THE PETA PRINCIPLE
By Bradford Cummings
“Sometimes I think this is a PETA site.” These words written two days ago about the Paulick Report by a commenter known as Johnny Mack was perhaps the lowest moment I’ve had since June 16, 2008, when Ray and I launched this Thoroughbred industry news and commentary website. While my tongue is somewhat planted in my cheek, those who know me also feel my pain. I am no fan of this animal rights organization that does more harm than good. They continually show their ignorance, most recently by calling the $5-million Apple Blossom Invitational—intended to attract Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta but open to other fillies and mares–a “match race”. Anyone armed with a sixth-grade education would understand a purse that large will draw many more than two horses.
And this is sad as their overall philosophy I tend to agree with. Animals cannot protect themselves by-and-large and so it is our duty to take care of them…until of course we eat them. But I digress.
To Johnny Mack’s point, it seems with increasing veracity, the animal rights activists and horse industry haters are coming to our site in droves to turn any subject into a commentary on the horrors of horse slaughter, allegedly abusive whipping of some of our sport’s biggest stars, and a perceived (by them) cruelty to all Thoroughbreds. In an ideal world, every horse would live out his retirement years in a pastoral setting, munching contentedly on plush bluegrass. The adrenaline of racing down a track at 35 mph would not cause our athletes, both human and equine, to get carried away. Additionally, I’d like to live on a rainbow made of gummy bears and marshmallows and buy a 10,000 square foot mansion with hugs and pixie sticks. But we can’t have everything.
And this gets to my point. I know those of you completely sold out to the fight against real or perceived cruelty against animals mean well, but ultimately you hurt your message with this Johnny One-Note approach to advocacy. Ray and I are not alone in getting tired of the constant barrage of negativity. The real world tunes you out and therefore you weaken your voice.
I would hope everyone who frequents this site—many of you owners, breeders, or hands-on horsemen–abhor the mistreatment of horses. There are other industries to make much more money in than breeding or racing Thoroughbreds. Ultimately, the vast majority of horsemen do what they do because they have an absolute love affair with horses. They live and breathe the industry 24 hours a day and would never even think about becoming the next Ernie Paragallo. But the wingnuts who try to steer every conversation to fit their agenda treat everyone in the industry as if they have a death wish for these magnificent creatures.
Are there bad apples in the bunch? Of course. The aforementioned Paragallo and the much-maligned Michael Gill are the low hanging abuse fruit of the moment. But to even attempt to paint a broad brush on all horsemen or even something close to a majority is equally as sickening as the things that both Gill and Paragallo are accused of committing. I also heard about a schoolteacher who molested one of his students. Does that mean we should dedicate time to trashing all teachers? Of course not.
Okay, I feel better now. But before I’m through, I do want to give an explanation as to why we let so much vitriol on a site that quite frankly exists for the industry insider first and foremost. Outside of the obvious First Amendment reasoning (we do reserve the right to edit or delete comments we deem inappropriate—hey, it’s our site, not yours), it is important that horsemen and women of all stripes understand the image problems our industry faces. Those nasty comments don’t just come from one person who changes name to keep it fresh. They represent many people from all across the country and even the world who see this as a barbaric sport that preys on innocent animals. One of the hallmarks of the Paulick Report is taking on the 800-pound gorillas of this industry. We must do all that we can to make sure those who look for holes can find very few to poke.
Now I know I’m setting this up to be the all time greatest backlash in “horse hugger” commentary in the history of the internet and that’s fine by me. For once, I have a feeling your comments will be interesting. But I certainly hope we can all learn from each other. We welcome your presence on this site. We want your point of view. But please, just broaden your horizons a bit. Pick your battles and we can all work for a better industry.
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Tags: Apple Blossom Invitational, bradford cummings, ernie paragallo, horse hugger, Johnny Mack, Michael Gill, Paulick Report, PETA, Rachel Alexandra, Ray Paulick, thoroughbred, zenyatta
March 3rd, 2010 at 7:42 am
Racing Horses and betting on them has an ugly side for both humans and horses. You’ve addressed the ugly side for Horses but how about the ugly side for Horseplayers who are playing into increasingly high takeout. How many lives are ruined by gambling on a game so stacked against you?
It is important to minimize the ugly side for all involved.
As someone who has had some great success at the windows and some great disasters I can tell you that at one time I thought Horse Racing was the greatest thing ever invented. I used to laugh at people who bet on Sports or at Casinos. I don’t feel that way any longer. At one time I could pick up the DRF and read it for hours on end and look forward to spending a weekend at Santa Anita. I don’t feel that way any longer.
For some reason we ended up with people in charge (Racing Executives and Racing Officials) who are either incompetent, corrupt, or just out for their own short term selfish interests. There is no better example than what has gone on in California for the last several years.
The villains are easy to spot if you only open your eyes.
At the end of the year about 98% of Horseplayers and Owners lose money. If you want to increase handle and purses and have a healthy industry then you have to make betting on Horses a good bet again. Word of mouth will take care of the rest.
March 3rd, 2010 at 7:47 am
A typically - for this site - superb and balanced piece. Agree with everything you said - I have the utmost respect for anyone who believes and therefore lives by everything PETA represents (vegan, no pets etc), though have far less time and respect for anyone that spouts that racing is cruel from a mouth filled with fast-food chicken. Racing must be aware of the the challenges and dangers, fronting up to them and addressing the concerns.
No UK site comes close to PR to keep up the good work.
March 3rd, 2010 at 7:48 am
Brad, if I can pay the taxes in hugs and pixie sticks, I’ll take a 10,000 square foot mansion too. Now excuseme, I feel a craving for s’mores.
March 3rd, 2010 at 8:19 am
Excuse me while I put down my Chicken Wings long enough to say good piece. Yes, there is good and bad in everything but the real Sport of Kings was created and is for those who truly love Thoroughbred horses.
March 3rd, 2010 at 8:20 am
Do you really mean that they’re coming with “increasing veracity”? That rather gives credence to their perspective, no?
March 3rd, 2010 at 8:28 am
Why not hold a contest on the Apple Blossom…the number in the field for the draw and the actual number of runners, after those “mysterious” scratches. I’ll start it off…..six and four.
And it a tad amusing that in an era with so many media choices available to consumers that an editorial would bemoan a certain segment of readers. But that is whole issue onto itself for another time.
March 3rd, 2010 at 8:28 am
Nice write. I suppose if we wanted to suger coat our passion, we’d just be over on the NTRA website. Thanks for presenting all sides. It is a real shame about PETA- good ideas gone bad.
March 3rd, 2010 at 8:33 am
Good piece Brad. Well said Andrew A. I won’t play blackjack at the Indian Casino because they charge 50 cents a hand. But, I still tinker in horseracing, sometimes at the cost of $100 per hand (bet).
March 3rd, 2010 at 8:41 am
” True Believers” do not live in the “Real World” - guess what? Beef does not come from a supermarket in plastic, it comes from cows. Likewise chicken does come in pastic from the supermarket, it comes from chickens. Jihadists do not negotiate, they kill. The funding for government programs does not come from the blue sky, taxpayers pay for every government program. Horses break down, people do bad things but outlawing racing will not prevent those things from happening. Ultimately no government or legal action can force 100% of its citizens to live by “the rules”, individuals will act as individuals and it will always be a less than perfect world.
The sport is more aware and more active in regulating itself than ever before. Would it be better if we had one central controlling commission rather than the current multiple state and track fiefdoms? Absolutely. In the meantime we need to continue to approach these issues with reasonable & practical methods. One way to consolidate “government” may be for the 2 major track owners (Churchill & Magna) to govern each of their tracks under the same regulations - the state laws may vary, but as a private companies (non-government entities) operating on their own premises wouldn’t they have the right to enforce regulations more stringent than those required by the various states?
March 3rd, 2010 at 8:42 am
I WOULD LOVE TO DEBATE THE PETA FOLK.GET RID OF HORSERACING AND SENTENCE BETWEEN 30,000 AND 50,000 HORSES TO DEATH EVERY YEAR!!!! THEY WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN BRED!!!!
March 3rd, 2010 at 8:51 am
As always top class and right on Brad.
March 3rd, 2010 at 8:56 am
PETA and their ilk are nothing more than freeloaders who have found a way to live tax free off of the contributions of gullible people…..
March 3rd, 2010 at 9:09 am
Brad, while I admire almost everything about your web site and Ray’s investigative reporting skills, I think it a bit disingenuous of you to whine about attracting the PETA crowd when you so actively encouraged the anti-euthanization lobby, which overlap to a great degree.
To digress a moment on the topic of your coverage via various invited columnists: I am still not convinced that we have net net reduced suffering of unwanted horses by closing regulated US plants. Horses are still being jettisoned and that is terrible, no question about that. It has happened over time and is happening now at an accelerated pace as the general economy and the racing business deteriorate. Whether you agree that we are about to see a tsunami wave of horses enter this category or not as tracks close, farms fail and owners leave the sport, the problem is what it is. Too many horses have been bred and there is no way to sugar coat the problem. But with all the best intentions in the world, actions of late may excacerbate rather than ameliorate this problem. Vets I talk to tell me of horses abandoned in fields and, in a couple of cases apparently, in State forests and horses which go the low level auction route now end up, after arduous journeys, in unregulated slaughter houses in Canada and Mexico. Is the situation better than we had? I doubt it.
So my point is that your site has encouraged these well meaning but possibly misguided folks (there that will attract some vitriole no doubt as these campaigners, bless ‘em, are nothing if not passionate.) So to complain now that too many anti-cruelty folks pile on in this space, I reckon, is a tad misguided in itself.
March 3rd, 2010 at 9:13 am
Without pointing fingers there are times when I get the feeling that Journalists have an idea of Horse Racing Utopia. Sometimes it seems that Horses are more important than Humans. While everyone cares about safety and the well being of the Horse the alternative seems to be that we turn the Race Tracks into Museums with Petting Zoos.
Do we want to race horses and bet on them or not? That is the question.
March 3rd, 2010 at 9:16 am
Re: The PETA Principle article:
You call PETA extreme, then use copious hyperbole in your criticisms about them. They are not idiots nor zealots. They do have a different viewpoint. Perhaps I can help you see it a bit their way.
If a picther broke down and had to be euthanized every day in baseball at some ballpark, do you think they would change that sport? Would strong advocates for that be zealots? If most of the top ten coaches in the NFL got caught last year drugging their players illegally and served meaningless suspensions doing business as usual, do you think the NY POST wouldn’t have a snide comment or two? If it were common practice at the Olympics to operate on the kids’ throats to remove larynx and epiglottis parts thereby facilitating breathing but causing health handicaps thereafer would it be kosher? Suppose before the final four college basketball championships, it was common to tap or inject the ankle, knee, shoulder, and hip joints of an athletes with corticosteroids and synthetic synovial fluids, plus give them lasix and strong anti-inflammatories like phenybutazone etc, would it pass muster? Is it love for their animals that leads most in the industry to put a damaged racehorse, even those that have won major races for them, in a low claimer hoping it gets taken and becomes someone else’s problem — (a very common strategy)? Have you seen nthe grooms quarters at Philadelphia Park or Pimlico - because no housing code agency apparently has. And, finally, am I an idiot, as you said, for thinking the Apple Blossom really is, to be honest, a match race, no matter who else enters?
March 3rd, 2010 at 9:36 am
What PETA doesn’t understand is that thoroughbreds are specifically BRED for the sport, without they don’t even exist.
No racing, no horses, simply as that.
March 3rd, 2010 at 9:54 am
Agreed, bred to run, but not to be abused as described in post #15.
March 3rd, 2010 at 10:07 am
Brad writes, “In an ideal world, every horse would live out his retirement years in a pastoral setting, munching contentedly on plush bluegrass….Additionally, I’d like to live on a rainbow made of gummy bears and marshmallows and buy a 10,000 square foot mansion with hugs and pixie sticks. But we can’t have everything.” We can’t have everything? Let’s at least be honest: as an industry, we don’t even try. With the exception of a handful of well-meaning individuals in the sport supporting privately run charities like the TRF, and the help of a handful of industry organizations like The Jockey Club, Suffolk Downs and NYRA, the horses are left to fend for themselves when their racing days are over. The industry as a whole needs to support this most basic of concepts. It’s easy to make fun of the idealism of humane retirement. But wouldn’t it be nice if first, we at least gave it our best shot?
