Sometimes it's all about timing and taking advantage of the moment. And right now seems to be the moment for the thoroughbred racing industry to admit that something is wrong, in fact, terribly wrong, with the status quo.
The AP reported yesterday as the lead sports story on AOL that thoroughbred racetracks in the U. S., reported more than three horse deaths a day last year and 5,000 since 2003. Most of these deaths were as a result of "catastrophic" injuries suffered on the racetrack.
Three horse deaths a day? That is astounding but not unbelievable since the actual figure is probably higher. Most deaths are unreported because there is no standard record keeping requirement among racetracks. Arkansas, Michigan, Nebraska do not record fatalities and only one track in Florida does. "There were wide difference among the other states in what types of deaths are monitored and how far back the records go," reports the AP.
How many cheap claimers meet their end because of injuries that are not really catastrophic? How many horses are fatally injured in their stalls or during morning workouts? How many expensive horses meet their end because owners want to cash in the insurance policy? And how many losing racehorses die at slaughter plants because they can't earn their keep?
More importantly, can you think of any other sport that does not track its injury and/or fatality rate? I can't. Just imagine if that was, God forbid, three human deaths a day. Do you think something would have been done years ago to stop the carnage?
Inconsistent race track surfaces are partially to blame but so are breeding practices, over and under training regimes, drugs and yes, just plain luck. To a certain extent, there is danger inherent in the sport, but I strongly believe that we are aggravating that danger by our essentially greedy practices that don't respect the horse.
Yes high end trainers treat their high end proteges like the high end equines that they are, but not everyone can afford to hire Nick Zito or Michael Matz to train their horses. Trust me, there are more trainers of cheap claimers than there are of stakes winners.
So step up to the plate racing and come clean. I really believe this is the last chance. Too many people have caught a glimpse of the dark side of the sport on national television to go back and pretend that that's the way it has always been.
It's time to do better.
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8 comments:
Let's hope that the Congressional hearing examining safety issues in thoroughbred racing, to be held on June 19th, will be successful and find solutions to prevent these horrible accidents.
I do hope that the hearing will be broadcast on TV, or that I can turn into a fly on the wall.
I am really curious about what solutions they will find, and if they will be implimented immediately.
With all the big races looming ahead it would be indeed refreshing not to have to watch a race in dread.
Thanks for posting this, Kit.
Jo
I wonder how we can find out if it will be broadcast? Any info?
Kit
While I absolutely welcome and encourage all research into how to safeguard our horses as much as is humanly possible, we must bear in mind that all horses are fragile creatures and that they break very easily even under the best of circumstances. That is the nature of prey animals who rely on speed to survive.
Yes, horses die on racetracks every day but every day hundreds more die for the same reasons while they are in their pastures or in their stalls. All it takes is one bad step. A wonderful, sturdy warmblood stallion I worked with, bred for dressage with big, thick bones, had just passed his yearly vet exam with flying colors and, while being led back to his paddock, took that one bad step, shattered his leg and had to be put down on the spot. I can tell you many, many more stories like that.
We are discussing this now because PETA (whose founder, Ingrid Newkirk, describes her organization as "media whores") is publicizing the Eight Belles tragedy to the hilt to promote its radical vegan agenda that wants to sever all human/animal contact. (PETA is anything but ethical when it comes to animals. In 2006, they killed 97% of the animals that came into its shelter and the figures from 2007, after the horrific 2006 figures were publicized, are only slightly better. PETA repeatedly sent out employees to pick up adoptable animals, promising their owners that they would find them good homes, and then killed them immediately in the PETA van and threw their bodies into a grocery store dumpster. Two PETA employees went on trial in NC for that.)
Yes, let's do everything we can to find ways to safeguard racehorses and all other horses but consider the source of the media hysteria about this and be be aware that the media is being totally manipulated by PETA and other "animal rights" activists who think that just keeping and riding horses is abuse. If PETA gets its way, ultimately none of us will be allowed to have horses. Horses will be worse for it and humans will be much, much worse without equine contact.
Thanks for your lengthy and thoughtful comments Geraldine. While I think some of the attention being paid to racing has to do with the extensive media coverage of the recent high profile breakdowns,there also has to be some oversight in the sport with regard to the administration of drugs in particular. Yes tragedy can happen anytime but tragedy is only multiplied if the horse should not be put in a situation in which it is even more vulnerable.
Kit
Another great article. This is certainly one of the top blogs for thoughtful discussion.
One thing I am getting sick of hearing though, are these comments that start off "We are discussing this now because PETA...."
As I said in another forum,
PETA's fund raising might benefit from the tragedies on the track, but they didn't force these issues upon the public consciousness. Millions of TV viewers seeing three horses fatally injured in horse racing's highest profile events in two years, not PETA, is what turned many against the sport.
PETA already had the gun, but with the deaths of Barbaro, George Washington and Eight Belles, the horse racing industry bought the bullets, loaded that gun, and pulled the trigger.
