An open question to Art Sherman, Perry Martin, Steve Coburn, the 100,000 fans in attendance, the millions more watching around the world, indeed, all who were seduced by NBC’s shameful coverage: How to explain, justify, defend this?
(pick up around 2:50 mark; California Chrome has the white stripe)
3-year-old California Chrome received roughly 20 hard lashes within 15 seconds. Said celebrated jockey Victor Espinoza: “I noticed something as soon as he came out of the gate. He was not the same. By the 5/8ths pole he was just empty.” So, he beat him – mercilessly, while the horse ran on an open wound (below). In truth, Mr. Espinoza should be arrested for animal cruelty under Section 353 of NY’s Ag and Markets Law: “A person who overdrives, overloads, tortures or cruelly beats…any animal, whether wild or tame, and whether belonging to himself or to another…is guilty of a class A misdemeanor…” Anything, racing apologists?
Meant to say, a “few” months back….sorry, Mr. AC2, I promised that I wouldn’t engage in a conversation with you and I have broken my promise. I sincerely apologize. I just get worked up when people, such as you and Ms. Mohr, tell lies. It won’t happen again, I promise!
Thanks for all the posts I’ll address them tomorrow need to hit the sack. Have a 5 hour ride tomorrow AM to the Spa to visit my unhappy medicated miserable horses. Thanks for your interest in the stable! Dave J.
Mary , Joy .. Once again said i have not run a horse as a trainer since 2009 , right now i am an asst for someone else and the more i thought about it im not going to post his name or the names of horses without the permission of my boss .. I will discuss this with him and make sure hes ok with it.. i don’t look at Lasix the same way you do , do i use it on every horse ,no but will on ones that need it , i see it as a preventative medication , do i agree with it being used on all horses just because absolutely not. No i did not happen to see the HBO interview ,, but i do have a good friend that used to gallop for Steve and i trust her more than i do PETA .. I hate clenbuterol think its widely overused and i wont touch the stuff , thyro-l however is used to treat low thyroid levels in all breeds of horses . I hate injecting joints prefer to go a more natural route, As far as Dallas and Donna i have not yet met them in person have only talked to them on the phone and through e-mail Dallas saw my resume on yard and groom and emailed me ,, I happen to regret turning it down every day But my husband did not want to relocate , I do not live in Texas , Im from Nebraska and live in Minnesota now , My mom was from south Texas and i have spent alot time there either working or with family
Laura, it is evident that we are at cross purposes. You will never see racing through my eyes and I will never see racing through yours. It doesn’t mean that I am a bad person or you are a bad person. Let’s just agree to disagree.
Ask your boss if we can have the names of a couple of your horses that are currently running. I guess I’m not sure why that should be an issue. We can communicate privately through Patrick just to maintain confidentiality. Joy and I follow certain horses and trainers. I have a list of horses that have disappeared out of Beulah Park. I keep hoping that a couple will pop back up on the radar but, as of now, it hasn’t happened.
I agree with your husband. I love to visit Texas but wouldn’t want to live there. Way too hot, and expensive, for me!
Mary I agree we are at cross purposes here and no i don’t believe you are a bad person at all .. I don’t judge people so harshly .. And i do sincerely apologize if i have offended you in any way . I happen to be very passionate about what i do . Im sure your a very good person and i have the utmost respect for any one who helps horses .. I wish in was in a position that i could save more .. Please , Please understand that we are not all what you think we are .. Ive been to Beulah and i hated it there. I do know a few people that that were going there maybe i can help with the ones you are looking for .. Please remember i love all animals and will do anything to help them , i happen to be home right now recovering from another injury , broke my hand twice in 4 weeks to hardheaded to let it heal the first time lol , anyway i spent yesterday saving turtles displaced from some flooding we had here .. And its nothing personal , In this day and age im just weird about giving names out without the persons permission im sure you understand that..
Laura, just a suggestion take it as you will. Do not give names of horses or people you work for or with. They will bide their time and wait for something bad to happen then pounce on you. They do not care about your plight it is simply gathering ammo to use against you.
Laura, I agree! It was easy to hate Beulah but I simply loved the horses and had some great human contacts there, too. Some of the people, not many, but a few, truly cared for the horses but didn’t have the financial resources to properly care for them. However, just to be clear, the atrocities far outweighed the good that occurred.
I always stop if I see a turtle crossing the road and I pick it up and move it to the side. We have a couple of turtles in our pond and they all have names. Thank you for helping them!
Beulah closed as of the first of May. Penn Gaming is opening another racino about 3 hours away. I worked with a couple of other people and we were able to “rescue” 3 of the Beulah horses. One has ankles as big as grapefruit. So sad but at least he won’t go to slaughter. I wish I could do more and I wish the racing industry would step up but that isn’t going to happen. I wish I would win the lottery, too! I have to believe that the horses we have helped make it all worthwhile.
Laura, concerning Lasix :
1. It is not the benign drug so many in racing appear to think.
2. Initially it was intended to be used in known bleeders. However, it was then perceived to be a performance enhancer, hence it is now rare to see a horse race without the drug.
3. The drug is intended for the TREATMENT of a disease not as a PREVENTATIVE measure. It’s mainly prescribed to treat the symptoms of congestive heart failure in people and animals.
It is NEVER given to healthy beings with the exception of the race horse !!!!
