I love the excitement of the Derby as much as the next girl, but one has to wonder about the ethics of a race in which two front-runners have died in three years. So I did a little research. PETA, expectedly, is opposed to horse racing in general. While PETA can sometimes be over the top, its argument on this one is solid:
Thoroughbreds are bred to have unnaturally delicate legs, are forced to run at ever-younger ages, and are drugged to mask injuries, which leads to horrifying and life-threatening injuries like Barbaro's. As a New York Daily News reporter remarked, “The thoroughbred race horse is a genetic mistake. It runs too fast, its frame is too large, and its legs are far too small. As long as mankind demands that it run at high speeds under stressful conditions, horses will die at racetracks.”If you're interested, here's what PETA recommends, in terms of social action:
PETA is campaigning to get the Breeders' Cup's 2-year-old juvenile race, which is particularly harmful to young horses, canceled; many horses who have won that race have been forced to run injured or became “broken down” within the following year. Please call 1-800-RACE-CUP to voice your objections to this cruel event.
11 comments:
Thoroughbreds also mature at a slower pace than many other breeds. As they aren't physically mature during their peak racing age, many are "broken down" by the time they do mature (around age 7). I have worked with many ex-track thoroughbreds and most had some sort of leg problem. However, thoroughbreds are born and bred to race, and most, absolutely love it.
My mom (in town visiting) made an interesting comparison between thoroughbreds whose bodies are run down before maturity and high school star athletes, who also often face a lifetime of physical difficulties based on trauma sustained to the body so young.
-g
thanks for this. I've decided I'm thoroughly opposed to horse racing.
I'm on the fence about it as I have known healthy ex-race horses with impressive track records, kind owners/trainers, and who clearly loved to race. They are built for speed and have a long history of being bred to run. While PETA makes some good points about their bodies, their confirmation is actually built for speed.
As with all sports, corruption and greed have a negative impact on how the athletes are treated and cared for. However, there are good racehorse people out there who take good care of the animals they work with.
I miss working with horses : ( Silly PHD... takes up all my time and money...
I don't find it hard to believe that there are owners and trainers who love their horses or that their are horses who love to race. What bothers me about horse raising and breeding horses to create faster and faster horses is the same thing that bothers me about breeding dogs to create show dogs: selective breeding can cause serious genetic problems. Admittedly, I know very little about horse breeding and racing (and I only know a little about breeding dogs), but it seems that the of breeding one winner to another winner doesn't always account for any genetic problems that may crop up from such breedings. I know that this is the case in lots of dog breeds. It seems to me that ultimately, regardless of how well the horses are treated or how much the love racing, the purpose of horse breeding and horse racing is money. As long as an owner can make millions off of a horse, I don't think these practices are going to change any time soon.
I forgot to respond to P-duck's comment comparing thoroughbreds to high school athletes. I think this is an apt comparison save two things: high school athletes are not routinely euthanized because the injuries they sustain, and most high school athletes are able to choose whether or not they want to compete.
Thanks for posting this, megs. And these are great comments.
As supadiscomama pointed out in conversation yesterday thoroughbread racing, particularly the Triple Crown--and most of all the Derby--has Glamourous Associations. And, it is such an integral part of Americana one can hardly imagine them putting a stop to running two anbd three-year olds.
All that said, Barbaro pretty much drained the joy Harrogate used to take in these Events. And after this horrible incident, Harrogate is just done with it. The pathos is just way, way too much.
To come back to M's point about breeding, a trainer on NPR yesterday ceded the metaphor that these horses are Hot Rods suspended by toothpicks.
I concur with many of you comments as horse racing is far from my cup of tea and racing in general has lost its appeal with the death of the mighty Earnhardt years ago. Here as well the market drove the popularity of these races with little concern for the competitors--it seems change only occurs when tragedy strikes an icon.
Although M is right about high school athletes having a choice whether to play or not is true, there are certain limitations to this point as parental and peer pressures often force many youngsters into these arenas where they are physically and mentally ill-equipped to handle the strains of competing.
Which would be why I said "most high school athletes," Paperweight. Yes, I was anticipating this response to my comment.
And as a second comment, I think comparing horse racing and various forms of car racing is rather like comparing apples and oranges--it doesn't work. The death of Dale Earnharndt and Adam Petty in the same year prompted NASCAR to institute a number of changes which have saved a number of lives. The death of Barbaro apparently has led to similar changes--synthetic tracks have been installed in a number of tracks. But, unlike the shock absorbing walls and the HANS devices that are now mandatory for all NASCAR drives, the synthetic tracks have not significantly reduced the number of injuries thoroughbreds are sustaining (see http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/24445049/ for a discussion of this). Further, race car drives are (again, for the most part) grown men and women who choose to race; while many come from racing families, they are not bred to race in the same ways horses are bred to race.
What I find most appalling about the process of breeding animals to make them faster and/or more beautiful is the fact that it exists. To some extent, humans believe they have the right to play God with the lives of animals, and the primary motivation is monetary. I think the majority of us would be appalled to know that a couple was trying to select the characteristics they wanted reproduced in a child to make that child more beautiful, smarter, or a better athlete, yet this is precisely what we do with animals. And then we sit back and wonder why it is that animals like Eight Belles suffer life-ending injuries for no apparent reason.
It is like comparing apples and oranges, I agree, but the mentality behind the situation is the same. Also lets not forget, it was not until 3 drives from NASCAR's major racing families were killed in the span of roughly a year that NASCAR made changes: Big "E", Adam Petty, and Kenny Irwin who died at the same track in a similar accident that killed Adam two months before. So sadly it will probably take the deaths of all the top horses in this cycle of the Triple Crown(and probably the next) to die on the track before real changes will take place. Unfortunately, only when deaths (or some similar atrocity or negative publicity) affect the majority of advertisement dollars do real changes seem to take place in the sporting industry.
There is one other key difference we've both overlooked: when a NASCAR driver suffers a life threatening injury, that driver is given the best in medical car; the driver is not euthanized as most horses are.
AS a thoroughbred owner and breeder, the industry has lost the "Ironhorse" through its breeding program. I have one filly in training and another filly that will begin her training in April I love these animals like children, and that is exactly why I do not start my horses until they are 2 years old. The training has to be very gradual and with every workout you will know if you are pushing to hard or if the horse is willing to continue. 9 out of 10 times the horse is willing to work. This may sound very old, but thoroughbred love to run, it is what they are born to do. I regret what happended to Eight Belles, that was so avoidable, but I do not think that Michael Matz or the owners of Barbaro did everything humanily possible to save that animal. One of my horses could not be in training at all and somehow finding some way to get hurt. I an very caustious with my horses and very given to my breeding program, trying breed my mare strong stallions who will confirmationally move up my mare. No one should hate horse racing, there are some of out there that love the sport and, morever, love the horse.
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