publishing a photo of a broken champion who chose to keep running despite being hurt. When a horse doesn't want to run, it won't. Plain and simple. That's why there are many unraced and off track thoroughbreds in hunter/jumper barns. Having my own thoroughbred WHO I RESCUED from a person who felt it was inhumane to keep him on the track and thusly threw him in a pasture for 6 months to be "free" and FORGOT about him, this story sickens me. And by the way, he broke through a fence and KEPT RUNNING despite being injured from the fence. He ran over a mile to make it to the highway, choice.. no one made him do it. Even as he was getting stitched up, he wanted to go. Even when the proud flesh on his hock made it difficult for him to take a certain lead, he still wanted to breeze the 2f behind the pastures. Until you experience your OWN horse and know his OWN emotions, wants and dislikes, get off your high horse, so to speak, on defaming a sport like racing.
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Deb about 1 year ago
Murphy, the photo on this article was published by the Associated Press photographer Brian Bohannon. That one and others were already online before this article came out. Horrifically, there is one where you can see the big pink hypodermic approaching her neck. NBC News has video footage of her that they won't be releasing, thank goodness. In my own opinion, this has nothing to do with whether Thoroughbreds like to run. Of course they do! It has to do whether those responsible for their well-being (the owners and trainers) are putting them in harm's way for the sake of money and entertainment. If horse racing was just for horse lovers and the thrill of the animals (rather like dog agility), there would still be injuries and deaths, but not at the current high rate because the participating owners wouldn't stand for it.
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Suzanne Marienau about 1 year ago
I will add my voice to those praising Ed on this wonderful article. Every bit of it is too true.
Horseracing is in a severe decline. Horses themselves, for whatever reasons, are not as durable as they were years ago. American breeders and those who race these animals are looking for more and more speed at earlier ages. Two year olds are put on the track and made to run as fast and as hard as they can to impress potential buyers. Don't tell me that this doesn't cause trauma to growing tendons, muscles, joints and bones. But sellers will do whatever they can to make a big sale. Breeders endlessly over-breed mares in hopes to get "the big horse." Major stallions can have books of over 100 mares each every breeding season, and then many get sent to the southern hemisphere to breed to many more mares there. How many of these resulting foals become successful racehorses? When you look at the numbers, not many achieve what their owners hoped for. What then, happens to them? Ed's article provides the gruesome answers.
I applaud PETA in their call for an investigation into the Eight Belles tragedy. Something needs to be done. Racing just says, "Oh well," and goes on as usual. Illegal drugs are a major problem, along with greed and indifference. Racing clearly cannot clean up it's act. Someone has to speak up for the horses. If this means closing down Thoroughbred racing, then I will add my support. The horses should always come first. Unfortunately, they don't. Maybe Eight Belle's death won't have been totally in vain if something can be done about this industry and it's treatment of these magnificent animals.
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R O about 1 year ago
This is a pathetic attempt to belittle Eight Belles and the industry. She was a 17 hand filly, bigger than most of the colts in the race. Her race record was good enough to be in that race and her performance proved it. The tragedy that followed may have occurred the day before in The Oaks if she would have run in it. You can't specualte that her effort caused the injury that occurred a quarter mile after the race. As a thoroughbred owner and breeder for 37 years who has had to put down horses due to illness and/or injury your overgeneralizations are the reason why people are in an uproar.
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R O about 1 year ago
Furthermore, PETA, CANTER and other groups who consistently euthanize unwanted animals under their own care should stay out of these kind of issues. They need to take a good look at their own practices before they question others.
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R O about 1 year ago
Don't go blaming the CD surface, the trainer, the jockey, the breeder or anyone else. When a healthy horse breaks down like Eight Belles or Barbaro its just bad luck. We are talking about the the cream of the crop. The best 3yo filly of probably 20,000 fillies born that year. It's not like she was some POS running at Beulah Park in Ohio in a $5000 claimer. She was a pampered horse who likely had X-Rays taken once a week to make sure she was OK. If she wasn't OK she wouldn't have raced. It was bad luck for her to break both of her legs so bad in one stride.