4. The drug has undesirable side effects. Some of which are severe dehydration, (especially when given IV) electrolyte depletion which can lead to cardiac arrhythmias which in turn can cause death. It also is hard on kidney function and interferes with calcium absorption which in turn causes brittle bones. In particular, It’s use in 2 year olds when bones are developing is a disgrace !
5. Also, there is the thought that the diuresis Lasix causes helps to mask other drugs in the horse’s system !
Racing is irresponsible in SO many ways including drug use and Lasix is a drug.
PS Lasix does not help all bleeders and known bleeders should not be racing.
Rose , not really trying to be rude here , but give it a rest ! if you missed it before im also a vet tech student (G.P.A. 3.8) also certification in equine surgery , I am the last person you need to preach to about medications , i have studied pharmacology you are not going to change my mind .. there are many meds that were created for one thing that science has found to treat and prevent other problems ,for example there are many anti depressants that are used to treat chronic pain , just as Mary said we agree to disagree
Grammar,Business you should have been a professor. Only thing is, it is not that simple. I can easily stop using the poisons your industry produces. The problem lies with the millions of people hooked on prescription drugs. They steel from their families, shoplift, or even prostitute themselves for pills or can we say YOUR $2 bet.Not to mention running the prices up to where people (not animals) have to make the choice to eat of buy their meds. As for not taking chemo, their are other options but your industry makes sure they are unavailable to the people that need it.
YOU WORK IN AN INDUSTRY THAT RUINS BILLIONS OF FAMILIES ONE WAY OR THE OTHER AND YOU WISH TO CRITICIZE OTHERS…
Laura, in no way did I mean to infer you were not knowledgeable concerning drugs. So please accept my apology. My intention in reviewing the purpose of Lasix and the review of side effects was to elicit a good reason for administering this drug to healthy horses. I have not heard one. I realize I’m not going to influence your thinking and that is fine.
However the key word you used concerning drugs was TREAT. So I’m still wondering what disease is being TREATED in the 98% of horses that receive IV Lasix. ? And, for those genuine bleeders the best thing would be not to run them.
And yes Laura, I’m aware of off label uses for some drugs in the TREATMENT of some diseases. But as you well know Lasix is not one of them.
Interestingly you did not address any of the concerns re the side effects of the drug or give any explanation as to why the only healthy species receiving the drug is the horse.
Thank you for your input. We will never agree, and so I sign off.
We live in such an imperfect world. Yes it is true that humans are the most dangerous and cruel animal on this planet, but that doesn’t mean all of us are bad. Most people are good and are also kind to animals. There are many cruel things that are done to animals that I object to. The bad things in horse racing are not the only ones. Hunting is another sport that I don’t like because of the cruel way that wild and defenseless animals are maimed and killed for simply the thrill of killing. Deer and elk shot in the legs. Elephants killed for their tusks. I wonder what kind of people can find joy in doing committing these horrible acts. I understand hunting so please don’t anyone try to educate me on how it is a necessary thing, etc. I am talking about animal cruelty. There are many good hunters who are not cruel in their hunting techniques and they also follow the rules. But still there is pain and death. While I don’t think one can compare horse racing to hunting I do think we can compare the mentality of those who simply want to enjoy the sport without any feeling whatsoever about the animals or their pain or what happens to them at all.
I don’t really see that here in this discussion. I have read every post and I feel there are really good people on both sides. I read comments that are heartfelt from both pro-horse racing enthusiasts and anti-horse racing activists. I feel compassion for all involved.
Hopefully this sport can be reformed and made to be more humane for the animals involved.
With so many horrible things going on in this world – wars, terrorists, child abuse, (to name only a few) it is difficult to get involved in too many philanthropic projects. Thank god for those who find the time and the compassion.
I have enjoyed reading each and every comment. I feel very enlightened as a result. I encourage all here to be kind to one another as you debate your points.
Love to all!
Jazzie <3
I’ll second that emotion!
Jazziette, thank you for your comments. I appreciate your input very much. I agree with many of your thoughtful comments. I just hope and pray that those of us with compassion for all living creatures can prevail in a world that seems to be spinning out of control in terms of violence and brutality. As the old Shaker poem says “…brutal acts show a brutal mind”. Brutal minds will always be with us but in the minority. We need to keep speaking out.
As a Breeder of Equine. So many people just do not understand many many many things about horses and horsemanship communication methods. They do not understand, because they won’t take the time to find out. When you get involved with a passion, YOU GET INVOLVED! It becomes something like a medical doctor who continues his practice by going to continuous research and schooling in his desired field. All in All,
Victor Espinoza did his JOB. I’m sure that he will do it again. He is a fantastic Jockey. If you don’t want to take the time to learn and understand about the Equine, Please stay out of this ARENA!
I HOPE THAT SOMEONE(S) WILL WHIP THE F…K O8UT OF THESE ANIMAL ABUSERS/TERRORISTS. GREEDY HEARTLESS AND SOULLES BASTARDS.
Well said Barbara.
The whipping/beating of racehorses, not only in this deplorable example, but what plays out every day on racetracks in America is ANIMAL CRUELTY – plain and simple.
The fact that this business, shrouded in malarkey, gets away with this is mind boggling.
If anybody were to see a dog getting whipped they would immediately report it as animal cruelty, and charges would most likely be laid.
Moreover, these racehorses are being whipped when tired and/or sore to squeeze their last drop of sweat out of them.
Blatant animal cruelty, and shame on the connections of CC who permitted this to happen, and even supported it in the face of overwhelmingly negative responses.
Just another typical beating day on the racetrack!