Horse Racing Is Breeding Itself to Death

Washington Post ^ | May 4, 2008 | Sally Jenkins

[kingattax]

The camera cut away from her, but it should have stayed on her. Eight Belles had run herself half to death yesterday, and now the vets were finishing the job as she lay on her side, her beautiful figure a black hump on the track. Horses don't just fall down like that, you thought, as NBC flitted away, cowardlike, from the sickening picture to the more appealing image of the Kentucky Derby victor, Big Brown.

There is no turning away from this fact: Eight Belles killed herself finishing second. She ran with the heart of a locomotive, on champagne-glass ankles, trying to please her jockey, trainer, owners and all the people in the crowd, the sheiks, oilmen, entrepreneurs, old money from the thousand-acre farms, the handicappers, men in bad sport coats with crumpled sheets full of betting hieroglyphics, the julep-swillers and the ladies in hats the size of boats, and the rest of the people who make up thoroughbred racing. There was no mistaking this fact, too, as she made her stretch run, and the apologists will use it to defend the sport in the coming days: She ran to please herself.

But thoroughbred racing is in a moral crisis, and everyone now knows it. Twice since 2006, magnificent animals have suffered catastrophic injuries on live television in Triple Crown races, and there is no explaining that away. Horses are being over-bred and over-raced, until their bodies cannot support their own ambitions, or those of the humans who race them. Barbaro and Eight Belles merely are the most famous horses who have fatally injured themselves. On Friday, a colt named Chelokee, trained by Barbaro's trainer Michael Matz, dislocated an ankle during an undercard for the Kentucky Oaks and was given a 50 percent chance of survival.

[KJC1]

Oh please. These horses would inevitably end up as glue, dog food, or Chinese/European food regardless if they were racing or not.

I wondered what happened to Ron Paul. Now I know!

[skimask]

I was thinking the same thing as I watched the race. And starting from the 20th slot too. Corey Nakatani only had to hit him a few times too. Your right that horse is a monster.

[BIGLOOK]

Indeed he was, Captain. Stud fees from a winner are the owner's bread and butter but his offspring didn't do as well when the costs were factored in.

(Be careful with the tale of the large heart. At the time of the necropsy, Secretariat was nearly 20 years old. No doubt he had the heart of a champion and a good pulmonary/vascular system, but an enlarged heart like that is a sign of old age)

[Eye On The Left]

What a heartbreak. Glad I was working and didn’t see it live. Although it hurts just the same.

It is tragic. These horses will usually try to stand up and continue running even with catastrophic injuries such as the one Eight Belles suffered. It's in their nature. It's like the dog who will run to the point of collapse trying to keep up with the idiot 'walking' him while he's pedaling away on a bicycle. Have to say, I admire some animals more than a lot of people I come across.

[Beatthedrum]

Another sad day, and another black eye for the sport of Kings. Though I can see the bias of the writer, her obvious disdain for the rich and famous who put winning above the welfare of the horses — I think she may be right about the breeding industry, the dominance of certain bloodlines and the resultant physiological changes passed from generation to generation.

The stat she quotes on percentage of horses breaking down, I would think the numbers were less back in the 60s and 70s when the thoroughbreds were not as top heavy and light in the legs. I think there is some credibility in the argument that the genetics of a such a restricted pool of bloodlines is creating horses less likely to weather the rigors of training and racing. It wasn't that long ago that thoroughbreds ran in a race every 15 days (60s).

One of the key elements she didn't mention was the sophistication of the drugs used today in racing. Many horses push themselves further than they otherwise would, but they don't feel the pain until the problem has developed to a critical point. Decades ago, a horse might pull up lame at the earliest sign of pain, where today they will run on until something really pops.

It's a great sport and these horses are incredible animals and overall, I have to agree with the writer of this article - the industry may be breeding itself to death.

[buck jarret]

Big deal. Millions of cows die every day. What’s so different about the death of a horse? To me, nothing.

[cherry]

this is just a question.....but do filly's get put down faster than the colts?....Barbaro had intensive therapy for many months before they gave up on him.....

maybe one broken ankle is a big risk but two is definately a death sentence....I don't know...

[Eye On The Left]

I was thinking the same thing as I watched the race. And starting from the 20th slot too. Corey Nakatani only had to hit him a few times too. You're right, that horse is a monster.

Corey Nakatani was on Colonel John. Kent Desormeaux rode Big Brown. Big Brown, Big Red (it's Secretariat all over again!)

