|
Embed This Clip In Your Site...
|
||||
 merrie says: Third, we should ban the racing of 2- and 3-year-olds so popular on the U.S. track. In Europe, horses are typically raced later, when their "growth plates" (leg bones) are fully formed and they are less prone to injury. Greedy Americans don't want to spend the money to keep the horse "hanging around" (to wit, not earning money) until they are 4 or 5 years old, and so we race them before their legs are strong enough to handle injury. Many horses are forced to live 23-7 in their stalls, except for the hour or so per day when they are exercised. The human equivalent would be tying someone to his or her bed for 23 hours per day, only letting them out to run for an hour. Wouldn't you go crazy under those circumstances? I hope Eight Belles's death serves as something more than a one-day news story. I hope her sacrifice causes every fan of horse racing to stop patronizing the sport or betting on the mounts until major reforms take place. It just does not make sense that horses have to be destroyed because of a broken leg. Horses have to be standing much of the time. They can't stay in bed while healing like humans can. And there are difficulties with leaving them in slings for months on end as well. Depending on the type of break it is sometimes just more humane to put them to sleep. Look at Barbados, they did every thing they could to save him, but in the end they couldn't keep up with the infections. With the one leg injured it put more stress on the others. Anyone who has owned horses can tell you that shit happens. Horses seem to be amazingly injury prone. Maybe not all of them, but many of them. They are very good at getting injured. Now, I don't know about the horse racing business, so I can't say if i... The thing that bothers me most, is that the industry permits two and three year old thoroughbreds to run. The horses bones, ligaments and muscles aren't sufficiently developed and that's a major reason their injuries are so much more devastating when they occur. Also, at least at the California tracks, polytrack has been installed at the parks by law. (Polytrack -- a blend of fiber, recycled rubber, and silica sand coated with wax) Last Updated: February 17, 2006 California racing associations that operate meets of at least four continuous weeks would be required to install a synthetic racing surface by the end of 2007 or face a loss of dates, the state's horseracing board decided Feb. 16. http://news.bloodhorse.com/article/32227.htm Richardson overcome with grief after 8 months with star patient While Barbaro's owners, Roy and Gretchen Jackson, lost their voices to emotion once or twice during a news conference at the New Bolton Center, Richardson seemed overcome by the loss frequently and wiped tears from his eyes. http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/horseracing/bal-sp.richardson30jan30,0,3952033.story Vet: Barbaro was 'different horse' in final hours The veterinarian who treated Barbaro for eight months before the Kentucky Derby winner was euthanized Monday said the horse was for the first time living in pain since the accident that ended his racing career. "He was a totally different horse yesterday morning," Dr. ... calling for racing to be bannedI heard that despicable PETA calling for an investigation into the rider of Eight Belles and forfeiture of the $400,000 purse, in the event of any 'wrongdoing'. I would encourage the owners' to find a way for their horses to run free on their farms as much as permissible. As far as banning horse racing, that's never going to happen. In Eight Belles' case, she sustained two broken ankles on her front feet, and one was a compound fracture, which is a catastrophic injury b/c of the probability of infection. That would put the chance of her rehabilitation at zero. @ willhelm, here is an article that might explain your question. Thank you, dakotyii. I had been discussing this with friends earlier today and we found it curious that in this day and age there is not some way to treat a horse with this injury. The article is very helpful and enlightening. Thanks. Still sad for this horse. Still sad for this horseHopefully her sacrifice will help to bring overdue reforms to the Thoroughbred industry. She was a magnificent animal though. Seeing the accident was so disturbing. So, if we want to protect the horses by not letting them participate in races until their bodies are fully developed, are we going to extend the same protections to our own children? As for artificial surfaces, football players have been dealing with them for years, but many say they still prefer the natural surfaces and there do seem to be certain injuries that are more prevalent on artificial surfaces. So they should be careful about mandating artificial surfaces until they can do some long term studies on them. BTW, I am just playing a bit of devil's advocate here. I think when something tragic like this happens many tend to over react. I do think two is probably too young to be racing,... are we going to extend the same protections to our own children?I think if were having to euthanize our children for broken legs, then we might want to make some changes. There have been a number of cases of high school aged athletes dropping dead, and many more of them having to deal with sports injuries for the rest of their lives. And one would think we would put human children a step above on the protection scale from an animal. There have been a number of cases of high school aged athletes droppingGood point. I think, though, we would not be having this discussion if the horse had dropped dead instead of being euthanized. The Blood-Horse, sister publication to The Horse, has set up an open blog so that readers can share their thoughts on and memories of Eight Belles. It can be accessed through Eight Belles Memory Wall. Eight Belles, owned by Rick Porter, ran a spectacular race in the May 3 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs to finish 4 ¾ lengths behind the monstrous Big Brown and well ahead of the 18 other colts in the 20-horse field. But the Unbridled’s Song filly broke both front ankles near the 6 ½-furlong pole about a quarter-mile after the finish. She was euthanized on the track. Remembering A Great Filly Eight Belles Memory Wall http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/eight-belles-memory-wall/archive/2008/05/06/Remembering-the-Great-Filly.aspx ....and on a happier note.... Chelokee's Surgery Goes 'Very Well' Chelokee, who dislocated his right front ankle May 2 at Churchill Downs, underwent surgery that "went very well" May 5 at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, according to Larry Bramlage, DVM, Dipl. ACVS. He added that "everything had gone as planned," so far, in the 4-year-old colt's recovery. Chelokee winner of Barbaro stakes Chelokee Bramlage fused the Chelokee's damaged ankle in a procedure that is known as a fetlock arthrodesis. The son of Cherokee Run was injured during the running of the Alysheba Stakes. Owned by Centennial Farms and trained by Michael Matz, Chelokee captured the Northern Dancer Stakes at Chu... |
View the Top Clips from May 5, 2008
|
|||