March 3rd, 2010 at 10:09 am
I understand your concern, but you’ve broken one of the main rules of internet forums: Never feed the trolls.
March 3rd, 2010 at 10:17 am
Jeff,
This is not a trick question, so please don’t interpret it as such. To what extent do you think that racing, high quality racing, depends upon or requires these medical interventions?
You wrote (using these analogies to show how welfare advocates view some current practices):
“If most of the top ten coaches in the NFL got caught last year drugging their players illegally and served meaningless suspensions doing business as usual, do you think the NY POST wouldn’t have a snide comment or two? If it were common practice at the Olympics to operate on the kids’ throats to remove larynx and epiglottis parts thereby facilitating breathing but causing health handicaps thereafer would it be kosher? Suppose before the final four college basketball championships, it was common to tap or inject the ankle, knee, shoulder, and hip joints of an athletes with corticosteroids and synthetic synovial fluids, plus give them lasix and strong anti-inflammatories like phenybutazone etc, would it pass muster.”
If these practices were effectively eliminated, what would we predict the impact on racing quality to be?
March 3rd, 2010 at 10:18 am
Jeff Seder Says:
You call PETA extreme, then use copious hyperbole in your criticisms about them. They are not idiots nor zealots
Jeff,
Yes they are idiots, and yes they are zealots. That’s CHALK. 1/9. A bridgejumpers dream..
They prove that with each and every press release they send out or billboard they buy.
They waste millions and millions of dollars that could actually be put to good use.
March 3rd, 2010 at 10:18 am
I appreciate Mr Cummings’ thoughtful and reasonable criticisms of PETA. What happens to horses after their careers have finished is a complex problem with no easy answers. It would make me absolutely sick if one of the horses I bred wound up being abused or abandoned but I cannot afford to race all of the few I do breed (two a year). Thus I need to sell to an owner I hope will take care of them. Not owning a farm, also makes maintaining a horse for 15 years after his or her career is over is difficult. Luckily the one horse we needed to retire, we found a home for. Is humane slaughter the only alternative to abandonment and possible abuse when finding my horse a new career or new home is impossible? The recent HBO documentary on Temple Grandin’s advocacy and success in 50% of slaughter houses for humane treatment of cattle going to slaughter may deserve thought.
March 3rd, 2010 at 10:18 am
It is definately stupid and misguided for PETA not to recognize that horses love to race –they really, really love it– and that most human athletes I know feel the same way about their sport.
The best horses I have worked with have an agressive streak in them which is satisfied as they poke their way through holes, stride around from the outside or in some fashion, get the job done and win the race (under the guidance of a competant jockey, natch). That was an honest desire to prevail that these horese were getting from mother nature and not steroids or any other pharmaceutical interference.
That 21st Century racing has morphed into what is undisputably crass and cruel methods of beating the odds through the hands of an unscrupulous veteranarian is definatley the racing’s fault for allowing it to happen. Maybe the additional scrutiny of the PETA people can reverse this ridiculous trend.
For Gill to say that he is cutting each and every throat because each and every horse is diseased is a stretch of Gill-like porportions…[from the Paulick Report January 26th, 2010
"[Gill} attributes much of the stable’s success to the fact he gives all of his horses medication for Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis, or EPM, a neurological disease. “A good 80% of horses have EPM,” he said. He also has throat surgeries, or myectomies, performed on many of the horses he claims because “with EPM, one side of the flap (in the epiglottis) is gone, and the other half doubles in size. Then it closes up. The surgery helps them breathe.”] Can I please see his vet’s invoice as to the treatment schedules for EPM? I call b.s. - he isn’t finding EPM he is using that as an excuse for the surgery because he thinks it increases his odds on the track.
LA Times November 11, 2003:
“In 1995, Gill briefly trained his own horses, and the first one he raced tested positive for clenbuterol, a powerful windpipe dilator. Gill, who was suspended for 80 days, professed his innocence. “The first horse I ever saddled, and I’m going to fool around?” he says now. “Come on.”
By 2000, Gill had hired Shuman, a second-generation trainer who was then 29, and they began claiming horses and winning races by the dozens. Almost every horse Gill buys out of a race is given a myectomy, a minor throat operation that he says improves breathing and prevents bleeding from the lungs, a stress-induced condition that affects many racehorses.”
March 3rd, 2010 at 10:25 am
Thank you again Ray, you have voiced very effectively my own personal opinions. Please do not be deterred, you do a great job, and some of us really appreciate having you out there. We (who actually own horses, love them and care for them) love having someone voicing sane thoughts instead of fanatical rhetoric.
March 3rd, 2010 at 10:26 am
#2 - I have been reading Temple Grandin’s Animal Translation. Magnificent book~!
I don’t agree with everything she writes because she sometimes makes assumptions based on her feelings and observations (and I have a background in neuropsychology), but she gets most of it right.
March 3rd, 2010 at 10:30 am
My comment # 23 is stuck in moderation? Was it my potty mouth?
March 3rd, 2010 at 10:36 am
To Jeff Seder: Two of my brothers played Div1 college football. It IS common for human athletes at that level to inject their joints with various substances.
One of my brothers injured his shoulder in high school and continued to play football throughout college through the use of injections directly into the joint. He also had repeated surgeries in the off season. The other injured his knee as a sophomore in college and continued to play until he graduated, again through the use of injections and surgery. And this was common practice with other players they knew, too.
Probably goes without saying that both suffer near constant pain now and have very limited use of the injured joints.
And please don’t come back with the “but animals have no choice” argument. I personally think it’s just as bad to subject a young college athlete to that kind of “medical” treatment. Although they technically have a choice, they are told by team doctors, trainers and coaches that everything will be just fine and they won’t do any permanent damage. Furthermore, they’re seduced into doing it through the promise of free college at an elite school and the potential of a lucrative pro contract after graduation.
Perhaps you’re completely immune to that kind of seduction, but my guess is at least 80% of kids that age would succumb to it.
And yes, I believe you’re mistaken about equating Zenyatta v. Rachel with a match race. Match races involve two horses only. That causes both horses to stay right together throughout the entire race regardless of their natural running style, which puts more strain than usual on both animals. With other horses in the field, the “closers” like Zenyatta stay in the back of the pack and make their run in the stretch, as they’re accustomed and conditioned to do in every race.
March 3rd, 2010 at 10:49 am
“I think it a bit disingenuous of you to whine about attracting the PETA crowd when you so actively encouraged the anti-euthanization lobby,”
Graeme, I’ve personally never seen any sentiment here that was anti-euthanization. Anti-SLAUGHTER, yes. Two VERY, VERY different things - and the difference is what makes it such a huge issue.
Slaughter is not a humane death. Most all the reputable OTTB orgs do not have a problem with euthanasia in regards to dealing realistically with a population that is simply too large to be supported by the number of available homes and resources. In fact, there are 501c3s in CA that offer euthanasia clinics.
March 3rd, 2010 at 10:58 am
Brad,
Great article! While I do believe that animal rights groups truly love animals, some (like PETA) take it to the point where the average person just thinks they are crazy, paint-throwing nutcases. Do your research and talk to me like a human being. Then I’ll listen to what you have to say. Scream and threaten, and I’m not interested. I am a huge fan of racing who loves the horse and wants the best for them too. News flash to the extremists: you CAN be both fan and advocate!! PS….might be interesting to look into what the ASPCA is doing…..I read they are giving donations to horse rescues. Now THAT is how you spread your message of animal welfare! By action, not words!
March 3rd, 2010 at 11:02 am
Erin Thompson …
Thank you for accurately portraying my beliefs.
Euthanasia is an unfortunate necessity.
Slaughter of Thoroughreds bred to race, in my opinion is not necessary, and not because I think people don’t have a right to eat horse meat.
Thoroughbreds were not bred to be part of the food chain, and the cruelty inflicted on them in the kill-pen, sales and often inhumane transport to slaughter is beneath the dignity of the breed.
March 3rd, 2010 at 11:29 am
New NY Thoroughbred owner and breeder asked:
“Is humane slaughter the only alternative to abandonment and possible abuse when finding my horse a new career or new home is impossible?”
Actually, I am surprised that someone who is fielding one or two horses at a time would pose such a question. Perhaps (when faced with few options for rehoming the horse you spoke of) you investigated the cost of veterinary euthanasia and disposal in NY and can comment on that? I’m curious as to why that was not an option.
March 3rd, 2010 at 11:50 am
Ray Paulick wrote: “Thoroughbreds were not bred to be part of the food chain, and the cruelty inflicted on them in the kill-pen, sales and often inhumane transport to slaughter is beneath the dignity of the breed.
So Mr. Paulick, are you suggesting that the cruelty inflicted on other breeds of horses is somehow justified? Those horses have the very same capacity to suffer and the very same interest in not becoming meat as thoroughbreds do.
March 3rd, 2010 at 11:51 am
I am so tired of PETA and their insults on the racing industry and pet owners. Horse racing has been around since the time of ancient Greeks and Romans, so have pets. Today horse and pet industry is an important part of many countries economy, if these industries were really all that horrible they would have faded out of existance long time age. Horse and pet people have deep connections to their animals, the Arabs kept their prized horses in their tents.
Yes there are uncareing and cruel people, I was just through that when I sent good mare to the Finger Lakes in NY as a leased mare for breeding. It cost my and my husband a small fortune to get her back and medically treat her for over a year till she recovered. The mare barely weighed 700 lbs and I sent a 1200 up there. IN PETA’s eyes does this make me a bad person? Would they have been willing to spend time and money to help a mare in the condition she was in and spend sleepless nights in the barn nursing her through the colics because she could not handle eating? Over a year later she is fat, sassy and bright eyed, but not without the fight to save her life. LESSON LEARNED NEVER WILL WE DO THAT AGAIN
March 3rd, 2010 at 11:57 am
Sometimes I guess I like to be a contrarian.
To add to my previous blog comment here - I am not suggesting ending horse racing.
And I think PETA types help make us see what we don’t want to see. Sometimes you have to be unreasonable to get a reasonable result in the real world.
While I love horses and racing, also I believe horseracing can be so much better.
And to the vet who asked if I think all the medication interventions are necessary at the top of the sport — (see my web site and you’ll know I operate at the top of the sport http://www.eqb.com) –and I know first hand that a lot less are used by the few top trainers who are truly patient and they still win Breeders Cups.
March 3rd, 2010 at 11:58 am
Thomas Sweeney #10 wrote: WOULD LOVE TO DEBATE THE PETA FOLK.GET RID OF HORSERACING AND SENTENCE BETWEEN 30,000 AND 50,000 HORSES TO DEATH EVERY YEAR!!!! THEY WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN BRED!!!!
You just don’t get it! The rampant over-breeding is one of the biggest problems! That’s what the PETA folk want to stop . If there weren’t the rampant over-breeding of thoroughbreds, there wouldn’t be 12,000 American thoroughbreds sent to slaughter every year in Mexico and Canada.
March 3rd, 2010 at 12:01 pm
Philip….
I’m been involved in the Thoroughbred business for 30 years. That’s my area of expertise and concern. I try not to offer opinions in areas I know nothing about, and I know very little about other horse breeds.
March 3rd, 2010 at 12:13 pm
IF people took a look at who is behind the peta movement (And others similar ) , and WHY……..and for past several years, WELL !…. we would all fight back most agressively.
Ask a hog farmer, cattle farmer, dairy farmer et al…………..oh “That’s right”…..there aren’t many left around TO ASK.
WHO funds this movement ,WHY, and WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO ?
I know, but encourage others to take a real hard look.
March 3rd, 2010 at 12:24 pm
Thanks Jeff,
I’m well aware of your work (and website) and my personal take on things is as you’ve surmised-patience and great “craft” or skill still produce great racing.
March 3rd, 2010 at 12:32 pm
Well said Graeme Beaton. Like most bullies, it seems as if Brad and Ray have no problem providing a forum where they can single out people for public ridicule and bashing, even in matters that are not clearly defined. They allow - and perhaps even incite - such comments by not requiring individuals to use real names to ensure responsibility and proper attribution. I guess that’s all well and good when they can control the subject of derision. But let one person says something negative about PR and they get hyper-sensitive and defensive: eight paragraphs to defend yourself because someone compares you to PETA? That’s laughable.
