Posted on 01/30/2007 9:40:32 AM PST by Kitten Festival
Why should we feel so much grief at the loss of one horse? After all, this is a world in which horses are sacrificed again and again for the sport of humans. Barbaro was euthanized yesterday, eight months after he shattered his right hind leg at the start of the Preakness Stakes. After an injury like that, most racehorses would have been put down minutes later. But every race is a complex equation — a balance of economics, athleticism, equine grace and conscience. Conscience often comes in last, but not in this case. Barbaro’s owners gave that horse exactly what he had given them, which is everything. It was the very least they could do, and yet it seemed truly exceptional in a sport that is as often barbarous as it is beautiful.
Barbaro was exceptional because he won the Kentucky Derby and looked as if he might have a chance at the Triple Crown. But nearly everyone who met him also talked of the life he displayed, a vivid presence that was so much more visible to us because it happened to belong to a winner.
Humans are not especially good at noticing horses, but Barbaro was easy to notice. And if his life caused us to pay attention to the possibilities of all horses, his death should cause us to pay attention to the tragedy inherent in the end of so many horses. Barbaro’s death was tragic not because it was measured against the races he might have won or even against the effort to save his life. It was tragic because of what every horse is.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
This horse had a noble spirit and such a passion for life. A shame the jockey couldn't control him at that starting gate. If only, if only, things had been different.
Better a horse than a mule.
Trust me on that one.
We must have similar tastes in horses. I can't see the replay without tears running down my face. I have no idea why that horse became so special to me when I was 10 but I suspect it's his fault that both of my horses have been red.
When the New York Times waxes elegiac over a horse, I think it's relevant to point out that the New York Times does NOT wax elegiac over, say,
(1) medal of honor winners in Iraq
(2) aborted babies and
(3) Terri Schiavo.
Don't get me wrong, I shed some tears over Barbaro myself.
But since when are FReepers compelled to sing the same repetitive lament on a thread? Or to refrain from drawing analogies? Or to refrain from taking a larger perspective on such an event -such as this national outpouring of grief over one horse?
I think it's a tad sanctimonious to demand that others can't comment on the bigger picture simply because the topic was a sad one. What some call "hijacking" a thread, others might call insight into the topic. (And it's not "hijacking" to make a single comment.) I say let the free ideas flow.
You have it exactly right. Thanks for putting words to my thoughts. The pictures are wonderful.
Makes me sick. What about the horse racing industry.....and those poor horses who can no longer make the cut and are shipped off to become someone's din din. Rumor is the barbarity at the horsie meat plants is appalling. Its a barbaric sport and it wrings these animals out like sponges and then throws them away. All the while taking its human toll as well with those who are dumb enough to gamble and become addicted.
We would do nothing if we lived by that credo. Deal with the topic at hand not the entire world.
But there are active threads on FR about the LSM where one can discuss the shortcomings of the MSM. I'm sure we could use your examples and others such as immigration, WOD, religion, etc. to also point out what the NYT (and others) do or don't cover. This is a thread about a horse, it isn't a thread about the LSM, abortion, Terri Shiavo, immigration, gun rights and so on.
Drawing analogies is well and good, especially when it's about a related topic as in Secratariat or other horses/animals which have caught the publics attention.
I think it's a tad sanctimonious to demand that others can't comment on the bigger picture simply because the topic was a sad one.
It wasn't because the topic is a sad one, that had nothing to do with it. It had everything to do with racing, the horse, the vet who tried to save the horse and the owners of the horse. Prior to the most recent threads about Barbaro's decline there were threads about Barbaro's condition which were upbeat because news had come out about his improving condition.
What some call "hijacking" a thread, others might call insight into the topic. (And it's not "hijacking" to make a single comment.)
Thread hijacking starts with a single comment and mushrooms as evidenced now by the very fact that what's being discussed is thread hijacking instead of the horse.
I was disappointed in the Seabiscuit movie. Too much emphasis on the people and the times and not enough on the horse. I read about Seabiscuit in a childrens' book years ago when I was a little kid. He quickly became my favorite horse. And then there was Northern Dancer. But Secretariat was the greatest. He had to be put down because of laminitis, too.
Very well stated.
I adore my furry buddies but would sacrifice them for an unknown human.
Well, MOST humans.
I liked the movie...part of it was filmed just a mile or two from were I work. A little local color. The book was wonderful. I read the same kids book too. SeaBiscuit is still far and away my favorite race horse.
Animals are innocents, whose only choice is to trust in their caregivers to take care of them. That is the difference when talking about the passing of humans vs. animals. Humans make their own decisions. Animals depend on us.
Always sad when someone you love passes, no matter what their species.
And I have no use for people who make light of any kind of suffering.
Holy crap, you are a liberal. Are you aware of that?
I need to leave this thread, before my head explodes.
I bought coffee the other day which, obviously, is not necessary.
Should I have given that money to a child in need?
Or should the government take it from me to give to another?
You DO give all of your excess income to sick and ailing children, do you not?
I have too much.
I must simplify, and give my excess to the less fortunate.
not the choices one makes
Nope, against the rules to use AI for thoroughbreds. Good way to loose your shirt in a lawsuit. I work with a horse breeder here in Central Kentucky who would love to be able to use AI, but he is unable to.
"...against the rules"? LOL!
That horse won the Kenducty Derby in a walk.
For dollars, they'll forget the rules.
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