New Mexico’s “Cruelty to animals” statute reads:
“Cruelty to animals consists of a person negligently mistreating, injuring, killing without lawful justification or tormenting an animal.”
With that knowledge, consider the fate of a 4-year-old gelding named T I Doublegrrr:
1st race (when he was 3), October 22nd – last of 10, 39 lengths back
2nd race, January 19th – last of 9, 28 lengths back, “vanned off”
3rd race, March 2nd – last of 8, 38+ lengths back, “vanned off”
4th race, yesterday afternoon – 9th of 10, 11+ lengths back, “vanned off”
To recap, that’s four races, a combined 117+ lengths back, and three successive ambulance rides. Abuse, cruelty? Certainly. But then again, all racehorses are abused; horseracing is inherently cruel. Animal cruelty by New Mexico law? Well, that would be up to local prosecutors. In case any of you care to weigh in, their contact info:
http://www.nmag.gov/contact-us
The responsible men, from beginning to present (possibly end, for there’s a good chance that as I write, he’s already dead):
trainer/co-owner/co-breeder Jeff Hudson
co-owner/co-breeder Ben McDonald
Oh my dear God….
i did call Sunland Park and I left a message for the trainer at the Stable Gate area. Some of the trainers are on their way to the Albuquerque track to race on Thursday.
I want Jeff Hudson to know that there are people out there that care about his horse. Plus, I want to find out how his horse is and why he is still being raced.
i will keep calling til i get a hold of him.
Good on you Kathleen! Officials and vets at Sunland Park also need to be contacted. And if there’s a racing authority having jurisdiction over Sunland Park, they should also be given a formal complaint in writing. And the USA Veterinarians’ Association should also be given a formal complaint in writing. You know i would do it myself if i could.
Carolyn,
Day two of trying to track down this owner/trainer to see what is going on with his horse. leaving messages at two tracks. it is interesting that they are so hard to get a hold of. I wonder why that is.
Yes Kathleen, they just don’t like to hear from people like us…………!
We are the monkeys on their backs. Where i am there is a racing authority
directory with all of the licensed trainers names, addresses, home phone nos.
fax nos. mobile phone nos. and email addresses. Do you have that over there?
In my experience contacting them on their mobile phones was often successful.
Where are the Stewards? Where is the TX State veterinarian? WTH that this horse was allowed to race after THREE TIMES “vanned off”. Apparently NM racing is in the same hideous league as those who intercept the trucks of horses, bound for slaughter in Mexico, and actually make them “perform” — for cheering crowds as they stumble, broken & in misery. My only comment can be – may these humans be damned.
Obviously I meant the “NM” State veterinarian. Sadly TX is just as ugly.
I too care about the status of TI Doublegrrrr, and said a prayer that he is ok.
When a trainer realizes that his horse does not have the ability to be competitive, why must they continue to race him into the ground to his death? His death benefits no one. Is it so hard to do the right thing by the horse, since they call themselves “Horsemen”, and retire him, or surrender him to a rescue organization, where he could have some semblance of a life after the track.
I have never seen such a group of cold, heartless, ruthless, people as I have in the racing industry. I don’t think you could get any lower than this group of people that call themselves human beings. There is nothing human about them. Marlene Thornley
T I DoubleGrrr did not get up. Maybe a heart attack? I don’t know but I was there. Jockey was injured too. :(
Horse Fan,
What do you mean.
T I DOUBLEGRRR did not get up.
What actually did you see ?
Once again, the horse is worth more dead than alive at this point. These horses are insured and its payday when their bodies break down. I am not sure which group of horseman are worse, horseracing or the Tennessee Walkers and the “Big Lick” group. The “lickers” ignore that they are torturing their horses to get them to walk a certain way. Cruel people in this world trying to make a dollar on the backs of such a beautiful animal. Cruel, cruel, cruel people.
I was wondering that Carolyn about insurance. Obviously these animals are just a dollar bill to these people. I read that they can sure them for at least as much as they paid for them. They don’t get to collect that money for retiring a horse. That’s why I think they race the ones that lose into the ground. It’s so sad.
Oh for crying out loud this has got to stop! Imagine the outcry if we did this to a human animal athlete – people would be outraged. When I saw the name T I Doublegrrr, it rang a bell and I’ve gone back and found my comment on this horse back in early March 2015 –
“This is dreadful – this horse at the beginning of its racing career in his first race came home a distanced last by 39 lengths, at his second start he again comes home distanced at 28 lengths and then he was forced to race again? Once again the relevant racing authority and its veterinarians passed this horse fit to race. This is aggravated cruelty upon an animal. It is noted in the Equibase report that T I Doublegrrr in his last start was never a factor and vanned off after coming home 38 lens. NEVER A FACTOR they stated, which confirms that the horse should never have been there in the first place.”
OMG I cannot believe this – to think that NOBODY absolutely NOBODY in the racing industry placed an embargo on this poor horse. This horse has had 4 starts and all of them maiden claiming races. And it was SUNLAND PARK again who would’ve been very familiar with this horse. Who was the veterinarian on duty who passed this horse fit to start? Is there any way we can find out? Sunland Park would have that information and the public has a right to know given it’s a public industry and this horse was put on public display. JEFF HUDSON (trainer, co-owner and co-breeder) and BEN MCDONALD (co-owner and co-breeder) you are SADISTS. The Oxford dictionary defines the meaning of “sadism” as follows –
pleasure derived from inflicting or watching cruelty
To Patrick and fellow commentators I think a petition should be started to expose what is happening to T I Doublegrrr – preferably Change.org and it can go around the world.