The horse racing insiders can pin the public disgust over Eight Belles on PETA if they want, but they're playing a dangerous game if they try and put all their eggs in THAT basket.
Thanks for the compliments on the site and your thoughtful comments. This is an issue that has stirred debate on all sides, which certainly means it is important. Let's hope the hearings on Thursday are as important as the topic....
Kit
Here is the latest, breaking news about what the horse-racing industry is trying to do to protect horses: http://www.bloodhorse.com/article/45767.htm
There are definitely things that need to be done asap. I was totally dismayed to see that banning race-day medications was not considered in the post above as the absolutely FIRST thing that should be done. European and Japanese racing have far, far fewer breakdowns than does American racing and the one thing that they do differently is making sure that horses have no meds on a race day.
I am sorry that my references to PETA dismayed you, tvnewsbadge, but PETA positioned itself to dominate and skew absolutely all the discussions everywhere after the Eight Belles tragedy. I spent hours and hours and hours on blogs and comment threads to articles, trying to counter all the incredibly false information being put out by people who identified themselves with PETA but had, obviously, never ever even had their hands on a horse. I would have thought that they would have done a bit more research to make sure that their "facts" were not so easily discredited but they didn't, obviously thinking that unthinking emotion which ignored real facts would prevail.
There are so many things that I could talk about that PETA and the "animal rights" activists get totally wrrong but to illustrate just one obvious thing (which has been perpetuated by this article that we are all responding to) is stating that unsuccessful race horses are sent to slaughter, ignoring the fact that the slaughtering of horses has been banned in the U.S. for some time now and also ignoring the fact that this ban has had many unintended but horrific consequences to very real horses.
Yes, I would absolutely love it if no horse was ever again slaughtered for food but this ban, instigated by PETA, HSUS, et al., was put in place with absolutely no thought at all about what it would mean to actual horses.
Yes, we don't slaughter horses anymore in places where we could monitor that they are treated as humanely as possible but we now have an epidemic of horses, owned by people who can no longer afford their expensive care, being turned out to starve to death since their owners can see no alternative and, even worse, horses being transported to Mexico under horrible conditions to be slaughtered under even more horrific conditions.
Yes, now that that these dreadful effects which those of us who had opposed the ban predicted would happen have indeed come true, the "animal rights" organizations are now trying to enact a ban on transporting horses outside of the country for slaughter but, if they had had any real concern for or any understanding at all of horses and the world they come from, they would have thought of that before the used every trick in the book to get the slaughter ban enacted which has increased the suffering of very real horses. If they get this transport ban enacted, horses will still starve and die horrible deaths that are much, much worse than dying in a monitored slaughterhouse.
Horses (and all other animals) deserve much, much better than what PETA, HSUS and the other "animal rights" organizations have to offer. Please consider the source when you are asked for your support for an issue. The PR divisions of PETA, HSUS are just that, PR people who have no expertise about(and usually no experience of) real horses. Go to the experts. Here's another article about breakdowns by people who actually know what they are talking about: http://us.mg1.mail.yahoo.com/dc/launch?.rand=9caffui7oh65l
Horses deserve so much better from us.
I respect your point of view, but I believe you missed my point.
I'm certainly not defending PETA, what I'm taking issue with are statements like these:
"Please consider the source when you are asked for your support for an issue".
My support of humane treatment of racehorses has nothing to do with PETA.
My "source" as you call it is my personal experience of having seen 3 horses die in/or afterwards in the last 9 high profile races I watched on national TV.
It's the result of those 5 horses that died in 8 days of racing at my own local track last year.
It's the result of the abuse inflicted upon Sercretariat's grandson Rainaway, and the story of Covert Action ( some video I shot of him on my own blog).
PETA has their own agenda, they do not determine mine, and to put it bluntly, it gets up my nose when people in the horse racing community imply that the only reason I believe reform is badly needed in the racing industry is because me and people like me are dupes of PETA.
It's just my opinion, but I feel horse racing would be better served by addressing some of these issues rather than looking for strawmen to discredit folks who might not share their point of view.
TvNB
I'm certainly not defending PETA, what I'm taking issue with are statements like these:
"Please consider the source when you are asked for your support for an issue".
My support of humane treatment of racehorses has nothing to do with PETA.
My "source" as you call it is my personal experience of having seen 3 horses die in/or afterwards in the last 9 high profile races I watched on national TV.
It's the result of those 5 horses that died in 8 days of racing at my own local track last year.
It's the result of the abuse inflicted upon Sercretariat's grandson Rainaway, and the story of Covert Action ( some video I shot of him on my own blog).
PETA has their own agenda, they do not determine mine, and to put it bluntly, it gets up my nose when people in the horse racing community imply that the only reason I believe reform is badly needed in the racing industry is because me and people like me are dupes of PETA.
It's just my opinion, but I feel horse racing would be better served by addressing some of these issues rather than looking for strawmen to discredit folks who might not share their point of view.
TvNB
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