Posted on 05/03/2008 4:21:34 PM PDT by SE Mom
You don’t owe anyone an apology. All parties (owners, jockeys, trainers, race officials, etc.) will pour over video after video of her race and condition. We may not know what happened for awhile.
The jockey of Big Brown said he thought that Big knew what happened to Belles, and was upset and threw him.
With the size of her cankles, she's not likely to break them.
There went his chance of getting laid tonight.
Strange, this thread skips from post 7 to 76.
Very sad about the filly.
Jumping is very different than racing.
The hildabeast has been running since early 2007 ... nearly 18 months now. Hopefully, unlike the filly, she will be put down very soon ...
The breaks were so bad that the bone broke through the skin. There wasn’t any question of what to do. The horse ambulances have vets and all the equipment needed for most of any injuries. When both come out, it is to hide the injured horse while it is euthanized.
That’s on video also. Big Brown was upset.
Untrue on all points.
The filly was euthanized on the track because there was no way to get her into an ambulance when she had no fetlocks in front to bear her weight. The injuries were catastrophic; one of the fractures was compound. Attempting to keep her alive would be pointless, and the kindest thing would be to spare her further agony.
There is certainly video, and many of us have watched it.
As for "looking fine" at the finish: Some of us noticed that she was running in a more upright position before the finish, with her head high, and it has been suggested that she might have damaged herself at some point in the last eighth, and kept running on guts and adrenalin.
Nothing suspicious about it. Unfortunately, this sort of thing happens all too often in racing these days. We are not breeding them for soundness, only for speed.
I am always suspicious of the lack of warning signs before an accident in any professional athletic arena, animal or human.. That's just me and being ignorant on horse racing tried to educated myself a little on the anatomy of the horse foot/leg. I am going to pose some questions this week to an owner of a champion. Just curious, I guess. Lots of money at stake here.
THE HORSE SPECIAL REPORT:On the Forehand
Most of a horse’s weight is carried on its forelimbs. Good conformation will help ensure long-term soundness.
The system works very well when the horse is doing what nature intended— wandering about over large expanses, grazing, drinking, breeding, and resting. But today’s horse often soars over multiple sixfoot jumps, runs at speed for a mile or more around an oval course, slides to a stop suddenly and spins, or performs intricate dressage movements. These disciplines often put undue stress on the legs that can render even a well-conformed horse unsound. A horse with improper conformation is at much greater risk for unsoundness when competing in arduous
disciplines. This doesn’t mean a horse with poor conformation will always become unsound or lame. What it does mean is that poor conformation is a warning sign that something might go awry. It also should be noted that a horse puts more stress on its front legs than its rear limbs because it carries 60-65% of its weight up front. It seems incredible that when a horse is running at speed, there is a split second in every stride where all of the animal’s weight, plus the additional impact involved when running all out, lands on one front leg. We will take an in-depth look at just how the forelimb is constructed, what constitutes good conformation, and what can go awry when poor conformation is involved. The information presented comes from many sources. A key source for researchers, veterinarians, and horse owners in the study of equine limbs is the late O.R. Adams’ book Lameness In Horses. No Connections? Shocking! An interesting aspect of front limb construction in the horse is that the front legs are not connected to the rest of the skeleton. If one were so inclined, one could amputate the entire front leg—from scapula (shoulder blade) on down—without the scalpel ever touching bone. Instead of bone and joints, the horse’s front legs are connected to its body by a network of muscles, ligaments, and tendons. Basically, the horse’s front legs help form a sling that supports the front part of the animal’s body. A prime purpose of the front leg is to serve as a shock absorber. If the impact of each stride were transmitted upward in a straight line, joints, muscles, tendons, and perhaps even bones would not remain healthy.
It did not feel right to keep posting at that thread after 8 Belles injury, so we brought our comments over to here. That is what why the post sequence is weird.
Last boxing match I ever watched was Duk Koo Kim versus Ray Mancini. I am sooo glad that I didn't watch this race. I won't watch the replays, either.
Wow.
I’m no expert on horses, but just as an observer I thought she looked tired when she went over the finish line. She may have been giving her last.
It’s true the industry uses up horses in a horrid way. But I also believe there are many true horse lovers in it.
IMHO, if the jockey or trainer or owner really are to blame in some way - we may never hear of it, but you can be sure those in the industry will form their own opinions.
You missed the point, the criticism was that we race them too young while their bones are still strengthening and they are more vulnerable to lower leg injuries.
I noticed what I thought Big Brown being upset after the race.
My first thought was that the Assistant (in the Red Blazer) was being too rough on Big Brown — but then I re-considered because maybe the trainer guy HAD to be forceful because the Big Brown was acting way too wild — just after completing a grueling race.
I also heard the roar of the crowd and but didn’t of course know why — and it must have been when Eight Belles went down. Maybe the roar of the crowd upset Big Brown.
She was beautiful. What a shame.
All the horses in this race are descendants of Northern Dancer, a horse known to produce weak ankles and upright pasterns in his offspring. Probably too much inbreeding going on in the race world. Expect more of this.
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