And dont try and say that the sport isnt trying to improve the safety for the horses either. Veterinarians, trainers and grooms also do all they can to head off injuries before they appear. After races and workouts, grooms on the backside rub down horses' legs, probing for heat, swelling and anything that feels wrong. They apply ice, liniments, wraps and poultices, some from recipes that have been honed through decades of experimentation and are well-guarded family secrets.
Rick Arthur, an attending veterinarian at Del Mar, recalls trainers who insisted on mud gathered from a specific location in San Pablo Bay.
Advances in veterinary medicine, however, are making it possible to detect issues before they become apparent to even the most practiced hand and eye.
In the early 1990s, results from Stover's team showed that a new technique called nuclear scintigraphy could be used to detect bone remodeling in thoroughbreds before catastrophic injury. In nuclear imaging, radioisotopes are detected with a gamma camera. Areas that "light up" on a nuclear image indicate increased physiological activity. A screening facility, sponsored by the Dolly Green Foundation, was instituted at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia. Arthur has directed it since 1993.
In that time, more than 6,000 horses have been screened for bone changes that warn of impending fractures. Horses are referred for screening by their attending veterinarians.
"Horses that would have broken down and been put down 10 years ago are now coming back to race, and they race very well," said Arthur. He recounted two cases of young horses that were diagnosed with stress-related remodeling in the tibia, the long bones of the upper leg. With proper rest, both horses recovered and went on to win Horse of the Year titles.
But ultimately, Arthur believes, more information is needed on how injuries, equine biomechanics and track surfaces correlate. For example, at the Newmarket (England) track, fractures of the pastern, the bone between the hoof and ankle, are commonly seen. At Del Mar, however, fractures in the cannon bone above the ankle predominate.
"And we don't know why. We need a hoof's-eye view," Arthur said, which is why he and his colleagues are watching Peterson's work with great interest.
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Ed Berliner about 1 year ago
My sincere thanks for everyone who has commented on this issue, and hopefully bringing it to the attention of those who need to worry more about the horses than their bank accounts.
To Jennifer, I believe the correct word is "lose" your job, not "lost" as in past tense being used in a present tense sentence. Despite being my own boss, I will forward your suggestion to the next level for consideration.
To Murphy, I have owned and cared for horses many times in my life and still spend some of my spare time riding and caring for them. And as I have pointed out many times and, if you were someone who knew the sport and the training, many of these horses will continue to try and run despite serious injuries in order to please their masters.
And to R, if this sport was indeed as you claim trying to make it safer, why then has there been no significant...keep that word in mind, significant...changes in the sport save for cosmetic ones? Why is nothing being done to protect younger animals who have yet to realize their full growth potential? Why is it that with what the industry calls "stringent drug testing" rules, horses are still routinely doped into shape?
I respect each of your opinions, but fear reality defeats them every time. Best, Ed.
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Dave Finocchio about 1 year ago
Poor horse
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Julie Kluesener about 1 year ago
Your ignorance makes me sick. Why not tell the truth about racing? About how these people do what they do everyday for their love of horses, not greed. Get your facts straight, and stop your disgusting propaganda.
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Juliane Zimmerman about 1 year ago
Dear Anita Getaclue,
Thank you for your fervent support of the recent laws that were passed in Illinois and Texas that effectively ended the closely regulated slaughter of horses in the United States. Thank you for pushing the practice past our borders and out of control of the USDA's standards for humane treatment of food animals. We also appreciate your lobbying to pass the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act currently in Congress, which will end the transport of unwanted horses to foreign slaughterhouses and keep each and every one of them within the borders of our beautiful nation-alive and well!
