Sports

Gothixrayne 10:13:42 PM May 16 2008

thunderjammin27 07:48:22 AM May 16 2008

Report This! PETA needs to get a life, before you know it they will say many other things as well.. These horses are atheletes. There are so many ways to protect a horse and if you know anything about horses, you can figure out wether or not the anaimal should race or not. I do think that 2 year olds should not race ... I think thier bones are not matured enough for that kinda of stress on their young legs. I have worked with race horses for years myself and I know that trainers have ways to protect their horses. No one trainer will EVER endanger a horse.. what happened to Eight Belles was tragic yes, but an act of GOD !!!!
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As a last comment, I can only say that I entirely agree. Where I live and work, we work on the round until two, then light work until three to five, depending on the horse. No fences,no extensive, exerting work,just simple lower-level training.

A trainer who endangers a horse isn't a trainer any more, at least not a

Gothixrayne 10:10:14 PM May 16 2008

mchfoun -- Horses stumble because they are no different than track and field runners; watch thewm and they stumble lots. Joiner was one that did. The other reason is you as a rider shift your weight on the horse and that can throw the 2 thousand pounder off stride and the other reason like with plove49. maybe you weigh too much for the horse. What were you waiting for, "...hey lard ass get off me?"

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Exactly! Or if the rider can't keep their weight up off the saddle, and balance on the neck. When people do that at our stable, my old instructor take away their reins and makes them put their arms out. =] but racing is a little more standardized (at least, high-prestige ones like the Derby certainly are!). Jockeys have to "make weight" to an extreme degree, both to ensure safety, performance and to meet weight handicaps.

To be honest, one could argue a case for jockey abuse! Some all but starve themselves to be able to ride. I culd never handle that, myself.

Also, horses can ju

Gothixrayne 10:00:13 PM May 16 2008

LintC7 10:21:22 AM May 16 2008

Report This! euthanized, really? let's be honest, the horse was shot.

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Actually, a small injection of penthobarbital to avoid having a victim of a horrible accident die in agony, trying to put weight on shattered ankles.

If that's not euthanasia, what is, I don't know.

It was a horrible accident, but at that point, without alternative...a tragic loss of a beautiful mare.

Gothixrayne 09:58:18 PM May 16 2008

teda532 08:31:51 AM May 16 2008

BULLSHEIT!!!!!!!!!!! THE OWNERS, TRAINERS DO NOT CARE WHAT HAPPENS TO THE HORSES, JUST AS LONG AS THEY WIN, IS ALL THEY CARE ABOUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Please support this. As a horseperson of years, I find this offensive, to be honest. Even in high-level competitions, horses are not about money. Rarely will a horse, even a racehorse, ever make more than it costs. Most people are in the sport of riding because they love it and the animals. Some riders I know are closer to their horses than their human acquaintances.

In racing, yes, the sponsors may not care. But the people working for years with these horses, trying to make them the best they can be, I assume tht that level of dedication cannot be for money.

Anyone who is, is both a disgrace and a disappointment.

Gothixrayne 09:54:33 PM May 16 2008

annelabs --

since you haven't even yet realized thaht the triple crown is run at three years of age, I ask you to research a little bit more into what you're talking about. =]

Gothixrayne 09:53:15 PM May 16 2008

pllove49
she was bad about stumbling...what does that mean?

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training has nothing to do with it. Some horses startle, some are aggressive by nature, some are very "forward", and some are plain clumsy. Kind of like people.

Additionally, clumsiness can be magnified when a horse is on theh forehand, i.e. has their weight forward resting more on their front legs as they move. In most riding, this is why you try to keep them centered, collected and not stretched-out. Racing, by definition, is the antithesis -- moving very quickly, with grea momentum, in an extendedn gallop.

Gothixrayne 09:50:26 PM May 16 2008

Kittyluv554 -- you are well-intentioned, but you've bought PETA's version of horse racing. Some people may be like that. But for example? Horses run because they love to, not because they're whipped into it. Have you evr tried to make a thousand-pounnd horse do something it doesn't want to do, even with a whip?

It will not. And if it does, it will be obviously in pain, frightened and eventualyl violent. Horses, thoroughbreds in particular, race because they love it. Thoroughbreds are especially hard to rehabilitate with leg injuries because it's so difficult to KEEP them from running.

Eight Belles was also not just "killed"; rehabilitation would have ben impossible. She would have had to have been on massive painkillers to eve try to stand, and 1000 lbs of weight cannot be supported on two hind legs alone. Putting that kind of stress on fractured, lacerated ankles would be cruelty.

mchfoun 02:15:15 PM May 16 2008

Peta is such a joke and a bunch of ill-informed beggars. They just want a hand out and cry everytime something comes up -after the fact. They all smell terrible and their houses are rotten smelling with cat and dog hair flying all around and poop laying around -they won't go to the trouble to get facts but rather just accuse and point fingers. The only thing Green about them, is their two teeth!

mchfoun 02:07:15 PM May 16 2008

Horses stumble because they are no different than track and field runners; watch thewm and they stumble lots. Joiner was one that did. The other reason is you as a rider shift your weight on the horse and that can throw the 2 thousand pounder off stride and the other reason like with plove49. maybe you weigh too much for the horse. What were you waiting for, "...hey lard ass get off me?"

LintC7 10:21:22 AM May 16 2008

euthanized, really? let's be honest, the horse was shot.