The death of Eight Belles in Saturday's Kentucky Derby has led to calls for action, some of which make sense (banning the whip), and some of which do not (suspending jockey Gabriel Saez).
One proposal that makes so much sense that I'm surprised it hasn't happened a long time ago is banning trainers from drugging their horses on race day. Gina Rarick writes in the New York Times' horse racing blog, The Rail:
If a horse needs medication, it is not fit to run. That principle governs the rules of racing in all of Europe, most of Asia and Dubai. The United States, Canada, Saudi Arabia and some South American countries allow a panoply of race-day medications from anti-inflammatory drugs, which mask pain, to lasix, the diuretic drug that some believe controls bleeding in the lungs of a racehorse.If the horse racing governing bodies in most of the rest of the world can operate without giving horses drugs on the days they race, it seems to me that we can do it here. Horse racing authorities in the United States need to take these steps to show that they take the health and safety of their horses seriously.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-06-2008 @ 4:20PM
GLENN said...
BAN HORSE RACING ALL TOGETHER..BUT TO MANY MONEY HUNGRY PEOPLE INVOLVED IN THIS...YOU WANNA WATCH HORSES RACE, WATCH THEM RACE IN THEIR OWN HABITAT....BUT THEN AGAIN IT'S JUST AN ANIMAL .... RIGHT!!!!!! SHAME ON ALL OF US FOR LETTING THIS HAPPEN...I WILL NEVER WATCH ANOTHER RACE....
Reply
5-06-2008 @ 4:25PM
Mary Miller said...
I think horse racing in general leads to many abuses. When the bottom line is money, the welfare of the horse is compromised. Following are my list of abusive, but common practices:
1. Racing horses at 2 years of age before their bones are mature and strong enough for the physical demands of pounding around a track with weight on their backs
2. Breeding thoroughbreds with smaller, and, therefore, lighter bones to enhance speed
3. Giving steroids to build muscle which then can be a burden for the skeletal structure (those finer bones)to carry
4. Giving pain (or any kind of medication) before a race
5. Sending young horses who don't make the grade on the track to an early death
I have a horse that didn't even have a saddle on his back until he was 3 years old. His welfare comes before my need to ride. I think that in racing the horse's welfare is almost always secondary to the financial considerations. I am saddened to see these magnificent animals being used (and abused) to further peoples' need for money and/or ego.
Mary Miller
Reply
5-06-2008 @ 6:42PM
ravi said...
Maybe Eight Belles' death wasn't in vain if we all scrutinize the conditions of how the racing horses are treated and take a closer look not only at the Kentucky Derby but the state of Kentucky which has the poorest case of care for their horses.
Reply
5-08-2008 @ 3:37AM
Susan said...
I think PETA need to get their facts about horses and how they are treated. I have seen the farms in Kentucky, and they horses live better than most people and are treated very well. There are lots of facts that the public need to hear about horses and all before listening to a group who don't really know the facts. In every sport you have a handful of people who misuse atheletes, but the majority do not. I hope everyone reads up and sees first hand before making judgement. thanks.
Reply
5-09-2008 @ 11:58PM
Pep said...
Any kind of sports that exploit animals should be banned. Racing horses may be treated well but simply put they are being exploited
as a way to make some greedy human
money.
Reply
5-17-2008 @ 4:49PM
divalady said...
I am not a fan of horse racing, however I am not anti-horse racing either. I raise my own horses.
I do not sit on them before the age of three.
Why cant these TB owners wait? Let these babies grow up and become horses instead of racing babies.
As I said I am not against horse racing. I have taken many a refugee from the track and rehabilitated it and it continues to have a career as a trail horse or english mount.
Maybe if these horses were allowed to reach there maturity they wouldnt break down as easy.
Thank you.
Reply
6-26-2008 @ 4:56PM
David said...
I grew up around horses, farms, etc, they were beautiful. I worked at a race track for over 15yrs. Its not beautiful. It's a business fueled by money, so it's bound to have some good, some bad but I saw too much ugly. Over time, the abusive nature of the industry got to me more and more. I was a guy that stood there behind the screen when one broke down and we winched the bodies into the wagon..almost every day.
I write songs and the words of a song I call
"Ending Bells"
When broken spirits are revealed
The pagentry will be reviled
When will we see it's cruel to be
In a game abusing life.
Reply