You'll be pleased to learn that the "alive and well" part is where you come in! A new organization has been created through the cooperative effort of the numerous horse industry organizations and the USDA, called "Save Horses In Trouble-Help End Abandonment & Death," or SHITHEAD for short. In accordance with the guidelines of this new program, and to alleviate the pressure on existing rescue facilities to take in the thousands of unwanted horses, we have decided to place one unwanted horse under the personal care of each and every person that supported banning horse slaughter in the United States.
As you may know, since the slaughter facilities have closed, not only have rescue facilities and shelters been inundated to the point that they have to close their doors to new arrivals, but many horses have also been neglected, starved to death, or abandoned because of the record high hay prices. Therefore, your participation in this program is mandatory.
We understand that it is your feeling that horses are pets, not livestock, and since most people in the United States do not choose to eat them, therefore no one should, and all horses should live out their lives in an idyllic pastoral setting. We also understand that while your relatively large 40' X 40' suburban backyard isn't exactly Yellowstone, it will just have to do. We are certain you will make the necessary adjustments.
Your unwanted horse is of unknown origin, but is roughly 6 years old (although we can't get close enough to him to tell for sure), weighs approximately 1500 pounds and has a mean streak a mile wide, and has been known to randomly bite, strike, or kick, especially at small children, elderly people, and house pets. We have decided to call him "Satan."
While Satan is capable of physical aggression, unfortunately he is not able to be ridden because of his crooked front legs. He is capable, however, of reproducing, as he is a stallion. This is of special import to you, as your neighbors and fellow members of the "Horses Are Humans With Hooves" group will also be provided with horses through our program, some of which might be mares.
For your information, the $20 you donate annually to the Humane Society of the United States can instead buy you approximately two bales of high-quality hay at the current market rate. Assuming that the bales weigh 100 pounds, and you feed 20 pounds to said beast per day, this will be enough to feed him for ten days. You will be happy to know that the lifespan of a horse averages about 25 years, and therefore Satan can bring you approximately 9,125 days of enjoyment. That is, of course, only if you provide him with the best care possible, which we are absolutely certain that you will. To ensure that Satan is receiving proper care, an inspector will visit your home on a weekly basis.
At your request, we can provide you with contact information for veterinarians, farriers, trainers, equine dental practitioners, whisperers, and tranquilizer gun dealers in your area, as well as the necessary contacts you will need for euthanasia and disposal of Satan's earthly vessel when he crosses over. We foresee that Satan's death will be especially traumatic for you, being the enlightened individual that you are, and counselors are already available at 1-900-NO-SENSE. ($3.99 for the first minute, $1.99 for each additional minute).
Unfortunately, there is no government financial assistance for care and maintenance costs of SHITHEAD horses, as all of the funds allocated for such things are dedicated to the Bureau of Land Management's Wild Horse program.
Sincerely,
Gene E. Us
Program Director
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Raider Card Addict about 1 year ago
Ok, you gotta make this into an article....it's a purely wonderful, perfect illustration that PETA and the other humans need to see....and a good reality check, since the PETA people seem to be loaded with money....send them the bills!
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Jake W about 1 year ago
Ed,
Thanks for the column. While I appreciate the wealth of knowledge you've brought to the table, I can't say I agree with you. However, I will admit that I symmetrically straddle the fence on this issue. I certainly cannot argue with the fact that there is an abundance of severe ethical problems within the world of thoroughbred racing. However, despite these issues, I don’t think the sport "needs to pass into the history books and join other barbaric and greedy spectator pastimes..."
Horse racing is in dire need of major reform and has been for years, as you document well in your column. Having a tragedy like the death of Eight Belles on national television should pave the way for movement in the direction of dramatic reform. I was perturbed and dismayed by PETA's foolhardy reaction calling for the immediate suspension of the jockey. This would have been a superb platform for PETA to take a leadership role in creating cultural changes in the industry. Unfortunately, I'm afraid they have blown this opportunity thanks to the ignorance they displayed in their letter to the Kentucky Racing Authority.