I am not a PETA advocate, but if one can’t see the hypocriscy in deeming one breed of animal suitable for consumption, while allowing it for other breeds of the same animal, then you are too myopic to discuss this issue intelligently.
March 3rd, 2010 at 12:33 pm
Excellent commentary, Mr. Brad.
Personal opinion is we could get many critics off our backs within one year if trainers with repeat violations would lose their licenses. Funny thing, but the guys who get the most non-medication violations such as late to paddock and illegal parking are the same bunch with bute overages, clen overages, failure to declare medication necessitating late scratch, dodgy veterinary issues, snake spit on the premises, etc.
A cheater is a cheater is a cheater. Example, a certain trainer who recently got busted for prohibited substance in his tackroom plus needle and syringe has also been busted for beating up a groom and sleeping with a gallop girl (busted by his wife in latter happenstance).
Until the chronic rule breakers get gone, racing gonna remain vulnerable to critics such as PETA. Furthermore, while PETA is wrong to paint an entire industry with such a broad brush, some of their criticisms – to echo what’s been said here already – are and will remain valid until the punishments fit the violations. Oh yeah, and until owners start objecting to their insane vet bills. Industry slow to change; surprising how many guys still think a long tail will slow a racehorse.
I’ve enjoyed reading responses to the commentary.
March 3rd, 2010 at 12:34 pm
Brad and Ray, I wish you had provided a more refined characterization of those that come here with implicit and explicit critcisms of certain aspects of the racing industry rather than - apparently - reacting to one commentator’s perception. This has become a very familiar reaction from the racing industry: to tar all those who speak out in favour of change with the dreaded “PETA” brush - animal rights activists who want to see an end to racing.
It’s very divisive.
March 3rd, 2010 at 12:47 pm
Respectfully, I think some folks are missing the point. The article is not about the PETA comment. That comment was made by someone who probably agrees with much of this article. It’s really about the people who come on this site and turn anything into a slaughter issue. The folks who take a story about a great mare in Flanders and turn it into a hate fest for everyone in the industry. PETA is just a small portion of that, although the most descriptive org which is why it got the lead.
The point is, know the time and place. When every word out of your mouth is an anti-slaughter position, people ignore you. As someone on the strategy side of politics, I was really just offering advice to those who want that message out there. It’s tiring and people stop listening when you are a Johnny One-Note.
As for criticism, we love criticism. You can find multiple occasions where we not only left it alone but oftentimes highlight it.
March 3rd, 2010 at 12:48 pm
Brad,
Thanks for the great article. My family has been involved in racing, breeding, owning, exercising and training horses for 3 generations. Needless to say, I love racing and I love the TB horse.
Our business allows us to interact with numerous people from the show horse world who universally believe abuse and cruelty are a fact of life for racehorses. We have specifically invited those people to visit our horses at the racetrack. Every single one has become a fan of racing. There are numerous owners and trainers who do care about their horses and put significant effort into appropriate retirement. However abuse and cruelty exist which is creating a huge anti-horse racing movement. My point is that we love racing, the horses, and we take a strong stand against horse slaughter. We are opposed to PETA because as an animal rights’ org,conceptually no one should own or ‘use’ horses for sport. Essentially that leaves 3 dividing lines:
1) PETA/Animal Rights
2) Anti slaughter and pro equine welfare and
3) Pro slaughter.
By lumping all the proponents of humane treatment of racehorses, anti slaughter groups, and horse rescue and retirement orgs., into the PETA/Animal Rights category, the industry is doomed.
In reference to your comments, “…and horse industry haters are coming to our site in droves to turn any subject into a commentary on the horrors of horse slaughter, allegedly abusive whipping of some of our sport’s biggest stars….” Some of this came about after the tragic televised deaths of Barbaro and Eight Belles. The majority of concerns came from non racing people with no previous exposure to the sport other than hearing rumors about cruelty, drugs, whipping, etc. From their limited exposure why would they think differently? I think this is where the industry really dropped the ball. We tried to put band aids on instead of promoting that the horses’ welfare as an integral part of our success. These people see run,run until they break on TV, but they don’t see any footage or commentary on horses that have been successfully transitioned into show horses, trail horses, or even back yard pets. This is one way we can reach them and turn them into fans, bettors and owners. Brad, when we understand where they are coming from, we need to be more compassionate in addressing their concerns. Their passion for the horses is the same that keeps so many of us in the game.
March 3rd, 2010 at 12:50 pm
Well written piece and some good and/or interesting replies so far…
I’ll apologise now for a lengthy reply, but do hope some of you have the endurance to read it all.
It is indeed a very complcated issue and I do have a few angles on it, but for now I’ll start with this one….
I feel that my wife and I may have some standing on this particular issue, as we both own and race horses, have competed horses in other sports, AND we run a small animal rescue centered around dogs and horses. We have several horses that have obviously had a hard life at the track, and they do now enjoy a what is most likely a kinder life. Hence, we have viewed this ‘animal welfare’ issue from both sides and (we think) in a very balanced manner. Oh - I’ll refer to it as animal welfare rather than ‘a PETA issue’ to remove the politics and extremism that may be entailed.
As we view it, there are some obvious things within US racing that could be changed that would placate animal welfare advocates somewhat, and furthermore, be in the racing indusytry’s interest too.
1) Remove all drugs - they race like this overseas, why not here?
And I mean ALL drugs including Salix/Lasix and Bute.
And before anyone starts thinking this is unrealistic - stop - it simply is not so. Phase it in, educate people within the industry, and we will have within a few years, racetracks across this country with healthier horses.
The strongest objections to removing drugs will come from the owners who allow, and trainers who use drugs as poor substitute for horsemanship, and/or use them to cheat.
It will lead to a restructuring of the racing business, but just think it through with an open mind for a minute and you’ll see that’s not a bad thing.
There are people within the business calling for this - owners, trainers, vets, jockeys, bettors, and outside the industry - animal welfare advocates including the PETA folks…..why has it not happened yet?
2) Clean up the administrative mess that is US racing, standardize everything including rules and finally put in place sanctions with teeth.
I’ll leave the admin issue alone, suffice it to say, that there are too many corrupt and/or incompetent position holders that would lose their job if things were streamlined, and they’ll obviously object to such a sensible, and well overdue restructuring and all the good that could follow.
BUT, cheaters will cheat while they can, and in most of these cases they are doing something that is abusive to the horse.
AND, if all they get is a pathetic slap on the wrist, they’ll just do it again - and abuse again.
Replace these ten day sentences with months, and 3 month suspensions with years or lifetime bans. That will change things!
To use a DUI analogy. What would happen if there was a zero alcohol tolerance, I mean absolutely none, and the minimum penalty started with prison-time, and confiscation of vehicles?
DUI’s down, wrecks down, fatalities down, ruined lives down, insurance down…..
Bicycle sales up…..
So who loses, except those who were causing the problems before?
SO, if we had a sport that was FAIRER - because people couldn’t cheat or abuse with drugs, and we made sure those that tried to cheat and abuse got caught and were heavily penalized - who loses?
And wouldn’t animal welfare advocates (including any extremists), be happier?
With a cleaner sport, and more horsemanship and a new way of business (resting and rehabilitating horses (with or without therapeutic drug use), we will see less breakdowns, and we’ll also see horses that exit racing with increased possibilities.
And I’ve got some ideas for dealing with those horses too - another post later.
Like the original piece states, the extreme position that all to often stems from well intentioned passion and considerable ignorance, effectively marginalizes the message. Maybe PETA needs to take extreme stands to mobilize itself, but I hope if there are PETA people reading this, that they realize that there are plenty in racing who would willingly work with them toward reasonable objectives.
Calling for an end to racing, is just divisive, and effectively forces those that would support a good reform, into a solely defensive position. This creates a stalemate, and nothing improves.
These horses were bred to run, and the vast vast majoirty love to run (that’s more than an opinion) but there is abuse that could be dramatically reduced if there was a will to do so.
Well written piece, and some good and/or interesting replies.
It is indeed a very complicated issue and I do have a few angles on it, but for now and in the interests of keeping the post succinct, I’ll start with this one….
My wife and I may have some standing on this particular issue, as we both own and race horses, have competed horses in other sports, AND we run a small animal rescue centered around dogs and horses. We have several horses that have obviously had a hard life at the track, and they do now enjoy a kinder life. Hence, we have viewed this ‘animal welfare’ issue from both sides and (we think) in a very balanced manner.
The racing industry does have some improving to do, and not just on the public image and animal welfare fronts.
Like the original piece states, the extreme position some take on racing may well be impassioned and well intended, but it is all too often ignorant.
The ignorance, leads to misunderstanding the real issues, and to ascerting stupid and inflammatory claims.
Calling for an end to racing, is just divisive, and effectively forces those that would support a good reform, into a solely defensive position. This creates a stalemate, and nothing improves.
Just look at Washington, and anyone can see how ridiculous and useless this is.
There are many people within the industry that would like to see changes that animal welfare advocates would be happy with – if not satisfied. These people are owners, trainers, jockeys, veterinarians, track officials, bettors, even breeders.
The extremism may contribute to mobilizing the animal welfare movement, but the movement would do well to fully educate itself about racing, realize that it has many shared interests with many people within the industry. Then, together develop a strategy that could bring about real improvements.
(In a subsequent post I’ll suggest some of these improvements, if they haven’t already been addressed.)
But anyone who has spent time with thoroughbreds knows that these horses were bred to run, and almost every one of them wants and loves to run (and that’s more than just an opinion).
However, there are some (that I actually pity), that view horses only as tools with which to make money or to build their ever-fragile egos. There are others that are ignorant to the fact that they could operate their horse business in a superior manner – in both the performance and welfare aspects. And there are some that are like sheep and do what they think everyone else does, and that is often significantly less than ideal. These are the people and attitudes that inflict the abuse horses often suffer within the racing industry.
There will always be these mentalities within the industry, but if the industry was improved and refocused, then the methodologies employed would be similarly improved.
Racing does need to see some changes – cleaner racing with a renewed and sincere reverence for the horse welfare.
If the industry was doing its own housekeeping then the animal welfare advocates would have no legitimate claims of abuse within the industry, so for right now, racing actually needs them to bring the problems into awareness.
March 3rd, 2010 at 12:53 pm
Ray,
#30, Thank you. My sentiments exactly.
March 3rd, 2010 at 12:54 pm
Just read some replies that show that many of us have the same views and want racing to cleasn itself up….
As we view it, there are some obvious things within US racing that could be changed that would placate animal welfare advocates somewhat, and furthermore, be in the racing industry’s interest too.
1) Remove all drugs - they race like this overseas, why not here?
And I mean ALL drugs including Salix/Lasix and Bute.
And before anyone starts thinking this is unrealistic - stop - it simply is not so. Phase it in, educate people within the industry, and we will have within a few years, racetracks across this country with healthier horses.
The strongest objections to removing drugs will come from the owners who allow, and trainers who use drugs as poor substitute for horsemanship, and/or use them to cheat.
It will lead to a restructuring of the racing business, but just think it through with an open mind for a minute and you’ll see that’s not a bad thing.
2) Clean up the administrative mess that is US racing, standardize everything including rules and finally put in place sanctions with teeth.
I’ll leave the admin issue alone, suffice it to say, that there are too many corrupt and/or incompetent position holders that would lose their job if things were streamlined, and they’ll obviously object to such a sensible, and well overdue restructuring and all the good that could follow.
BUT, cheaters will cheat while they can, and in most of these cases they are doing something that is abusive to the horse.
AND, if all they get is a pathetic slap on the wrist, they’ll just do it again - and abuse again.
Replace these ten day sentences with months, and 3 month suspensions with years or lifetime bans. That will change things!
To use a DUI analogy. What would happen if there was a zero alcohol tolerance, I mean absolutely none, and the minimum penalty started with prison-time, and confiscation of vehicles?
DUI’s down, wrecks down, fatalities down, ruined lives down, insurance down…..
Bicycle sales up…..
So who loses, except those who were causing the problems before?
