The Kentucky Derby Tragedy

Tue, 06 May 2008 01:44:40 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: 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.

Clip Source: www.usnews.com

I've been writing these past few weeks about horrendous and fatal equine accidents in the sport of three-day eventing. I own seven hunter/jumper show horses and maintain my own 40-acre horse farm.

There are several things that must be done immediately to spare further equine abuse and death. Mr. Squires touched on some of them, but not all. Yes, new forms of artificial track footing, which have been mandated in California, should be mandated nationwide.

Second, the trend toward breeding thinner-boned thoroughbreds should be banned immediately. Horses are bred for speed, which often means thin-boned legs. The thinner the bone, the more easily it breaks. Horses with broken or fractured legs don't always have to be "euthanized" (I prefer the term slaughter, since that's what it really is). They're often killed when owners decline the alternatives: huge veterinary or board bills to keep injured horses standing in hoists for a year or more to allow their bones to heal.

Tags: barbaro, eight belles, thoroughbred, horse racing, polytrack mandate, bred for speed, age requirement

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The Kentucky Derby Tragedy