What if there was away to bring more awareness to all of racing's issues, and start correcting them? What if there was a more-respected, more-intelligent organization with similar aims to those of PETA? Can't the goal be to cleanse the sport instead of retiring it all together? There are so many wonderful things about it - the bond between man and horse, a stage on which the beauty of horses can be displayed, the excitement of race day (I could go on and on).
Seeing the events and reading the comments of the past few days has made me realized that death almost always creates a polarizing argument. In this case though, I believe a place somewhere in the middle will be best for the racing opponents, racing proponents and the racehorses.
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Deb about 1 year ago
Hi Jake. Unfortunately, although PETA gets a great deal of attention and funding just through brand name recognition, it and HSUS are not the organizations that they should be. I suspect that their leadership may be more interested in eradicating domestic horses than protecting them and, as you said, attacking the jockey based on the scant evidence from the race photography was naive. I wonder whether ASPCA could step up to the plate here. They are rather coy about taking on industry, but they also don't insert their collective feet into their mouths quite so often. It's sad but true that there aren't too many organizations for moderates on these kinds of issues.
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Thomas H about 1 year ago
I agree with Deb. PETA and HSUS are not the best since their main solution is to euthanize animals not take care of them for the rest of their lives. BestFriends.org might be worth a look.
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vicki t about 1 year ago
Excellent article, Ed. You are right on target.
Wendy, the pending legislation is for horses. They are bred and raised as companion, sport and work animals. Animals are slaughtered for food. Horses are not food animals in this country. Cattle are an acceptable food source in this country. The groups involved in the anti slaughter efforts have no intention of trying to ban the slaughter of cattle. You are doing nothing but repeating the pro slaughter Ag dribble. We are not trying to ban meat. We are not dictating what people can eat in foreign countries nor are we condemning them because they eat horse meat. If they want to eat horse meat, they can butcher their own horses; not ours.
Slaughter exists for one reason and one reason only, greed. The kill houses are not providing a service. They are not rounding up unwanted horses. They are paying for them. They are buying based on the demand by the foreign kill houses and they are buying healthy, sound horses. Slaughter perpetuates the breed and dump cycle. Remove the incentive. Surely these breeders will cut back when they realize they can’t sell out their mistakes for $200. A better use of your time would be to target pro slaughter organizations like the AQHA. The majority of horses going to slaughter are quarter horses so it’s no wonder they don’t want to see slaughter come to an end. It has nothing to do with equine welfare. Only $$$.
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Wendy about 1 year ago
The AQHA is not "pro-slaughter" - they are against the slaughter bill as it is written. The AVMA and AAEP are also against the slaughter bill as it is written. Actually go and read their positions on the matter before you claim that they're pro-slaughter. It's funny that two organizations of veterinarians, who swear an oath upon graduating veterinary college:
(Being admitted to the profession of veterinary medicine, I solemnly swear to use my scientific knowledge and skills for the benefit of society through the protection of animal health, the relief of animal suffering, the conservation of animal resources, the promotion of public health, and the advancement of medical knowledge.
I will practice my profession conscientiously, with dignity, and in keeping with the principles of veterinary medical ethics.
I accept as a lifelong obligation the continual improvement of my professional knowledge and competence.)
are also against this slaughter bill, yet people choose to believe the propaganda that plasters our headlines. I also am well aware that the bill is for horses, but my point is that once one bill is passed, it's only a matter of time before activists get bored and decide that Bessy the cow is worth saving from slaughter, too.
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Wendy about 1 year ago
I would like to thank those of you who pointed out that Eight Belles didn't run on Friday. The article made it sound as if she did (stating that Jones won the Oaks on Friday and then ran the filly on Saturday), and being a student, I'm in the midst of finals and barely had time to watch the race, let alone any of the rest of the events of the weekend. That does NOT change the fact that the filly was cleared to race by the track veterinarian as well as the fact that she was undoubtedly checked from nose to tail by trainers before being allowed to race.