SO, if we had a sport that was FAIRER - because people couldn’t cheat or abuse with drugs, and we made sure those that tried to cheat and abuse got caught and were heavily penalized - who loses?
And wouldn’t animal welfare advocates (including any extremists), be happier?
With a cleaner sport, and more horsemanship and a new way of business (resting and rehabilitating horses (with or without therapeutic drug use), we will see less breakdowns, and we’ll also see horses that exit racing with increased possibilities.
And I’ve got some ides on how to look after them too.
March 3rd, 2010 at 12:55 pm
Madix3 commented on several scenarios that are real problems:
“However, there are some (that I actually pity), that view horses only as tools with which to make money or to build their ever-fragile egos.”
Ok This is a character flaw and very difficult to correct/change. There will always be individuals like this, and rush of the sport will always continue to attract them to the industry (there will always be a steady supply). The real question is whether the industry can develop a “structure” that discourages them and limits the negative impact they have.
“There are others that are ignorant to the fact that they could operate their horse business in a superior manner – in both the performance and welfare aspects. And there are some that are like sheep and do what they think everyone else does, and that is often significantly less than ideal. These are the people and attitudes that inflict the abuse horses often suffer within the racing industry.”
Can (or how can) the industry better address these issues (rooted mainly in ignorance)?
March 3rd, 2010 at 12:55 pm
I’m sure all of the people who expressed their opinions on this site are very thankful they have you, Brad, to counsel them on how best to voice their beliefs.
You should read your own advice and heed it yourself - when the crux of everything you write on this site casts the Thoroughbred industry or its participants in a negative light then people stop listening.
Okay, since you are Ray are obviously monitoring this site, why don’t you two go on the record and say if you are in favor of horse slaughter or anti-horse slaughter. That should be an easy request for you two to satisfy, given how often you offer yourselves up as guardians of the racing industry’s best interests.
March 3rd, 2010 at 12:56 pm
WOW! All of this because I pointed out a FACT that wasn’t popular about Flanders.
Bradford,
Making any issue about Thoroughbred welfare an attack on PETA is pointless and it only highlights the power they wield whether you want to admit it or not. Just imagine that when people google PETA the Paulick Report might pop up and an animal rights activist will become aware of what has become a sordid industry! Way to go!!!!
So whats the Paulick Principle?
1. Do you believe it is ok to whip a horse each and every stride? (as Flanders was)
2. Do you believe it is ok to dump an older horse when they are no longer “profitable”? (as Flanders would’ve been in the next couple of years)
3. Do you believe it is ok to us drugs no matter what they are when they are labelled “therapeutic”? (as you labelled “isoxuprine”)
Rays story about Flanders justified each of the above! But because she was a high profile champion you ignore the fact that Flanders was mercilessly beaten during that race. Why do you think she broke down? Did you listen to what Pat Day said afterwards? (I rode her hard) His justification of Lukas’ drug positive as “therapeutic” implied it was “ok”! His reference to her “digging down” is deceptive! What choice did she have?
GO BACK AND LOOK AT THAT RACE! Like so many others that wrote I too remember her stirring performance, but I never forgot that she was ridden into the ground. Just because she was owned by Overbrook, trained by D. Wayne Lukas and it was a Breeders Cup race…DOES NOT JUSTIFY IT!
And if we’re going to ask owners to be more responsible we should ask the WEALTHIEST owners to take care of their older horses. I have spoken to so many tbrd rescuers that tell me it’s the most prominent breeders and owners who tell them to literally “go to hell” when they’re contacted to assist in a rescue of a horse they bred or own. It’s unacceptable! Ask Chris Young how much Overbrook Farm has donated to tbrd rescue? I’d like to know. I hope the answer is a lot.
I’ve worked in this industry for years at the BIGGEST farms and know what aspects are considered when entering a mare in a sale. An 18 year old mare no matter who she is, is nearing the end of her “commercial” reproductive years. I was shocked Flanders brought what she did and I’m sure I wasn’t alone. And you don’t want to get me started on Coolmore and some of their “practices”. Do you know what they do with mares when they buy them carrying a noncommercial foal? Maybe you’re not familiar with the term “blowing it out”? Or are you?
The fact is my post angered you so much because it’s the truth and heaven forbid the truth get in the way of a good racing story like Flanders.
STOP trying to justify the ugliness by deflecting toward PETA. That is unless you like giving them the spotlight.
And I want to make one thing clear. I do not hate racing but I will not sit back and pretend that the daily practices of cruelty is acceptable.
And last. I do appreciate the fact that you have given readers the ability to voice their opinions. I guess the question is whether that voice is welcomed when it isn’t complimentary?
March 3rd, 2010 at 12:58 pm
Brad, re-read what PETA said. They did not call the Rachel-Zenyatta matchup a match race per se. While they left a level of ambiguity, they at least showed that they knew what a match race was a few sentences later when they wrote “Go For Wand, in a race that was ESSENTIALLY a match race with Hall of Fame filly Bayakoa, fractured her leg at the Breeders’ Cup Distaff” (emphasis mine).
While the wording could have been better, and certainly anyone who knows the running styles of Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra know that such a setup like in that race is unrealistic (I’m thinking more Winning Colors vs. Personal Ensign, although obviously that isn’t accurate either), but they know what a match race is. It seems to me you were just looking for something to pick at in that article, and I don’t think you picked at the right thing.
While PETA exaggerated the problems of having these two great champions meet, they used the appropriate channels to protest, namely asking the owners not to enter their horses, and didn’t say or do anything utterly outrageous to make their points. Normally, PETA goes over-the-top, and likely they will when the race comes closer, but right now, you are entirely off the mark.
March 3rd, 2010 at 1:13 pm
Who read beyond the second paragraph of LCM’s diatribe? No one? That’s my point. People ignore rants. LCM, if you want to be heard, you should learn how to effectively communicate your message. I don’t really disagree with what you are saying in general. I just don’t care what you have to say because it’s so over the top. I know I’m not alone.
March 3rd, 2010 at 1:25 pm
Brad, very respectfully, I just think - in the context of the audience of TPR - it’s misleading to generalize. Some horsemen aren’t familiar with the very diverse territory of animal welfare and racehorse retirement/transitioning advocacy that “equine” mapped out a little above. It is not the case that anytime horse slaughter is mentioned, that the person mentioning it has racing’s demise as their goal. Usually, generally I might almost say, they simply want to see an end to horse slaughter…
Anyway, onwards. Darn siege mentality getting to me again
March 3rd, 2010 at 1:26 pm
Petey Green….or whoever you are…. (yes, we do allow people, including you, to post anonymously here.)
As to your specific question: I oppose the slaughter of Thoroughbreds, though I support humane euthaniasia of horses that are in danger of neglect or abuse if there are no alternatives for them beyond slaughter.
The Thoroughbred industry as an institution is beginning to pay attention to a problem it ignored for far too long: what becomes of ex-racehorses. Many tracks and organizations like the Jockey Club have begun to support retirement or placement services, though the demands far outweigh the available resources. Many individual owners take care of their horses upon retirement without fanfare and others in the industry support the numerous groups dedicated to the aftercare and placement of ex-Thoroughbred racehorses.
There is progress in this area but we still have a long way to go.
March 3rd, 2010 at 1:30 pm
I guess by your silence that neither you nor Ray will respond to my question regarding personal views on equine slaughter. I would surmise, however, judging by previous comments posted by you and Ray (#30 above) that you are both opposed to horse slaughter.
If that is indeed the case then PR and PETA share a similar ‘principle’ with respect to this one facet of Thoroughbred racing. Thus Johnny Mac’s comment is eminently fair and valid. And, if it causes you to sink into ‘the lowest moment (you’ve) had since June 16, 2008′, then perhaps it is because you realize that you stand united with those you disparage and criticize so aggressively.
March 3rd, 2010 at 1:33 pm
LCM…
I’ll be brief.
1. I would like all U.S. racing states to adopt restrictions on use of the whip similar to the UK
2. I completely disagree with the premise of your question
3. Medication rules are too liberal in the U.S. and I support reform.
March 3rd, 2010 at 1:44 pm
Brad and Ray, is it any wonder that your site is no doubt the most visited in such a short period of time? Bravo for your interest in all opinions because per chance there just might be an area that needs improvement.
Brad, as a former racing owner, politically active on racing boards, and founder of the first CANTER racehorse rescue program, my experiences have been quite different than yours. Sincerely and respectfully, I am curious how these quotes are supported: “Ultimately, the vast majority of horsemen do what they do because they have an absolute love affair with horses” and “But to even attempt to paint a broad brush on all horsemen or even something close to a majority is equally as sickening as the things that both Gill and Paragallo are accused of committing.”
If the number of Thoroughbreds sent to slaughter is an amount (Per Patricia Hogan, DVM’s Putting the Horse First) that equals 50 percent of the number of foals born, people find it very hard to make the leap that this is “an absolute love affair”. Add to that count the number of horses that are bought from kill pens at live stock auctions or bought from “feed lots” of kill buyers, some of whom are licensed racing trainers, then add an additional number that are bought from owners/trainers on the backside of the track by rescues (formal and informal) because they demand “meat price” for horses that the rescuers’ veterinarians must chemically euthanize due to the severity of their racing injuries and we are not just “close to a majority” but past the majority of those no better than Gill or Paragallo.
In addition to the disposable race horse via slaughter, how is it “an absolute love affair” to have horses racing in low level claiming races that are no longer competitive but by doing so they provide income to the industry through wagers? These horses finish repeatedly double digits behind –sometimes over 30 lengths or more behind the winner yet they are entered again and again and again despite track comments that clearly state “failed again”, “outrun”, “faltered”, “tired”, “no factor”. I have no doubt that the original breeders and owners had “an absolute love affair” with these horses when they earned money from their sale or when they were originally sound and competitive but as statistics show, the love affair ends abruptly by the vast majority of breeders and owners once the cash flow stops.
Today, there are an untold number of people following Caiman. He raced in the Belmont Stakes in 2004, earned over $300,000 in 85 starts. He was claimed 11 times plus transferred ownership without being claimed. He was a DNF in May 2009 but he was so “loved” that this 9 year old was brought back to race in January 2010 this time the “loving” gesture — race him at Beulah Park in $2500 claiming races. He races today on his enlarged ankles because enough money could not be raised to claim and retire this horse. He races against horses like Quiet Deputy, also bred in Kentucky, who sold for $40,000 at the 2004 Keeneland Yearling Sale. Quiet Deputy last raced at Beulah on 2-24-10 and finished 27 1/4 lengths behind with a track comment of “no factor”. He races today in the same race — just ONE week after that frightening finish. “Love” indeed.
Claiming races are the majority of races carded. A random check of horses running in cheap claiming races all over the country, will find hundreds of these noncompetitive horses. Heaven help any horse involved in that type of “love affair” with their owner.
I have bred, purchased, raced and used horses in other disciplines and I take full responsibility for them all, retiring them to my own farm and even have taken someone else’s responsibility: a son of Groovy, who had to be saved from slaughter for a price of $600 because of bilateral knee fractures. I abide by the late great John Hettinger’s statement regarding racehorses:
“At the end of his life he should be retired, adopted, or humanely euthanized if no better solution can be found. Anything else makes a mockery of the words which for centuries have been used to describe our game . . . Sport of Kings.”
If the majority of owners respected their horses, the above slaughter statistics and racing of noncompetitive horses would not exist and it would be quite true to state that the “vast majority” of racing horsemen do have “an absolute love affair” with their horses.
Thank you both for the opportunities you have provided for me to comment now and in the past!
March 3rd, 2010 at 1:47 pm
Good to hear Ray. Then I would assume you will agree that Pat Day was abusive with the whip during that race. I think racing fans get so caught up in the exictement of the moment they don’t really see the truth of the moment. It’s easy to do.
I remember Rob Whitely writing about this issue. He was telling how his daughter one night asked him “Daddy, why do they have to hit the horses?”
I hope you’ll continue to push for reforming the use of the whip in the North America. It would be a great START to make this sport more palatable to the average viewer. There is a big difference between “asking” a horse with the whip and abusing a horse.
I hope we can agree on that.
March 3rd, 2010 at 1:59 pm
In addition to getting rid of drugs and dealing with offenders in such a way that they won’t re-offend….
