Monday, January 29, 2007
Let's Stop Horse Racing Now
Barbaro died today. I am glad his owners tried to save him -- that's what a racehorse owner should do but rarely does. But I think the American public is hypocitical. Thousands of race horses die every year, in far worse situations than Barabaro's. Even being a Kentucky Derby winner can't guarantee that the horse won't be slaughtered for meat.
Racing Thoroughbreds are magnificent, fragile babies that can barely support their own weight, let alone that of a jockey's. They run until they literally implode, because we ask them to. The entire gene pool is derived from just three stallions. Funny how no one wonders about what that might do to generations of animals.
These animals are bred for speed, not to survive. What are we DOING? Winning a trophy should not be so high up on our priorities that we condem millions of horses to misery. I've got a feeling if the situations were reversed, the horses wouldn't do it to people. They're not that greedy.
I used to worship horse racing. Football fanatics had nothing on me. I knew statistics, bloodlines; collected books, movies and artwork about racehorses. As a kid, I'd daydream about having my own racehorse.
Then, as I got older, I grew up. Seeing Charismatic being overtrained for the 1999 Triple Crown made me afraid to watch a race he was in, for I knew it was only a matter of time before he'd go down. And he did. And no one said boo. All they wanted to know was "Who do you like in the next race?"
It appalled me. I'd wasted years of my life on a sport that cared not one whit for the very animals it needs. I shocked my family and friends when I no longer watched races and wanted nothing to do with them. But I love horses more than what I looked like to others.
And I've never regretted it. I learned about other things, like paganism. The money, land and tracks of the racing industry can be used for better things, like building homes for the homeless, sheltering abandoned animals or becoming halfway homes for suddenly unemployed racehorses.
And the Thoroughbreds won't even mind if their breed goes extinct. The only ones who would mind are people.
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It's weird you should blog about this - only watched a programme about 'retired' racehorses the other day.
Made me sick. I also couldn't understand how some of them could end up so neglected - at the end of the day they are still cracking horses who must be worth something to someone. Why not just sell them, or give them away?
The reason is obviously that they are just viewed as a commodity, as this egotistical human race views every animal it considers its inferior. Just don't get me started...
Made me sick. I also couldn't understand how some of them could end up so neglected - at the end of the day they are still cracking horses who must be worth something to someone. Why not just sell them, or give them away?
The reason is obviously that they are just viewed as a commodity, as this egotistical human race views every animal it considers its inferior. Just don't get me started...
They further state that these horses suffer horribly at the hands of these owners. Really? You think it’s in an owners best interest to treat a horse badly that’s worth hundreds of thousands of dollars? Is that logical? I heard a horse racing analyst on ESPN state that in almost every situation the horses are treated better than the trainers. They are pampered and treated like royalty. Hmm, I guess maybe I’d like to sign up for this type of horrible suffering.
# posted by 
: 4:10 PM
: 4:10 PM
I hope you do sign up for that kind of suffering, Anonymous, because then you'd see what a horrible "sport" it is.
Horses are raced when their bones are still fragile. A horse is phayically mature at age 5 and race horses begin training as yearlings to race at 2. Horses are taken care of only at the whim of the owners. Horses race for an average of two years and then they're dumped. These animals live to be 30 or 40. If they make the breeding sheds, they're not safe. Even Alydar, the top sire of the time, was killed for insurance money.
I used to work for a Standardbred horse racing stable and yes, the employees are treated horribly. Yet another reason to end horse racing.
Horses are raced when their bones are still fragile. A horse is phayically mature at age 5 and race horses begin training as yearlings to race at 2. Horses are taken care of only at the whim of the owners. Horses race for an average of two years and then they're dumped. These animals live to be 30 or 40. If they make the breeding sheds, they're not safe. Even Alydar, the top sire of the time, was killed for insurance money.
I used to work for a Standardbred horse racing stable and yes, the employees are treated horribly. Yet another reason to end horse racing.
It makes me sick how the horses only mean something to people when they win and even then most of the time they are sent to slaughterhouses.
# posted by : 2:54 PM
: 2:54 PM
Yeah, no kidding. The horses are treated like objects. STOP HORSE RACING!!!!! I compleetly agree with you Majic, rraven and the last anonymous.(not the one right after Majic)
# posted by : 3:02 PM
: 3:02 PM
Horse Racing Is Horrible, I Own an ex-racehorse. He is going fantastic at the minute, i dont know how early he was broken in but i am aware he won his first race at the age of 2 year old. i have kept in touch with 2 of his previous race owners and they said he has back problems so they sold him on, They often say i am worried about a 15 year old girl having this racehorse because he was a sprinter. He had been allover the world because horse trainers said they didnt want him, Once they had sold him on he had just stood in a field for 3 year doing nothing. and then i got him, he is doing fantastic, we have won dressage competitions, qualified in showjumping and everything, i think people just need to give the horses a chance. Horse Racing Is a horrible sport, they say the horses get the best of everything, THEY DONT !!! mine was fed 4 massive water buckets of feed (mix) a day, never had his teeth checked ( our dentist did him and he said they had never been touched they were like mushrooms) and then they go out for a gallop. come in have a bucket of feed, rest 1 hour, go back out and gallop. they NEVER go out and graze in a field. THIS SHOULD STOP !!! a horse has rights aswell as a human,
# posted by : 6:33 PM
: 6:33 PM
i totally disagree..well, now i do. i used to think the same as you..until i started working with them last year. i worked as a groom and i cant tell u how spoiled these horses are. it has nothing to do with the money they make..the trainers that do good treat their horses good, and the ones that dont, dont last long. i started gallopping the young horses this winter...yes the two year olds. they are not trained to a point their bones cant take it..they are trained a minimum as 2 yr olds. gallopping 5 days a week for 4 minutes with 110 lbs on their back does nothing but help them. i can only say that ive experienced a lot of bad horsemanship..and most of it has been around everyday horses. that are left out in the paddock not getting fed or treated well in any way. i mean..especially since they are such a huge investment in the first place..they do everything they can to protect them. onsite vets at the tracks, farriers, massage therapists, equine chiropractics..the whole deal. so anyways i know this was pretty much random rambling but the point is....youve got it all wrong.
# posted by : 11:50 AM
: 11:50 AM
Not all horses start at 2yrs old. My older sister owns a farm and she doesnt train them until 3.5yrs. People say thats to late but hey they still race but just later. My sister makes sure EVERYTHING is perfect the horses have their strappers who are also treated well and the horses aren't run down. i can see where everyone is coming from but you can't just stop Horse Racing. Maybe first we should stop the Horse fighting in Korea? Thats worse then Horse Racing isn't it??? I'm not saying you guys are wrong but there is always 2 sides to a story and not always is one side right =)
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# posted by : 11:24 PM
: 11:24 PM << Home