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Lars WVU - 89 about 1 year ago
The events this past weekend were, indeed, tragic... and very painful to watch. But the fact that so many did watch it makes me wonder if those who are speaking out against using animals for sports such as horse racing, realize just how many animal deaths they are responsible for, on a daily basis.
Did anyone have chicken or beef for lunch today? There is an animal that was killed to feed you. How many people have leather shoes? There you go, another dead animal you are responsible for. Did you have milk or cheese or food with eggs in it, this past week? I hope you realize that when a chicken quits laying, it goes to slaughter. Same for a milk cow's that quit making milk. Any animal product people use today, come from animals that have been raised with the intent purpose of eventually killing that animal.
Living one's life means the death and consumption of other living creatures. Yes, we hope that we are ethical and humane in the way we treat our animals, but let us not be deluded... human beings live a modern life because we kill and make a variety of food and products from other living creatures. Does a racing horse deserve better treatment than a pig that will eventually be turned into insulin, leather goods and bacon? Does a puppy dog deserve to be fawned over in a US living room or be served up with a brown glaze and scallions in an asian kitchen?
Face it people, we feed off of the death of other animals. If you folks are gonna get up in arms over horse racing, then you might want to examine what other aspects of your daily lives that are a bit uglier than you might think... once you find out what goes on behind the scenes.
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vicki t about 1 year ago
Wendy, surely you jest. The AQHA is very pro slaughter as is the AVMA and AAEP. Perhaps you can explain why the AVMA and AQHA have both donated tens of thousands of dollars only to senators that are not backing the legislation? The AVMA has been quite coy with their $9k donations – just under the radar for the $10k gift tax. Research PAC and you’ll see the donations to Craig, Hutchinson, etc. In fact, the AQHA recently hired Burns to lobby for them. They stand to lose registration fees if their membership should wake up and start breeding responsibly. Why don’t they take a portion of their membership fees to establish a humane euthanasia fund for their members that have fallen on hard times? The AVMA talks out of both sides of their collective mouths. Bonnie Beavers perjured herself before Congress twice by stating that the captive bolt provides an instantaneous death. Even us non-horse folks know it was designed to stun, not kill. In all of their client brochures, they state the humane way to end a horses life is by a vet. In front of Congress, they sing a different tune. They also stated that a horse’s head must be restrained and everyone knows, that is not possible. Horse slaughter is a violation of the 1958 Humane Slaughter act that states an animal must be rendered senseless with one blow and we all know that is not possible with horses. Of course, the USDA turns the other way.
I have read their positions and they are against language they have twisted for their own purposes. The bill clearly calls out horse slaughter. The language stating for other purposes does not mean transporting for other purposes. It means transporting to slaughter for other purposes (other than human consumption). The AQHA already tried this argument and was immediately corrected in a press release by Senator Landrieu’s office. All three organizations complain about the inhumane death in Mexico and yet, don’t support the bills that will stop it.
Have you visited the Vets for Equine Welfare site? They are members of the AVMA and are sickened by the AVMAs stance on slaughter. Read what the membership is saying, not the governance of the organization.
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Lily Gee about 1 year ago
A blunt revelation of what goes on behind the scenes in racing to cap off the ugly public display of Saturday, thank you for writing this. While I agree it's unconscionable as it is, I don't feel it needs to be eliminated. It needs major reform and right now.
It's the MONEY and GREED and EGO that keep things the way they are, "in the old tradition" of use 'em up, spit 'em out. And any solutions will have to address this.
This ugly revelation of so many ills in racing is very seriously something that that every TB breeder and owner should be working to resolve. If the industry does not regulate itself now, they will be very unhappily surprised when someone else regulates it for them in the future. They could go a long way to fixing their very ugly and cruel public persona by doing 3 things right away:
Begin a concentrated effort at a national level to breed for strong bone and sturdiness - this means that fine boned horses, with ancestors prone to breaking down will be worth less in today's market. There will need to be incentives for breeders - maybe conformation/halter futurity classes in real horse shows for the youngsters so the breeders can shoot for winning something before they even race.