BTW I think that goes a long way to answer the ‘how can we’ question from Equine Vet, and by extension, if this was implemented, those ‘types’ that we both agree will always be in racing, can still be there, but no longer would they be able to operate with ‘old methods’.
As I see it and have discussed it with owners and other trainers, here are some observations/ideas that may be of interest or use….
Racing here in the US focuses at the 3yo championships – why? Because racing is the marketing branch of the breeding industry – and that’s where the real money is earned.
They want great 3yo’s to go to the shed, and earn stud fees. The breeding industry doesn’t want prospective stallions or great mares racing longer than that – and neither do the owners, as there’s simply more and less risky money in breeding.
There is certainly a chicken and egg situation here but anyway….
BUT, what if we had some great 4yo championships, or older championships? – and while they do exist in the form of some BC races and handicaps, they just aren’t promoted enough.
What if there were more races to feature longer staying horses? - Here we think the Belmont is a long race – well look overseas and you’ll see it’s just average, compared to what horses can do.
To try to clarify my point….if there was more prospects for actually RACING a horse rather than trying to make some quick fast money, all the while hoping to then breed something to sell afterward – things would be quite different.
Also… the 3yo dream, causes people to run horses too early. I used to think 2yo racing was horrific and cruel, but I’ve become more moderate on that view now. The fact is there are 2yo’s that are ready to race (though some have indeed been artificially pushed there) just as there are some freshman college footballers that could go into the NFL from a physical maturity stand-point. But the percentage that IS ready is much smaller than those that do race. Again, if 4yo and up racing looked better, some people would push less and be rewarded later.
BTW – Anyone remember the ages of horses in the great Charlie Whittingham’s barn??
Next idea…
The racing industry as a whole is starting to put more money into retirement farms….it’s seen as a good thing to do….
I’ve discussed this with sport-horse people and there’s a real opportunity with them. Essentially, put some of this money into prizemoney pools at horse shows – and it’s only available to horses with race records.
Now there’s an incentive to retrain an OTTB into a new career, and those horses, are looked after by another person outside racing – they’re happy, the ex-owner is happy, and it actually costs less (cash and image) to the racing industry as a whole.
Furthermore if there is an increased demand for OTTB’s, then some (even if only a few) will not run their horses into the ground, as they now have a residual value outside racing.
Now a little more radical….
What if at every step along the way when money was earned by a horse, a small percentage of it went into a pool to help horses later – every sale, every win check etc. I know many breeders and trainers already do this to some degree, as they view things like I do – the horse makes you money and therefore you owe them for that – even those that don’t break-even.
There’s a short story here regarding this…..
Several years ago we saved a horse from a bad situation and saw she had some value as a broodmare, after contacting her breeder, pervious owners and others about taking her as b’mare, we got nowhere and kept her ourselves. Well, wouldn’t you know it – her younger brother then becomes Canada’s 2yo champion and suddenly the phone starts ringing – and with some nice offers – sorry, you guys showed your true colors earlier and she stays with us and we have some REALLY nice babies now.
The fact is, there are many things that could be done to improve racing and racing’s image and all of it in the interest of the horse also. We love this game and we love our horses, but it truly has a sick and insidious side regarding how it is allowed to operate in this country.
I hope it takes less time to clean the mess up and ensure racing’s future is bright, than it does for Congress to pass anything useful in DC.
March 3rd, 2010 at 2:00 pm
Jo Anne
First of all thank you so much for offering your insight. I am so thankful there are people like you who are willing to stand up for these horses in peril. I think the biggest problem right now with this industry is the lack of willingness to ACKNOWLEDGE how pervasive the problem is. The statement by Brad about “love affair”…shows he is totally out of touch with the harsh realities of this industry.
Yes Brad, there are some who do have a “love affair” with the horse, but unfortunately most of them do not own or breed thoroughbreds! It’s really difficult to be in the thoroughbred industry and truly LOVE a horse. Why? :Because the decisions made regarding them are based on MONEY not LOVE. When most breeders decide to breed or sell their decisions are based solely on what will be most lucrative. I don’t have a problem with that, but the vast majority of breeders and owners end their love affair when there is no chance of a profit to be made. How much can you LOVE a horse when you send it through the auction ring without reserve? How much can you love a horse when you “drop it down” time and time again? Most people don’t do the “right” thing because it’s considered too expensive. I rescued a horse I bred and when to considerable expense to do it. Do you know what people in this industry though of me? They didn’t say “thats’ great”…they said “you’re crazy”.
I thnk Ray is reaching a crossroads here with his blog. Of course he should be commended that people like me and Jo Anne can address the issues that NOBODY at the top of this industry wants to address. Luckily for this industry most casual racing fans and bettors don’t really know how MANY racehorses end up in PERIL. Jo Anne’s examples are just a couple and they are not isolated and neither is someone like Parragallo or Michael Gill. They are the worst of this industry but they are not a rarity.
March 3rd, 2010 at 2:00 pm
Blimey! If you hoped to calm them down then it wasn’t an unqualified success Brad.
We got off to a pretty good start with #1 who felt that bettors were being abused and worked our way through to #49 who seems pretty stirred up to be particularly objective ! [not that some of the points are entirely without merit]
These are, I submit, the facts:
Animal ownership is not, in and of itself, a “bad thing”.
Horseracing is inextricably liked to gambling but that should not mean that gambling is the be all and end all.
Directly or indirectly gambling is responsible for the prevailing attitudes towards both the whip and medication.
There is far too much racing for it to have any “special” attraction as a spectator sport any more.
The more racing there is the more the lower standards will [must?] fall. The high slot machine purses being run for by very moderate horse almost certainly make things worse.
Horses have the same death rate as any other species - “only one per customer” - so that whether they hobble off at Penn or get sold on and resold again and again as riding horses or eventually wind up as 20 year old barreners doesn’t really make much difference.
What is required is a system which would give all reasonable people the option, and encouragement, to do the right thing by their no longer viable racehorse. This will need money invested at the start of a horse’s life, and it will need skilful presentation, but it should prevent most horses from slipping too far down the slippery slope before they are quietly and sympathetically despatched. Sometimes we need to be grown up about things. Horses shouldn’t suffer because people pass the buck and expect everyone further down the line to “do the right thing”.
March 3rd, 2010 at 2:01 pm
PETA and similar organization should be INVITED into our sport. We should cooperate, invite their participation, COLLABORATE with these groups with whom we professedly have the same interest of animal rights and animal care. Horse racing stands to lose a lot from public “misperception” about treatment of horses and this may be blunted by bringing the animal orgs into the sport–analyze the problems in care, and aid in formulating the solutions. Contraire to Mr. Bradford Cummings–most so called “horse lovers” in any humane sense fail to provide adquate care or even conceptualize correctly what that means.
March 3rd, 2010 at 2:02 pm
I wrote that comment after reading “Getting Bute out of the food chain”and the piece on Flanders.You can’t come here anymore and talk about the topic that Ray is covering,they all get sidetracked,just like this one has.In both the Flanders and Bute stories,the comment section turns into wild accusations,personal vendetta’s,witch hunts and threats about the industry and toward each other.It is the comments of the posters that makes me think this is a Peta site,not Ray’s site.I believe Ray loves racing and the work he does for racing,and I like the information he puts out.Most of you talk about the sad state of racing and how the industry has so much infighting,you need to look no further than yourselves.
March 3rd, 2010 at 2:09 pm
I keep saying it -” humane” slaughter should be the main topic.
March 3rd, 2010 at 2:11 pm
Madix 3
There is nothing radical about asking for tracks to set aside a percentage of purses to rescue. It would be good PR, but they’re too backwards to see it that way.
And congratulations regarding the mare you rescued. Sometimes Karma isn’t a bitch!!!!
March 3rd, 2010 at 2:43 pm
“Euthanasia” ” Putting Down” these are as cruel of deaths as any others have you ever watched a horse put down just as violent as being shot with a gun probably not as violent as a captive bolt and the body being used for something useful. Instead of just wasted or used for coyote grub. Horses are “LIVESTOCK’ we all want the tax benifits we want to push the economic development card when going to government. Race horses are not the only horses yes Thoroghbreds have a spotlight on them but when the grade horse is not allowed to be sent to market that means one less spot at a riding stable or a back yard lot is no longer avalible for that registerd horse. If Ambercrobie, Zito and Paulick want to save horses go ahead but just as the race tracks don’t need to be told how to run their business niether do horsemen need to be told what to do with their culls yes in livestock you have “culls” sorry but welcome to the real world. I don’t what my babies to end up in a killer pen but once I have sold them unless I request to purchase the horse back It’s in the new owners hands just like Claiborne selling Ferdinand for big bucks, his sale enabled them to continue to feed and breed more horses. In the late 80’s and early 90″s horses had a value because of horse slaughter now it is a buyers market when winning daughters of El Corredor that won at Hollywood and Tampa our given away no strings attached we have a real problem I was the “lucky” or “unlucky” one to recieve this mare after a day of racing in Ohio. We really have to watch PETA cause every little thing they implement gets them one step closer to slaughtering our industry.
March 3rd, 2010 at 2:51 pm
Jay,
You don’t need any help from PETA slaughering this industry. Posts like yours get the job done on their behalf.
Hey Bradford do you think Jay has a “love affair” with LIVESTOCK, uh I mean “coyote grub”?
March 3rd, 2010 at 3:04 pm
I have to say there are bad apples in EVERY organization all over the world….so what….get over it……..my husband and I are definitely NOT one of the bad apples we both retired from our law enforcement jobs (both of us together had well over 50 years in this service and yes there are bad apples in law enforcement) but we retired so we could run our Thoroughbred Farm to the 110% that we want it run. We had a real love for law enforcement thats why we did it so long but we are much happier hanging out with all our “guys and girls” and teaching them from birth on. This is our passion and we learn something new everyday and we are here for the horses!!!
Royal Court Equine Center
Hot Springs, Arkansas
March 3rd, 2010 at 4:21 pm
Thoroughbreds have been and some still are bred for show and not just racing. The “commercial” breeders who care nothing about breeding for soundness or temperment and only care about “scoring” financial home runs and lie like somebody who said in an interview on Talking Horses “you can have a sound horse or a fast horse” (when one can find many horses that are both sound and fast) have been doing considerable harm to the horses. Just like the American automakers back when who cared nothing about their customers and built cars that did not last and broke down often their short sided greed has helped others. People started buying Japanese cars. Many show horse people who preferred Thoroughbreds over other breeds now look to warmblood breeders for their horses. Even if there was no horse racing their could still be a market for sound horses with “good minds”. It is a shame some Thoroughbred breeders want to destroy that market. Horses are pets. Look on petfinder.com and you will see horses listed along with dogs,cats and other animals.
March 3rd, 2010 at 4:44 pm
An edit button would be nice.
March 3rd, 2010 at 5:04 pm
#67 Susan Wagner “I have to say there are bad apples in EVERY organization all over the world….so what….get over it……..”
Ms. Wagner: The point is, based on statistics and information already cited above, Thoroughbred racing has a MAJORITY of “bad apples” and for you to accept that so flippantly with a “so what” and “get over it” is unconscionable yet so true to form. Bad apples need to be removed whether from law enforcement (since you mentioned they were there) or racing or any other profession or activity. The answer is not to defend the slaughter and racing to destruction of well over 50% of the annual foal crop by a “so what . . .get over it” but since you are still in the industry, insist and demand change or have you forgotten what bad apples do?
March 3rd, 2010 at 5:20 pm
I’m not by any stretch a fan of PETA. I’m a volunteer for my local shelter and PETA types have managed to close down our humane, no-kill county shelter system to the detriment of many animals who will now have no safe place to go. It’s easy to dismiss PETA as a bunch of whack jobs, but the reality is that they form a lot of public opinion and in the case of our shelter, have done serious damage. We thought they were so nuts that people couldn’t possibly listen to them, but our county’s Executive Council DID, and cut funding to the shelter system.
Fruit loops or not, this is a dangerous, dangerous organization.
