Posted on 06/10/2006 12:19:16 PM PDT by HairOfTheDog
"Some guy on another of gate2wire's threads did."
LOL. You did stick by your horse didn't you. Nice exacta.
About the threads, you're welcome. Enjoyed the discussions.
Only two+ months to the Travers, 5 months til Breeders Cup. :-)
Race chart here-
http://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbPDFChart.cfm?TID=BEL&CTRY=USA&DAY=D&DT=06/10/2006&STYLE=EQB&RACE=11&BorP=B
They absolutely are NOT bred to have small bones, quite the opposite. If there is a complaint that makes sense, it's that the horses are too young at two, or three and their bones are not yet mature. If they waited till three to begin, and didn't race them hard so young, fewer would break down. If you said that, you'd be right. But what you said above was not correct.
Humans make the choice to be athletes, and injuries to us don't often result in death. I love horses. What else can I say?
I understand you love horses, I do too. I wanted to hopefully impress on you that people who keep horses do so in order to engage in horse sport, be it racing, or jumping, or rodeo, or trail riding. All have dangers to both horse and rider. But I would argue that life has never been better for the horse. As valuable and pampered athletes, they get the best care in the world. As wild horses, they had short lives before becoming hurt, starved or eaten. Work horses, they got a bullet to the head, not expensive medical care. Yes, horses do sometimes break down in sport. But even those who do break down have it better now than they ever did before.
Just wanted to correct a couple misperceptions, dont know if it'll make you like racing, but at least you won't be wrong about what you don't like. :~)
Not surprised at all...America is quite comfortable with socialism at this point. I'm just surprised it would be supported here as much as on DU.
And I'm not at all surprised at Rendell getting a nice Dem photo op out of it.
It was political opportunism at it's best :~D
When I posted about the visit and the gift, on the other Barbaro thread, I tried to word it several ways to leave out the governor's name but it didn't make sense. *oh, well*
FWIW, more than 20,000 people signed Barbaro's huge "get well" card yesterday, out of attendance around 65,000.
By contrast, donations were also received for the Barbaro Fund and for the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund. The Barbaro Fund was set up because so many people wanted to give money as their tribute and uses its donations for the general fund at the Widener Large Animal Hospital.
$2800 was raised, with another $1000 pledged. That's about $.19 apiece donated. I'm afraid there is a widespread perception that people are giving to help the Jacksons pay the bills for B, which isn't true at all, or that jockeys are highly paid and shouldn't need financial help, again, a somewhat mistaken perception.
Good. I just got back from a fantastic trail ride.
I agree..once they do away with traditions they remove a little bit of history on the belmonts. That is why the KY Derby is the greatest race...they have maintained their traditions from My Old Kentucky Home to the Mint Julips..while the Belmont has changed way too many...even revised their drink
Yes, TBs do have finer bones than draft horses which makes them more fleet, but I assure you horse breeders are breeding for GOOD BONE not otherwise. I don't believe TB bones are any more "brittle" than other horses, though they are finer than some other breeds. Like you said, the difference between the distance runner and the weightlifter.
QHs are NOT crossed on Arabians (if they are they can't be registered). QHs have ALWAYS been descended from and crossed with TBs. The breed wasn't established until the 1940s and all the foundation sires were TB or half TB. Some TBs are sprinters.
Although the author of the article you posted from an Australian site appears to have good credentials, it contradicts in some aspects, many of the veterinary articles I've read in the Thoroughbred Times and the Bloodhorse. He also seems to use the terms horse and racehorse interchangable. Sometimes he uses the term racehorse when what he is saying applies to all horses universally across the breed.
Horses get injured in their paddocks all the time-- yes to the point they must be humanely euthanized. We just don't hear about those unless they are famous, and even then it's pretty much restricted to the horse communitity. In other words, it is not just when they are being used for horse sport that they are injured or killed. And, as Hair said, the plight of the wild horse is far from idealic. They also suffer serious injuries without someone there to treat them medically or put them down humanely. Not to mention parasites, disease, starvation, etc. etc.
Horses, like dogs, cats, and other animals are often euthanized because, unlike Barbaro's owners, the Jacksons, most owners simply don't have the money to pay exhorbitant veterinary bills. The Jacksons say they would have saved Barbaro even if he had been a gelding, but then they could afford to. Despite what you may believe, the majority of race horse owners and trainers are really not rich at all.
We put almost all our retired racers back into the broodmare band. We've had others go on to be police horses, polo ponies, outriders, etc. and our daughter used a retired gelding as a hunter and a retired mare as a showjumper. We have also had a couple we had no choice but to put down.
Please don't perpetuate myths.
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