Quit racing 2 year olds, quit working 2 and 3 year olds and begin them at the earliest at 4 yrs. As has been stated and proven scientifically, horses are not grown at 18 months or 24 months or even 36 months. Let them grow up before putting weight and hard work on them. There is no excuse not to do this given what we know today that we did n ot know 125 years ago when TB racing began (and also when horses were more sturdily built which has been lost due to poor breeding practices).
Implement horrific fines at the association level and punishment like large fines and jail time at the state and federal level for anyone convicted of any kind of doping with steroids or pain masking drugs. Implement mandatory blood tests for every horse racing, incorporate those fees into the entry. Eventually people will quit doping them. As for pain killers, I don't care if pain relievers have been OK for years - they are WRONG, WRONG, WRONG when you have animals bred to run their hearts out in spite of pain.
All horsepeople stand to be sullied by the crude and cruel ways of the racing folks -- the rest of us do not appreciate the ugly light they cast on the equine industry as a whole. A large portion of us have seen for years the ugliness that is now being broadcast on TV but we've been powerless to effect a ny change being "outsiders".
I say to the TB industry: It's time for racing to grow up and move into the 20th and 21st centuries. Clinging to 19th century traditions, whining they "must" do so all the while using that to protect their cash cows created by their cruel callous over use, abuse and early breakdown and exhaustion of these animals is not going to fly any longer.
Footnote: I am not a peta person or a once a year race watcher. I am a 20 yr horse owner working in the equine industry. I see much more than even most horse owners due to my activity in the professional equine world. I hear from many equine pros exactly the sentiments I have written. I know in my heart that racing has a lot wrong with it that MUST be addressed. I am not saying there is not problems in all areas of horse sports -- there are some (like working much too young) that can be solved and a few others (like bottom of the barrel psychotic owners/trainers) that cannot be easil y fixed. Bottom line: A civilized society does not treat it's animals so callously as racing does. We can do better. If we eliminate racing, there will be hundreds of thousands of horses dying of even more unspeakable reasons. But we can change it for the better and benefit the horses and the people who love them too. I pray the TB breeders are reading some of these reactions to this accident and taking it all seriously.
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Lily Gee about 1 year ago
Ed wrote in a comment: This industry has been criminal in it's lack of leadership in truly doing something about what is a greater problem than anyone would dare tell above a whisper for fear of driving a dying sport, and their respective bank accounts, into oblivion.
And you are correct. I am taking advantage of the tragic situation, but this time not to obfuscate and hide behind the silks of cowards who refuse to take meaningful action.
And I apologize to no one for it. Best, Ed.
THANK YOU, ED! For taking this bold and necessary step, for risking a lot in your own career and life to do so. We can only hope more with a public pulpit will step up, acknowledge this travesty and continue to speak their truth. And we can only hope that the Old Boys of the Jockey Club will listen and finally do something about it. Do something, BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE, before they are either sunk as an industry or regulated by nw laws driven by many who are much more vociferiously radical in what they'd like to ban than the average horse loving person who objects to this cruel sport's methods and traditions. Time to man up and do the right thing, old JC guard - do it now, or be forced later.
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Gramma Haus about 1 year ago
GREAT big bunch of truth there.
Educate people on how horses are grouped by age.
A 3 year old will probably not be 36 months old.
Jan 1 is every horses' birthday.
How old was Eight Belles?? in months, I mean.
So eligible 3 year olds can be from 25 to 47 months old.
Were her bones fully formed? Like running toddlers under the whip.
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nowheres nobody about 1 year ago
We used to take in old race horses and put them out to pasture. Crippled legs--they certainly didn't need to be hobbled. At least these ones did get to roam and graze all day and weren't taken away until they gave up the ghost on their own.