I wish the TB industry would take more seriously ANY threats to its public perception. Times are changing and this industry isn’t keeping up. Too often the defense has been a “they-just-don’t understand!” attitude. I see this all the time with the bashing of commenters on public blogs (not this one, more general sports blogs) using that defense. Of course there’s a lot of name-calling. You’re an idiot, you don’t know what you’re talking about, have you ever owned a race horse, etc. You guys have to knock off that crap! Educate, don’t abuse! Bit by bit you erode the fan base when you do that.
March 3rd, 2010 at 5:42 pm
70 comments, all off a very polite ‘quit whining’. PETA will always be against horse racing, they will always rant, and there will always be 50 of us willing to rant right back at them about how we should keep it going. What I’m wondering is, when are we going to stop ranting and do something that will make us look better to the rest of the world? PETA isn’t the only organization out there aimed at convincing people that we have no good intentions and if we don’t start marketing the sport better they’ll get what they want.
That’s right industry leaders (and I happen to know you ARE reading), it’s time to quit talking, quit forming committees for the discussion of this and that, and step up into one organization willing to regulate, market, legislate for horse racing. Otherwise you (and all the rest of us) are going to have to listen to this until there’s no more sport to whine about.
And to those of you who aren’t willing to change, I’m here to remind you of a little concept called Darwinism…adapt or perish, it’s time to decide.
March 3rd, 2010 at 6:26 pm
Ray,
I’m somewhat sorry to see that this blog has become so controversial, but it obviously shows that there is a war going on. You have the status quo establishment, which for some reason WON’T change anything and the concerned who want to see changes made and the acknowledgement that their MUST be significant changes within this industry to survive. Right now as it stands I don’t care if it survives as it is. I’m sure people like Jo Anne who have been in the trenches saving a multitude of tbrds might feel the same way.
I hope that one day I can watch a horse race and know that the horses aren’t drugged, they’re not relentlessly beaten and that the odds are they won’t end up on the killing floor somewhere when they’re no longer “useful”. Right now I and it seems many others are at the point where there is just too much wrong with this sport to justify it surviving and THRIVING. It can’t and it won’t UNTIL the horse is seen a valued entity in racing and not livestock waiting to be “culled” as “jay” described in his post.
If that is the stand this industry is going to take than they won’t have anything to STAND for in a few years. At least I find some comfort in knowing that. And creating another “task force” isn’t going to cut it. What happens when the next high profile horse breaks down on national TV? And that’s not an “if”, it’s a “when”.
I hope the Paulick Report continues position itself as a part of the solution and not resort to calling everyone a PETA extremist when the topics aren’t pleasant.
How about reaching out to all the big farms that produce the majority of horses and ask them to commit a portion of stud fees to rescue”? Have any farms ever made such an offer? If so, I’m not aware of it. Let’s start asking Lane’s End, Three Chimneys, Darley, Coolmore,Taylor Made, Adena Springs (they do have a rehab facility), etc….to step up and show that they “care’ about the animals they are PROFITING from. I’m tired of seeing people of very meager means jumping in and bailing out these horses from killers and auction houses. Just read the posts on Alex Brown’s website…it’s beyond tragic and unacceptable. It’s time for real accountability.
I guess it’s time to find out if these are horses that people have “love affairs” with as Bradford stated or are they LIVESTOCK? Time to make a clear distinction. It can’t be both ways.
March 3rd, 2010 at 6:54 pm
This is awesome, and always has been! Democracy at it’s best. I just hope there is some one out there listening wise enough to pay attention to it.
March 3rd, 2010 at 7:20 pm
If the industry wants to change its image then it first and foremost needs to put the horses welfare at the top of the list and I do mean the top instead of ignoring them.. Many racehorses are still suffering terribly because of irresponsible owners, trainers, racing management, horsemens groups. The only reason the plight of racehorses came to light was because of a few organizations and many horse rescues bringing it to the public’s attention, not because the racing industry all of a sudden decided to care about the horses. Yes, there are some in the industry that do the right thing for their horses and take responsibility, however there are a plethora of others who could care less what happens to their horses and throw them away like garbage. Brad and Ray I think you both are a bit naive how bad it really is for many horses when they can no longer race. Whatever negative image the racing industry has today, they brought upon themselves because of greed, selfishness and ignoring the very thing that makes the industry, the horses. It is not PETA’s fault because racing has a negative image. The racing industry created its own negative image very well on its own. It is no longer the Sport of Kings but the Sport of Shame. Maybe the industry should stop blaming and start taking full responsiblity.
March 3rd, 2010 at 8:07 pm
How about this crazy thought?
Government takeover of all unwanted horses in America.
Here is another one, everyone work together.
We got all this unused stimulus money right? Build public stables! Lots of them! Build them just outside all the major cities up and down the east and west coasts. Build em big, and build them on the inland side of the cities not more then an hour out or closer if you can. Keep building them until we’ve got a handle on the numbers we need and then build a few more for over flow.
This would be a strategic move in case of any major disaster, any kind of attack from the ocean, or if the oil, gas, and power run out or just stop for whatever reason. If people need to move inland for any reason and they could get to a stable they could have a horse to ride on a first come first serve basis until they are gone. Also, the stables would be open to any US citizens to keep their horses there. I remember after Katrena I saw a few pictures on the news of all the traffic jams and in the background of one picture out in a field were a couple of people on horseback heading the other way. I know I wouldn’t let the Government heard me along with all those people. I would never put myself in that position. If the government tells me to go up I95 for example, I’m going the other way on I66 (I’m on the east coast) just an example, I wouldn’t really be on the highway, just generally heading in a safe direction on my horse.
This would also create lots of jobs, for starters the folks that build the stables. There would have to be a lot of minimum wage and low paying jobs for the people that take care of the horses, the land, and run the stables but they are jobs just the same. The Government would have to buy the land and hopefully some American would be getting money on those deals. They could use a little Park land on a case by case basis. The Government would pay all the Workers, Vet, Feed, Farrier, Electric, Gas, Water, and other bills. This would be helping out a lot of people.
PETA could volunteer to work at these stables and help find volunteers. But anybody could work there for free and or volunteer their time or services. Maybe even get some kind of tax break for your services. The people that keep their own horses there could pay what they can or maybe a little extra. If everybody would just work together, do and pay what they can or more. You would have to be dedicated on this one. If PETA likes this idea then start pushing it to Obama, go picket outside the White House.
Now we are talking thousands and thousands of horses here, it would be a big operation. A lot of you said there are a few bad apples, the humans in the horse business, but with all these horses there will be a few diamonds in the ruff too. Those could be picked out and worked with by the top staff; of course you would need a few high paid experienced professionals to make this show go. The bad Apples in the horse business would be sentenced to work at these stables along with other prisoners. If you get any kind of suspension at any racetrack in America, you are going to work off your days at a Public Stable. You could also sell riding lessons and ring time, rent horses by the hour, have bareback riding classes, because there won’t be enough saddles to go around. You could have environmentally sound land clearing and farming, no machines, let the horses pull the wood out or plow the land. You could sell some of these horses to good people and check up on them because if they mess up or are caught doing anything wrong they will be back at the stable they bought the horse from doing hard work 12 hours a day, we would put it in the sales agreement. All these things and more would help put a little money back in the project. Eventually philanthropist and rich dedicated horse owners would get on the bandwagon and donate or will a little money to the project.
I know there will be a lot of little problems and local rules that would have to be worked out. If everybody were pushing in the same direction and had the same common goal, the HORSES, we could start to head in the right direction. Without horses we would never be where we are today and we might need them again some day. The HORSES deserve a great deal of respect and we owe them a huge debt.
Leave the wild horses alone. Keep tabs on them, help where it is necessary and take a few if we need them but they would be our backup horses. This project would cost a lot of money but it can’t be any worse then some of the other projects the Government waste money on and it might turn out to be a real benefit or even a life saver for a lucky few.
March 3rd, 2010 at 8:53 pm
Well Ray and Brad, at least it seems that we are all in agreement that we enjoy racing and desire to see it thrive in the future. The lively discussion and passionate views are generating positive ideas for change which can only result in a stronger industry and more humane care for our horses.
Thanks!
March 3rd, 2010 at 8:57 pm
I do hope like someone has already said, that some of those with political power within the industry ARE reading this, and taking note.
This sort of discourse is far more valuable and true than glossy saccharine articles in those main racing publications – and on this particular topic it’s quite clear there is a serious problem, it’s negatively affecting racing, and there are some obvious win-win improvements that could be made.
But, we do have this administration problem which is kind-of in the way of any change.
Who does anyone talk to about changing things – we have a sport with so many ad-hoc organizations, doing some jobs ok and other jobs poorly, and there’s simply no one that can call the shots. But I digress…
I have another idea (seriously I’m full of them)….
I for one, don’t want to wait for racing to either ‘perish’ or for those that should be doing something about these issues to get motivated and start doing something.
Another in-house focus group or study will do little more than give some folks a chance to say “Well, we’re currently looking into this little issue”.
It seems to me that right here on this blog we have a and lot of passion and bunch of ideas (even Gary’s wild one – I thought I saw you in the hills with tins of beans around Y2K Gary LOL).
Why don’t we, or those that really want to find a solution to this problem get together, with firm endorsement from as many of racings’ officials and entities, farms, mega-owners etc etc as possible and come up with a plan.
Here are several issues at play in regard to horse welfare – there’s more I’m sure;
a) Drugs
b) Whipping
c) Longevity on the track
d) Breeding weak horses
e) Finding new careers/homes for those coming off the track
f) Humane disposing of horses to prevent worse scenarios
The thing is, they’re all linked, and they could all be remedied to a great degree. And best of all, it helps everyone, other than those that currently benefit from the status quo.
It seems there’s ‘no one home’ at the top, or they just don’t care, but I appeal to those that do have some clout and are reading this to give those of us here a real mandate and real support and as ‘genuine lovers’ of racing and horses, we won’t let anyone down – the horse, the industry, and even it’s executives.
I’ll propose Jo Anne to at least start as this new groups’ president. And yes, it will be filled with many of us ‘meager lower level types’ – as we have the passion that needs to be returned to racing. I’d even suggest we get a representative of PETA and ASPCA – maybe even Wayne himself onboard too.
So – What do you think?
March 3rd, 2010 at 8:59 pm
I’m with Gary on some of what he said. The wild horse deal is going on because the Southwest is in a terrible drought. I would suggest all the PETA people to spend one month in the Arizona heat. Leave your SUV’s , your BMW’s at home, you wont need them you’ll be walking. You will spend your days looking for food (theres not any) and you will walk till you drop looking for water (theres not any). At night you will try to find some cool ground to lay down on (theres not any).
Theres a lot to be said about making a business out of the over flow of horses. It’s a buyers market. I would like to see more people being brought into THE HORSE INDUSTRYY. We allready are doing what Gary suggests. We take in the unwanted and find them jobs. The profit line isn’t Great but the profit line is low in everything.
March 3rd, 2010 at 10:55 pm
Has anyone checked in on Gary? Is he ok? Just a lil concerned that’s all!!!
March 3rd, 2010 at 11:09 pm
The OP complaint was that Paulick report unable to publish without constant interjection of extraneous issues failing to pertain to the subject at hand–horse welfare, take out, etc. Possibly the OP got off to a questionable start—by prefacing with the PETA rant, lol.
I am with those folks grateful for Paulick Report, and letting us come on here and express our opinions. I get more put off by constant negativity than issues off the subject, but as one posted–democracy at work. Horse racing is other than a dictatorship or oligarchy at present. We have a great product, lot’s of smart people–and–(on a lighter note–my constant subject)–Twin Spires on-line wagering increases 41% in 2009. Over $100 mil increase!!!! in one year. Can this get a little more pub.???
March 4th, 2010 at 8:46 am
Jay - Your post #65 clearly demonstrates the backwards attitude in this idustry that so many of us loathe and wish to erradicate altogether! What a shame that your only comment about Ferdinand, a slaughtered Kentucky Derby winner, was that his sale allowed for the breeding of more horses. Shameful. Unfortunately I suppose we’ll have to listen to the misguided views of those like you for some time yet to come. Again, shameful.
March 4th, 2010 at 12:50 pm
JoAnn #70….sorry my whole point came across wrong…I in no way say just forget about the bad people I am right there with others to see the Paragallo type people get their just reward. What I meant was all the whinning etc. I say “get over it” do something don’t just whine about everything single thing you don’t agree with (not talking to you specifically) put some whinning into action just be sure you know what you are talking about, get involved with a racing organization and find out specifics. If people have time to do all the whinning then they have time to make a REAL difference.