Secretariat
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Secretariat won the 1973 Triple Crown, becoming the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years, and set still standing track records in two of the three races in the Series, the Kentucky Derby (1:59 2/5), and the Belmont Stakes (2:24). Like the famous racehorse Man o' War, Secretariat was a large chestnut and thus was given the same nickname, "Big Red".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secretariat_%28horse%29

youtube: Secretariat Belmont Stakes 73' & extended post race coverage:
[he won this final leg of the Triple Crown by 31 lengths!!]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS4f6wiQJh4

[Pajamajan]

"But the purpose of horse racing is not to abuse horses, but rather to glorify them."

Thank you for posting that. Horse racing has many problems. Unfortunately, when you have break downs of live TV, it just adds fuel to the fire for "the usual suspects". That said, I'm still upset about what happened today.

[cherry]

goosebumps just watchting that....thx.....

what a horse!

I kept the "Time" or "Newsweek" front page with his pic for the longest time...then I lent it to my dtr who was into horses at the time and who knows what it is now..

[Eye On The Left]

goosebumps just watchting that....thx.....
what a horse!

Check out Big Brown's 3 prior races. First, go to the linked website below (KentuckyDerby.com) and click on his name beside #20. Then click 'video' for each of his 3 other races. And he got away at 14-1 first time out! The trainer MUST have worked him very early in the morning, before the clockers got to the track. (it's an old trick to asure a good price: since the works aren't recordered, the public doesn't know how talanted the horse is, so they overlook him in the wagering and his odds go up--pretty sneaky, eh?)

http://www.kentuckyderby.com/2008/contenders

[poindexter]

But the purpose of horse racing is not to abuse horses, but rather to glorify them.

Really? How long would horse racing last if the betting were taken out of it?

[richmwill]

Yes, totally agree. Of course it’s tragic when a horse breaks down, but when you factor in that literally hundreds of horse races are run every single day at tracks all over the world, the number of breakdowns that occur is very minimal. It’s just a shame that 3 fatal breakdowns have occurred in nationally televised races in the past 3 years (Barbaro, George Washington, and Eight Belles). That’s what gets the attention, not the other 99% of races that go off with no problems.

[skimask]

You know I still have the Sports Illustrated with the picture of “Big Red” comming down the homestretch in the Belmont on the cover.

[Secret Agent Man]

I don’t see why they couldn’t give a small amount of support of the front (so it can’t touch ground/bottom) and put them in a pool. Kind of have a hoist around the front to keep weight off the front legs, but they can move around, but not put any weight on them. Yeah youd have to drain the pool and such. But I have seen them do this with other animals therapeutic swimming and such.

[Secret Agent Man]

Most people don’t have the same attachment because in this country horses generally are not animals that the typical person eats. For most people they are placed in the pet/animal friend category, more so than cows.

And you are exaggerating that “millions” of cows die every day. Thousands, yes. Millions, no. And they don’t die a pointless death either. Racing and dying because of a race is a lot more pointless than an animal whose main reason for living is to be a food source. If people got their rocks off racing cows and the cows were dying because of broken legs, I’d say that was just as pointless and unnecessary.

[Secret Agent Man]

I agree with you. I would rather they not race these horses either. For ALL horse owners, I sure wish someone would be smart enough to come up with a method of being able to allow horses to survive broken legs.

Going off one of my prior posts, I am thinking of the front half of the horse being girded by a hoist (with a very nice sheepskin padding) that has the front two legs in a tank of water, raised so there is no weight on them and they can move them. The back half is outside the tank so wastes can be taken care of normally.

[skimask]

They do have special pools for training horses. They are circular with a platform in the middle of the pool that the trainer stands on as he leads the horse. Its used to strengthen their legs.

[Secret Agent Man]

Yes I have seen these for horses and they also use them for dogs with leg and hip injuries, but they aren’t set up for broken legs or for being in there literally for weeks while bones mend.

[LibFreeOrDie]

They do use pools for surgical recovery, so the horse doesn’t thrash around when coming out of anaesthesia (which is what happened to Ruffian in 1974, before they used pools).

The problem is thay can’t get a horse with 2 broken legs into the ambulance. Couldn’t splint Eight Belles.

Even if the horse does survive surgery and post-op, the threat is laminitis, due to the horse trying to shift weight onto uninjured legs. That’s what happened to Barbaro, and he had only one broken leg.