Horse Racing Needs To Change
Posted on May 6, 2008
Filed Under Muse, News, Sports | 5 Comments
I’m sure everyone is quite aware of the tragedy which occurred at Churchill Downs last saturday.
Last Saturday was the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby which was won by Big Brown.
Eight Belles, a filly, was running in the race and finished second behind Big Brown.
Immediately after the race finished, disaster struck.
Eight Belles was galloping for another quarter mile past the finish when she broke both of her front ankles.
She was euthanized on the spot.
Now PETA has issued their familiar calls to ban the jockey, riding crops and to prevent the racing of horses under the age of 3. I don’t think any of the above (except increasing the age of the horses who are able to race) is the proper way to go. The jockey did everything right and his use of the crop avoided an in-race disaster that could’ve incorporated other riders and horses. Waiting to race horses until they are a bit stronger is the best solution PETA has proposed so-far.
The Humane Society has also weighed-in by claiming that the way horses are being bred is leading to a dangerous situation because they are being bred for speed and not durability.
“There are problems coming to light more than ever — problems related to breeding,” said Wayne Pacelle, Humane Society president. “Breeding too many horses, and waiting for someone else to clean up the problem. And breeding them for body characteristics that make these animals vulnerable to breakdowns, especially those spindly legs on top of these stout torsos.”
Dr. Larry Bramlage ( the on-call veterinarian at Churchill Downs) seems to agree with the Humane Societies assessment;
“The value of a horse is no longer related to how much he can win on the racetrack,” Bramlage said. “It’s related to how likely he can get you to one of those events. The breed creeps toward a faster and faster individual, but that individual may be brilliant because they have a lighter skeleton. We’re inadvertently selecting for the wrong thing.”
Thai’s Take?
I agree with both the Humane Society and Dr. Bramlage. The sport of Horse Racing needs to change the way they breed their horses.
I love Horse Racing but I love horses even more. No other animal has the same quiet grace and nobleness of our equine companions. I grew up around horses so its no surprise that I feel this special bond with them.
I’m not asking for the sport to be banned or anything crazy like that. I am merely asking that the breeders start looking at things a different way and trying to prevent as much as possible these senseless injuries.
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5 Responses to “Horse Racing Needs To Change”
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Just how many tragedies in how many years have we got here?
yes the breeding for speed makes them more susceptible to injury (just like specialization in human sports created injuries whole cloth that never occurred before)yet the ‘rate’ of injury is not on the rise and the risk to the horses seems to be as small or smaller.
The ability to rehab and fix damaged horses is much improved, but could be improved more.
Any injury per se is senseless, but these are not any worse than a human breaking a leg in a fall or a hole or whatever; injuries happen. The breeders need to stop racing the horses so young maybe, but you’ll never get them to breed for other than speed when they are bred to win a race.
True – the ability to rehab is improved, but I think they can do a bit better to protect the horses in general given that the insurance money for the horses doesn’t pay for rehab (only for catastrophic loss – i.e- euthanized). It could be an over-reaction on my part but it appears to me that the breeders and owners have a financial incentive to not rehab difficult cases (Eight Belles notwithstanding given you can’t rehab two broken legs).
We may not be able to do anything about the way they breed them but I’m glad someone else agrees we could take a look at upping the age requirement for the races.
The words that came out of my lovely wife’s mouth when she read the story… I’m still blushing.
Is horse racing even a viable sport anymore? Wasn’t it just a few years ago that the papers were filled with stories about the decline of the sport? Haven’t tracks built facilities to house slot machines to off-set the declining profits from the actual races? I guess my real question is, do we really need to be putting these beautiful creatures in danger just to fuel our competitiveness and gambling addictions?
I don’t know if I’m ready to call for a ban on the sport, but I am certainly incensed that an animal should suffer such a gruesome injury and subsequent loss of life for nothing more than a few minutes of running in a circle to entertain us. Isn’t that what Nascar drivers are for? At least there the competitors understand the potential consequences and voluntarily assume the risk.
update….update…
hello?
Yeah, yeah – working on it !!
Working on my sites that make some money and with my grandmother passing its been a bit much lately. Don’t worry I have some stuff to post soon