I would really like to see the stats, the honest stats that show a MAJORITY of racing people are “bad”. I guess we are some of the lucky ones as we are surrounded by “good” race people. What are you saying about 50% destruction of the annual foal crop?
March 4th, 2010 at 12:55 pm
We must be more humane to racehorses, yes. The reality is, everything manufactured has involved the imposing of some cruelty to make it so. A casino represents an ungodly carbon footprint. If I choose to mindlessly to pull away at a slot machine or enjoy a football game, I’m not doing much more to save the animals than watching the races. Untold amounts of them have been displaced, slowly starved, and or poison by the logging, mining, and petroleum company employees that provide the raw materials and anything else involved.
As humans, I hope we can regulate mistreatment of animals without losing the aesthetics and thrills of competition that we need to feel and be alive.
A “peta-person” would need to live in the countryside, feeding off the indigenous flora, without stepping on a bug, to avoid cruelty to any living being. That is not how we evolved into humans and it does not define us as humans. We are just figuring out to what degree we actually are civilized.
I’m sure someone would adopt the poor “chicks” in the photo. I hope their bikini’s are made by fairly-paid labor and cruelty free materials..
March 4th, 2010 at 12:59 pm
Actually , Jay (#65) has a point and that is the description of the horse. As it stands now, the equid is known as AGRICULTURE. Certain groups are trying to change this lableing of the horse to a “pet”…when & if this were to occur, the owner will no longer be allowed to make any choices for his own horse. I have read of these future plans. The horse owner will no longer BE the owner…he will be known as the GUARDIAN. He will have to comply with the muiltitude of laws that will be enforced such as Govt. over -site to care for the horses in the ways deemed by this new government. He cannot sell or convey this horse without consent. , and the list goees on and on and on. Anyone who questions this future plan really must read about it and find out what this means to every horse owner , and of any breed.
Jay is correct to issue the warning that peta et al are slaughtering the industy.
This all began over 20 years ago and we must fight back., better now than never.
Horses are a proud animal and so are their owners. I believe that the MAJORITY of horse owners DO take care of their horses & I have been surounded by horses my entire life and their owners. I have NEVER seen such a MASS GENOCIDE of horses as I have seen in the past 5 years. Period. All the people who are thinking that they are helping the horses have only led to destruction and pain to the horses themselves.
There used to be a balance to things and it worked.
What ever happens NEVER ALLOW THE CHANGE IN THE DESCRIPTION OF THE HORSE.
REMAIN AGRICULTURE STATUS.
March 4th, 2010 at 1:20 pm
Brad and Ray, first a word of thanks for not deleting the posts of those that disagree with your views…others like to tout open and democratic “communication”, then promptly eradicate the opposing viewpoint from their blog or message board. That being said, as long as the racing industry views the athletes of their “sport”, the horses, as disposable, organizations such as PETA that might not know the ins and outs of horseracing are going to attempt to address the issues that plague it…and those of us that have seen the abuses firsthand are going to as well.
“Are there bad apples in the bunch? Of course. The aforementioned Paragallo and the much-maligned Michael Gill are the low hanging abuse fruit of the moment. But to even attempt to paint a broad brush on all horsemen…”. Sadly Brad, there is a great deal of “low hanging fruit”. In another post regarding this very same thing (the “broad brush painting of horsemen”, a term I certainly use loosely with many owners and trainers), the angered racing trainer encouraged those that speak out against the abuses in the industry to “spend just one week” on the backside of a track, I assume because he/she guessed these folks had not and/or were not speaking from experience. Well, I have spent years on the backside, and so have others that have then had their eyes opened wide. In only ONE of those years, MORE than 60% of the owners/trainers that SOLD or donated their TB racehorses to the rescue I was with ran those horses with existing injuries…existing injuries that required the horse be humanely euthanized due to the severity of the injury. That was only ONE year…HUNDREDS of horses going into this one rescue from just one state were so damaged that a humane death was all that could be done for them. But who knows about these horses?…no one but those of us that loaded them onto our trailers and stood at the end of the lead line as they died. And in that same vein, on what stage do the owners and trainers run these most unfortunate horses?…certainly not on the same “stage” as Gill and Paragallo! These horses run and suffer and ultimately die, whether it is on the track as a “cheap claimer” (words taken right from a trainer’s mouth, as quoted in the TB Times), or in a rescue, or on the bloodied floor of the slaughterhouse. We are NOT ignorant NOR uneducated when it comes to what is happening to TOO many racing TB’s….PETA might not have all the names of horses and owners and trainers, and all of the true accounts of neglect and abuse, but a number of us do. And although I might not agree with all of PETA’s methods, I certainly concur with their wish to address the long-overdue issues of treating the horses as disposable and without value.
This statement, “I also heard about a schoolteacher who molested one of his students. Does that mean we should dedicate time to trashing all teachers? Of course not.”, really doesn’t hold water. One cannot equate the necessity of education of our children with a gambling and “entertainment” entity such as horseracing. And certainly, a molesting school teacher is removed and punished (at least I would hope so!)…and I would hope that this type of behavior would be deemed important enough to have someone “dedicate” their time to address it! So those of us that “dedicate” our time to be the voice of the horses that have none?…if you want to see it as “trashing”, that is certainly your choice. Would I rather that the industry and the folks in it that earn their living off these horses’ backs be responsible and deal with the e-mails and phone calls that are received weekly, and at times daily, about a TB racehorse running sore (more words from a trainer’s mouth in a quote from the TB Times) in a bottom-of-the-barrel claiming race at Beulah Park or Mountaineer or Penn National or Golden Gate?…or regarding the desperate need of a rescue for funding to stay afloat with the many injured racehorses in their care?…or of the TB’s standing in the killpen or at the auction, straight from the track and days after their last race? You bet I would, as those of us that “dedicate time” to this “trashing” do have our own responsibilities and careers/jobs and families. No one holds a gun to my head to take the time to help as much as I can, I just happen to value the horses (I DO have an “absolute love affair” with these magnificent creatures) and also, just happen to have once been a TB horseracing fan…but that was before I spent “a week”, as suggested by the trainer, on the backside.
Two of my horses are TB ex-racers, Greenwish and Saucon Creek that have stories of their own. They are the lucky ones, still alive although not now or ever to be totally sound from what was done to them during their time on the track. I hope to honor them and the ones that didn’t get to live life after rescue from the track due to the damage they suffered running on injected and injured joints and limbs, by continuing to dedicate the time I do have in voicing what I have seen, heard, and learned of the racing industry. So for Winds of Love, Lou’s Expectation, Barbara’s Jewel, Sunder Bay, Claim’s My Name, Dream Deliverer, Cabriolass, Siphoned, Celtic Trick, Storming, Sterling Gold, Cat Stick, Whitmark, Buckflanker, Richochet, Say Yes Dear and the thousands of others that are NOT an Eight Belles or a Barbaro, known to the general public and viewed as exceptions as racing casualties, this one voice is for you and I hope PETA and others will continue to dedicate their time and efforts for the welfare of those still running for their lives.
March 4th, 2010 at 1:25 pm
To cheer everyone up go to You Tube , The sketch show uk jockey and Fietlebaum spike jones.
March 4th, 2010 at 2:15 pm
Number 86 is misinformed about equine injuries. If a equine is severly damaged then it is lame. Drug use is illegal for those types of injuries to remain racing. The animal is in a cast for a number of months. If a leg is broke the animal is sometime put down. A HORSE can not race lame. With A torn ligament the animal is casted.
I wonder about the disposal TB’s #86 speaks of. Did the animals walk to the track without a limp?Did the animals that were spoken of have muscle and ligament damage or broken bones? If the bones were broke the animal could not move. The animal should of been put down on the spot and not trailored by the rescue. EVERY muscle injury can be successfully treated. If the person is willing to put in the time and money. I really think #86 is a horse hater.
March 4th, 2010 at 2:43 pm
Skippy - what dream world are you living in? Every one of those horses she listed was racing lame (i.e., severly damaged as you put it). You seriously think that the low-level and low-life trainers that run their horses with such injuries are going to spend the money to treat (let alone CAST them for months) - rendering the horse totally useless in the area of squeezing one last dime out of them? I personally know of some of the horses that were mentioned. We are talking about anything from broken sesamoids to advanced arthritic changes where a 6 year old animal could barely take a step without being in excruciating pain and unable to run without being buted to high heaven.
You are on another planet if you think these animals are put down “on the spot”. Lou’s Expectation was thrown out of his stall by his trainer at Great Lakes Downs and forced to stand in a parking lot with a broken bone until the rescue people could come and take him to a safe place and get him the surgery he needed that his trainer didn’t deem him worthy of receiving. Talk about a nice reward for a life a serving and winning money for humans.
I, too, can go on and on with real examples that blow your “opinions” out of the water. I, myself, own another OTTB that had sustained injuries that were supposed to have kept him from racing forever. We got him off the track 2 YEARS after that diagnosis … and yes, he was still racing. Time to wake up, Skippy.
March 4th, 2010 at 3:39 pm
Skippy,
You are actually misinformed about equine injuries. Your statements regarding injuries, their manifestations and treatments are not medically accurate. While the statement “Drug use is illegal for those types of injuries to remain racing.” may in essence be true, Illegal drug use occurs. Its detection depends upon testing (strategies, sensitivity and specificity of testing methodologies, and whether the type of testing performed even detects the agent used). Pre-race exams are not always performed, etc. This is an imperfect sport in an imperfect world.
March 4th, 2010 at 4:30 pm
Take what poster 71 said about PETA to heart…this organization has the stated intent of ending all human/animal interaction. PETA and HSUS (Humane Society of the United States), which is hand in glove with them, raise lots of money from people who think they are helping animals, but almost none of the dollars goes to actually make a difference in animal care. PETA actually kills over 97% of the pets surrendered to it for rehoming on the theory that they are better off dead than in a loving home. Do not invite these people to the table if you hope to continue having animals in your life. The industry has many problems that need to be fixed, but letting PETA help fix them is an invitation to disaster.
March 4th, 2010 at 4:43 pm
In response the second post of Susan Watkins, #83:
Thank you for the clarification of your statement and I’m sure all here appreciate and accept your apology for the misunderstanding!
In response to your request: “What are you saying about 50% destruction of the annual foal crop?”
As I indicated in my original post, that statement is taken from Patricia Hogan, DVM’s article, “Putting the Horse First” that can be found at
http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/finalturn/archive/2009/03/10/Putting-the-Horse-First_3F00_.aspx
Please read Dr. Hogan’s article and the comments. Dr. Hogan is questioned on the 50% statement and she posts a supporting reply.
So that accounts for 50% of racing’s horses but does NOT include the thousands of Thoroughbred racehorses rescued from livestock auction kill pens that did not make slaughter statistics but had been so doomed. These horses are coming right from the track still wearing their racing plates and to travel legally should come with their Coggins yet they arrive at auction without a Coggins and a new one must be taken at the auction. Could it be the Coggins is left behind because it identifies the OWNER of the horse?
If you are not involved in rescue work, then you would be unaware of the above and of the horses that were rescued directly from kill buyers after the auction. These horses too deserve to be added to the percentages above. Because the rescuers’ bids were ignored by the auctioneer in favor of the kill buyer, the rescuer must now pay an additional “ransom” to the kill buyer to save the horse despite the fact the horse has not even left the auction kill pen!
Additionally, add in the racehorses that rescues, both formal and individuals, purchase directly from “feed lots” of kill buyers .
Add to that those purchased by rescues directly from the racing trainers matching meat price so the horses do not become a slaughter statistic. (In one year that I was Executive Director of CANTER MI, we spent over $25,000 matching meat price at Great Lakes Downs in Michigan to save horses from kill buyers that were also licensed racing trainers.)