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Joey about 1 year ago
Horses should not be run at two. Their bones are not fully developed of course they are going to crash and burn. Horse racing is a cruel sport. If people want to race horses the horse should be at least five.
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Lily Gee about 1 year ago
Yes, and let's out the LYING publicity shills in the racing industry while we are at it. The first case in point: Dr. Bramlage, vet shill to the KHRA (KY Horse Racing Authority) and likely many other racing groups.
I wouldn't listen to a word the LYING Bramlege had to say about anything. I wouldn't take water from this shill if I were roasting in he!! for fear he'd spin the safety of that water. This is the same man who was quoted in the original article on the Bloodhorse site responding to KHRA's declaration in that article that they have indeed no sicentific evidence to support starting horses at a later age as requested by PETA. Bramlage states:
"as soon as thoroughbreds are physically mature, they should start effective training. It is most desirable not to let the bone formation apparatus atrophy after growth and then require it to be re-created. The most effective training takes advantage of the blood supply and cell population that contributed to growth, and convert it to forming bone in response to training. Scientific evidence shows such horses have longer careers and are more successful."
This man is more interested in protecting the racing industry than he is in the truth of protecting these animals by properly managing and training them. His statement is completely unsupported by citation and in direct opposition to veterinary texts that have been around for decades:
http://www.illinoishorse.com/articles/plateclosure.jpg This, an excerpt from a 1974 reference on Lameness in horses, is still well accepted and cited today in many other equine studies and training programs.
Here's another interesting educational page to read about how long it takes for horses to mature: http://www.equinestudies.org/knowledge_base/ranger.html This one, an article about the maturation rate of horses by an acclaimed equine anatomy and bio-mechanics expert. It also contains a telling passage 3/4 of the way through called FUTURITIES which lays out the history of the TB and TB racing and how it devolved from a real fitness test to a money grubbing contest.
No, I'm not a vet but I do know how to research. Go look for yourselves - there are dozens of studies out there repeating these FACTS about how long it takes for the bones to finish growing, none citing that it's finished by 18 months. But we still have GOD Bramlage to tell us: none of that is true, they finish by 18 months and they MUST start training right then or risk not being strong or successful enough. HOGWASH!!!
Wake up, people. Either racing does something to fix it's HUGE ills or racing will be forced into it. The handwriting is on the wall, it's up to you folks to read it and quit trying to justify the cruelty and narrow-mindedness of clinging to tradition. The industry needs MAJOR REFORM and I predict it will happen either voluntarily or by force. The choice is up to the racing world.
You can throw bricks at the messengers all you want. You can try to call all us all PETA nutcases but the truth is that thousands of GOOD horsemen dedicated to honoring and partnering with their animals feel strongly that racing is the black eye and the boil on the equine industry. Your aggression means nothing and only shows the ignorance and arrogance rampant in the industry. The truth is out and you can't sidestep it any longer. Time to accept the bit and move forward.
FOOTNOTE:
Read more about it: http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=11812&nID=43&src=RA
Following is an excerpt from this article of KHRA's LYING DECEPTIVE public statement that there is no scientific evidence horse mature later than 18 months (average age the TB begins training):
""People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent the KHRA a letter requesting that certain actions be taken. One statement indicated Thoroughbreds should not be trained or raced before their third birthday, however, the KHRA has no scientific evidence to support the need to make this change."
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Lily Gee about 1 year ago
Yes, and let's out the LYING publicity shills in the racing industry while we are at it. The first case in point: Dr. Bramlage, vet shill to the KHRA (KY Horse Racing Authority) and likely many other racing groups.
I wouldn't listen to a word the LYING Bramlege had to say about anything. I wouldn't take water from this shill if I were roasting in he!! for fear he'd spin the safety of that water. This is the same man who was quoted in the original article on the Bloodhorse site responding to KHRA's declaration in that article that they have indeed no sicentific evidence to support starting horses at a later age as requested by PETA. Bramlage states:
"as soon as thoroughbreds are physically mature, they should start effective training. It is most desirable not to let the bone formation apparatus atrophy after growth and then require it to be re-created. The most effective training takes advantage of the blood supply and cell population that contributed to growth, and convert it to forming bone in response to training. Scientific evidence shows such horses have longer careers and are more successful."