At this point, we are easily beyond 50 % of an annual foal crop (please see the Jockey Club Online Fact Book for annual numbers) yet we still have not counted in those horses racing with fractures, torn ligaments, tendons and even neurological conditions who die in the dirt in morning training or racing and are not recorded by the industry, those that come into rescues or to non race individual rescuers with injuries so bad that they are completely unsalvageable even with surgery afforded them. These horses were actively racing on those injuries and they were cumulative but illegal drugs and legal drugs such as catabolic steroid injections into an injured joint keep them filling races that are harder and harder to fill. Again, this is supported in Dr. Hogan’s original article by this quote:
“Veterinarians who work with any of the racetrack retirement programs can tell you that the physical condition of many of those horses “donated” (a clear misuse of the word) render second careers or even adoption as pets next to impossible. Yet, these horses were actually racing often just days prior to entering these programs—how is that able to happen? And is there a veterinary role in this? The public seems to think so.”
On June 19, 2008, the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection held a hearing entitled, “Breeding, Drugs and Breakdowns: The State of Thoroughbred Racing and the Welfare of the Thoroughbred Racehorse”. Do you really think representatives from the NTRA, The Jockey Club, the California Horseracing Board, Hall of Fame trainer, Jack Van Berg, owners such as Arthur Hancock and Jesse Jackson, six veterinarians with expertise in Thoroughbred racing and the executive director of CANTER Mid Atlantic would have been called to Washington DC to testify if there were only a few “bad apples” in the industry? If you need further hard statistics, an Excel spreadsheet was entered as an exhibit for that hearing that sets forth, among other things, the horses’ names, their injuries specifying why the racehorse rescue had no choice but to euthanize these horses coming from just one very small racetrack over a period of 6 years. Written proof that the horses that Dr. Hogan refers to above do exist, just multiply it out by the number of racetracks and then add that total figure to the above.
I apologize for the length but it is an absolute constant refrain that there are only a few “bad apples” and, this deserves to be addressed as totally inaccurate.
#78 Madox3, I am honored that you would wish to nominate me to a new group to attempt to make changes in racing but I’ve been trying since the 1990’s and I have a whole new appreciation of the adage: “You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink.” But thank you, Ray and Brad and all of you for your insightful comments!
March 4th, 2010 at 5:16 pm
I just found this site today, and I’m glad to see it. I have something - a lot, actually - to say about PETA. I’ve been battling them since 1988.
Guys, PeTA is the ENEMY. Their bottom line is absolutely NO interaction between humans and animals AT ALL.
They have gotten a lot more subtle about it than they used to be. But showing them that our treatment of animals is humane won’t move them at all. They’ll pretend to listen, and propose something impossible, so that they can get us to agree to “compromise” on what they wanted in the first place. They invent abuses where there are none.
Cooperating with them at all is very foolish.
They do not care what happens to the animals. They just want them out of our hands, and they will go to any lengths to do that - including torturing them. I have a file drawer full of material proving this. Two examples: an underground volunteer got a job at a primate lab in Maryland. He worked his way up until he was trusted with the care of the monkeys while the rest of the staff was gone for a week. He then ignored the monkeys. He left them un-medicated, un-fed, bandages unchanged, and their cages un-cleaned for several days, then called in his cohorts to film the disgusting conditions. Result: lab director charged with 100+ counts of animal cruelty. All but one was dismissed - but Peta won’t tell you that. They got possession of the monkeys, and kept them alive well past the point where the right thing was euthanasia. (They were such good fund raisers, don’t you know.)
They did the same thing to an orangutan trainer in Las Vegas; poked his critters with sticks until the poor things were thoroughly agitated, and then taped the man dealing with the aftermath. Again, charges against the trainer. In that case, they were caught at it, and all charges were dismissed against the trainer, and the petaphiles were fined. But they still use the film for fund raising.
Here’s a helpful website:
http://www.petakillsanimals.com/
I have some issues with the racing industry, but am not anti-racing. I feel the same about slaughter; I’m against it only until it is humane. Beef cattle are bred to be stupid and non-sensitive. Horses aren’t.
I am a human exceptionalist. That means that, while animals are ours to care for, they are not our equals. Rights and responsibilities go hand in hand, and animals are incapable of understanding the concept of responsibility. Our right to own an animal includes the responsibility to care for it properly, with all that entails.
Ruthie, a genuine animal lover
March 4th, 2010 at 6:18 pm
Kathy,
If you’re so terrified of PETA and the HSUS I suggest you along with others get the socalled leaders in this industry to clean things up…and fast!!!!
Sunny farm,
I don’t know, you might want to change your logon to “funny farm”. Last time I checked people were selling “pets” in this country. When did that stop? Get a grip on reality. Since when aren’t pet owners allowed to “make decisions”? Then who is taking them to the vet for treatment or euthanasia? A government appointed official? I don’t think I’ve read anything so delusional and paranoid in my life.
March 4th, 2010 at 8:18 pm
Jo Anne,
What was the result of the June 19, 2008 meeting?
I’d like to see a transcript of what was said and by who.
Did anything useful come out of it?
March 4th, 2010 at 8:18 pm
I used to raise beef cattle until found out about the illegally cruel slaughter. They are not stupid or insensitive. I have the 2 oldest as pensioners and they are tame. I bottle raised one of them and she enjoys being petted. They will both be 19 this year. She has a calf because a bull who was next door got loose on my place. The USDA does not seem to want to do their job and make sure slaughter is cruelty free. I believe in humane treatment of all animals including humans(unless they deserve to suffer.) I believe people having pets is good for people and pets. The captive bolt gun has many times failed to render an animal insensible to pain with the first blow as required by law. According to http://www.pcrm.org we are better off without meat. The law allows the use of a real gun which could kill humanely if properly used but unfortunately some do not seem to care whether animals suffer or not. If mankind had evolved as much spiritually as he has technologically we would not have cruelty,war or crime. We need justice and leaders who are just. The dollar is not almighty and cannot give us eternal life. Everyone shall be judged according to their own works. As you sow so shall you reap. Greed is one of the seven deadly to your soul sins. If only everyone believed that the world would be a better place.
March 4th, 2010 at 11:38 pm
“Can you hear me now”?
Since we are wandering:
Bill O’Gorman, in my humble opinion, you’re right. Every racehorse needs a trust fund for its perfectly predictable retirement from racing, assuming it is not subject to fatal injury. Doesn’t have to be huge, but financed in part by breeders, and in larger part by its racing owners. Fund can be applied to another horse if subject horse is claimed. New owners put up the remaining dollars needed to supplement the breeder’s portion. Enough to send it to, and sponsor it at, a reputable non profit for rehabilitation/retraining prior to adoption or retirement. 3-4K per horse should do it. Fund managed by owners’ association in state of ownership. Then there is no excuse… and hopefully racehorse “rescue” becomes obsolete. No more uncomfortable phonecalls to connections and racetrack personnel. No more embarassed trainers on the other end of the line. Instead, we can all focus on humane racehorse retirement and transitioning - the funds are there for whatever is needed, including humane euthanasia if need be.
Oh, wait. Exactly this sort of proposal has already been suggested to the NTRA by one of the most experienced thoroughbred retirement personnel in the nationt. And there was no response.
March 5th, 2010 at 1:04 am
#97 - I think I was right about you tube sketch show uk jockey too!
March 5th, 2010 at 10:04 am
#95 Madix 3
http://energycommerce.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1353&catid=27&Itemid=58
1. That link provides a video of the entire hearing.
2. The witnesses are listed. Prior to their live testimony, they each submitted their planned statements with documentation they desired. Just put your cursor over their name and you can obtain it. The Excel spreadsheet I mentioned is part of the exhibits submitted by Allie Conrad of CANTER Mid Atlantic.
3. At the very bottom, it states that the actual transcript of the hearing –the question and answer part which is the best part — is not available yet but it IS available. I obtained it by contacting Congressman Ed Whitfield’s aide James Robertson who assists with the horse slaughter legislation and he sent me the link to it. I obtained it and have it saved. Be prepared. It is 132 pages long and is in addition to the above statements provided before the hearing but what great reading! I went to put that link here for you and it is no longer up!! No idea why. I would suggest you try to contact Congressman Whitfield’s office to ask how to obtain a copy of the actual testimony or if that fails, let me know how to reach you and I’ll email it to you.
Clearly, there was strong evidence that Congressional oversight is needed because the only way to enforce change upon racetracks and racing commissions so they conform to one standard is for Congress to refuse to allow them to simulcast until they comply. It is obvious there is NO other way. In fact, when directly asked this question how the industry would enforce change with no power, Mr. Marzelli of The Jockey Club responded, “We have the power of persuasion and consensus-building”.
The NTRA’s Safety and Integrity Alliance announced in October 2008 was, I believe, an attempt to use their “power of persuasion” and we know how well that has worked or this entire commentary would not exist!
March 5th, 2010 at 11:52 am
re Caroline Betts post, quote:
“Oh, wait. Exactly this sort of proposal has already been suggested to the NTRA by one of the most experienced thoroughbred retirement personnel in the nationt. And there was no response”
THIS is a perfect example of WHY this industry is currently doomed “as is”. The lazy bureaucrats who inhabit the positions of power don’t WANT to do anything to benefit the horse. Time and time again they prove it with both their actions (not taking a stand against slaughter) and even worse, their total innaction!
THEY’RE WORTHLESS….except they’re COSTLY as well. I will never give another dime to either the NTRA or the BC as long as they refuse to put a significant portion towards thoroughbred retirement funds. If enough “responsible” breeders felt the same way maybe there would be change, but most breeders are far too scared of it hurting the “commercial” appeal of their horses in the auction ring to not BC nominate. Do you really think you’re getting your $500 worth? Really? .
March 5th, 2010 at 12:05 pm
The NTRA apparently doesn’t respond to anyone with serious proposals, inquiries, or pleas for help on behalf of the horses. Most I got from any of them was an automated away email message from several members notifiying me that they were out of the office - living it up at the Breeder’s Cup! Those people NEVER respond otherwise.
WORTHLESS IS RIGHT!
March 5th, 2010 at 1:31 pm
Thanks Caroline Betts post # 97. The solution that I proposed to the NTRA after Tranquility Farm’s experience of taking in hundreds of “owner relinquished” or rescued horses is that every horse at the racetrack have a deposit in the office sufficient to pay its way into a non profit for rehab. This is a painfully obvious way to make the staggering losses to slaughter a thing of the past.
The NTRA is of course in no real position to make policy about anything. Without a central governing body each racing venue would have to take this action independently. Not a huge problem if the political will were simply there to rid racing of slaughter. The means to rehab and adopt racehorses now exists everywhere, what is lacking is the moral compass in racing.
The old excuse that retirement planning is too costly and creates hardship for owners no longer bears scrutiny. Owners purchase and train horses with disposable income, and if they don’t have it they shouldn’t be in the game. What we are talking about is an investment in the public perception of racing as a humane and ethical sport, something that perhaps should have taken precedence long before the fans fled in disgust. How costly was that?
March 7th, 2010 at 12:13 am
JS;
Normally I wouldn’t respond to your rude comments but since I have a little spare time , I shall. I have been in the horse business over forty years & have seen the changes. I also make it a point to know about the business that I am in. The reports I read ARE verifiable & were printed in major horse magazines , regarding the agenda of peta et al…that they want to change the horses’ description from agriculture TO “Pet”. You may have not noticed , but by placing apostophes in the word ”pet” , that this was a loose term …it is still the same idea and is the future agenda of what these animal rights activists are planning.
Thier plan for the future is to stop the use of all horses for any purpose.
They DO plan to make a horse owner a guardian and no longer an owner who will be allowed to make their own choices for their horses., and other similar future plans.
They DO plan to tell the public THAT : “The ONLY way we can stop horse slaughter IS TO CHANGE THE VERBAGE FROM AGRICULTURE TO “PET”"….just another step to get to the point I am making, not allowing horses for any use at all.
I am far from paranoid, but am well read and informed. I think I touched a nerve with you because you must also know what I am saying is the intent and don’t want this fact exsposed.
You may , however call my farm ; Funny Farm, because that is true. My horses leap about and rear up all just to get my attention, they steal my hats and tug my sleeves, it is quite a sight and very fun and very funny !!! Ever see several horses all jumping up and down ALL at once JUST to get me for some one on one time & training ?, Get me ! Get ME !!!
FUNNY !!!
I don’t need a future of others telling me how to run my Funny farm, the horses say it loud and clear.
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