This man is more interested in protecting the racing industry than he is in the truth of protecting these animals by properly managing and training them. His statement is completely unsupported by citation and in direct opposition to veterinary texts that have been around for decades:
http://www.illinoishorse.com/articles/plateclosure.jpg This, an excerpt from a 1974 reference on Lameness in horses, is still well accepted and cited today in many other equine studies and training programs.
Here's another interesting educational page to read about how long it takes for horses to mature: http://www.equinestudies.org/knowledge_base/ranger.html This one, an article about the maturation rate of horses by an acclaimed equine anatomy and bio-mechanics expert. It also contains a telling passage 3/4 of the way through called FUTURITIES which lays out the history of the TB and TB racing and how it devolved from a real fitness test to a money grubbing contest.
No, I'm not a vet but I do know how to research. Go look for yourselves - there are dozens of studies out there repeating these FACTS about how long it takes for the bones to finish growing, none citing that it's finished by 18 months. But we still have GOD Bramlage to tell us: none of that is true, they finish by 18 months and they MUST start training right then or risk not being strong or successful enough. HOGWASH!!!
Wake up, people. Either racing does something to fix it's HUGE ills or racing will be forced into it. The handwriting is on the wall, it's up to you folks to read it and quit trying to justify the cruelty and narrow-mindedness of clinging to tradition. The industry needs MAJOR REFORM and I predict it will happen either voluntarily or by force. The choice is up to the racing world.
You can throw bricks at the messengers all you want. You can try to call all us all PETA nutcases but the truth is that thousands of GOOD horsemen dedicated to honoring and partnering with their animals feel strongly that racing is the black eye and the boil on the equine industry. Your aggression means nothing and only shows the ignorance and arrogance rampant in the industry. The truth is out and you can't sidestep it any longer. Time to accept the bit and move forward.
FOOTNOTE:
Read more about it: http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=11812&nID=43&src=RA
Following is an excerpt from this article of KHRA's LYING DECEPTIVE public statement that there is no scientific evidence horse mature later than 18 months (average age the TB begins training):
""People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent the KHRA a letter requesting that certain actions be taken. One statement indicated Thoroughbreds should not be trained or raced before their third birthday, however, the KHRA has no scientific evidence to support the need to make this change."
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Lorraine Brown about 1 year ago
I agreed with many of your thoughts and perceptions about the brutality of the horse racing industry. The tragic death Eight Belles again underscores the need to engage in serious reforms to regulate the practices that have been going on for years. However, I do take issue with your mention of Barbaro, and your "ludicrous" description of what occurred after his death. If there was a media campaign, it came from many of us common people who became compelled by this Kentucky Derby champion, to form a group on the Internet to work painstakingly for horseracing reforms. We call ourselves FOBs (Fans of Barbaro, as a unit that has waged battles to promote synthetic surfaces. We have donated monies to New Bolten to do research on Laminitis, hosting a one year anniversary last year in Delaware, in which a fundraiser produced thousands of dollars to be donated for this cause. Additionally, all of us have worked tirelessly for two years to promote the bills in Congress to banish horseslaughter in our country. We have written e-mails, made phone calls and literally travelled to Washington to meet with Congresspeople to promote our cause. Furthermore, in linking up with the owners of Barbaro,the Jacksons and meeting Michael Matz , the trainer, one could only come to the conclusion, they were not out to create a sentimental, gushy reaction to their efforts to save the horse. These are compassionate and decent human beings who truly care about the horses. There are thousand more of Americans who have increased awareness and concern about horseracing , because of following the saga of the beloved Barbaro. "Ludicrous" is hardly a way to describe the legacy that Barbaro left..