As you know because of where I live I’m not in a position to do a petition.
The situation with T I Doublegrrr is emblematic of this sick gambling business’ total disregard for the horse. The horse’s connections are blatant abusers. If the business had a shred of decency there would be rules where these low lives could not do this to T I Doublegrrr. Shame on all the so called officials and veterinarians at the track where this has being going on.
I intend to let the racing authorities in New Mexico know people are watching and find the abuse of TI Doublegrrr absolutely abhorrent.
I sent an email to the New Mexico Racing Commission and also left a phone message for the president of the commission.
I called the New Mexico Racing Commission and after explaining that there was social media concern across the country about an injured horse being allowed to race there, the woman who answered the phone transferred me immediately to Vince Mares who is the Director of Racing at the New Mexico Racing Commission http://nmrc.state.nm.us/staff.aspx (a good info page to have for future reference) I repeated that there were a number of people using social media to follow this horse and what is happen to it is a violation of their state’s “Cruelty to animals” and cited the statute wording.
In addition, there also has been violation of the New Mexico Racing Rules and Regulations, by the racing trainer who has the responsibility for the health and well being of horses in their care plus specifically “ensuring the fitness to perform creditably at the distance entered;” Rule 15.2.6.11 E (9) and that this trainer clearly violated that rule. Also where were the commission veterinarians who are to assure a horse has been inspected and is sound to race that this horse was allowed to race? (Rule 15.2.6.11 Assessment of Racing Condition)
He said this concerned him and was glad that I got in touch with them. He asked for time to look into it and get back to me which he did very quickly. He said the Stewards have been advised to “flag” this horse and if it is ever entered to race again in the State of New Mexico, it will be “thoroughly inspected before it is allowed to run”. I stated that I would hope that inspection would follow their racing rules and regulations which include manual palpation and flexion which I do NOT believe this horse would ever pass. He repeated that he appreciated being told about this horse and that it will be followed.
It is a frustrating situation because if the trainer who is also 1/2 owner Jeff Hudson (also the breeder), cannot race the horse in NM, will he take it out of state? Sell it to another trainer to race in another state where it would be entered again? I highly doubt he will donate this poor horse to a rescue nor even if there IS a rescue there that would take it in. I even doubt that he would sell the horse for meat price to someone outside of racing. (because then people can learn its condition). So are there only two possibilities for this horse? A slaughterhouse in Mexico the finish line or finally death on the track?
My heart aches for the thousands of horses that suffer the same situation, unfit to race and not competitive, yet are cleared and enter the starting gate repeatedly. Email of the New Mexico Racing Commission: rc.info@state.nm.us
Thank you, Patrick, for your tremendous ability to investigate and make people aware. Anyone have any luck with enforcement of the “Cruelty to animals” statute?
Definitely a horse to follow.
Jo ANne,
Thank you for calling. I am trying to get a hold of the owner/trainer. He left one track (Sunland) and has not arrived at the next track. (Albuquerque) he left with a couple of horses. I just hope his horse is not dead.
I wanted to get a status before i called New Mexico Racing Commission,
“Horse Fan” said he saw the horse go down and not get up and that was very alarming. I will definitely call as soon as I find this person.
Kathleen, I replied below. but to summarize what I saw. He finished the race, fell at the first turn,(I only saw after he was down because I was looking for another horse). He was not moving, did not get up. People ran out there and there was no movement from the horse. Quickly shielded from view. I am certain he is not alive from what I saw.
Thank you, Jo Anne, for what you did to stop the abuse of this horse.
I got a call from Mr. Mares and he said you had contacted him earlier. I was also notified I would get a reply to my email.
Although these abusers can’t start the horse in New Mexico now, it does not solve the problem as you pointed out.
What needs to happen is for the horse to be confiscated under animal cruelty laws. His future does not look bright with his sadistic connections.
Unfortunately, law enforcement rarely gets involved in racing cruelty issues . That needs to change and maybe with enough pressure it will.
I’m very concerned for the safety of T I Doublegrrr . I know many share my concern.
It’s being worked on. The NMRC has been overwhelmed with calls. I don’t say to stop calling either! they need to give the status of the horse.up to us NOW! Forget the paperwork I was told was needed! Where is T I Doublegrrr: ?
Thanks Jo-Anne for the action you have taken and Rose, Kathleen and Marlene (I hope I haven’t forgotten anyone) you are all amazing people knocking on doors with this shocking abuse of T I Douglegrrr. I’ll never forget my shock when I saw Patrick had brought him up again, I just couldn’t believe it.
From what Horse Fan reported it sounds as though T I Doublegrrr has gone and those responsible have blood on their hands well and truly. They cannot defend the indefensible.
Jo Anne ? Do we even know this horse is alive? Trying to find out & I want to SOOO TY for getting your hands “dirty” in NM.
Keep the pressure up until they state whether T I Doublegrrr is either alive or dead. They will have to disclose. Any chance of getting some media onto this situation?
Sorry to be so long-winded on this one! Maybe this can clear up the insurance questions:
With reference to insurance, I was never aware of anyone racing horses in cheap claiming races that EVER insured their horse — while racing nor while founding and running CANTER MI. That does not mean it does not happen but it is not practical. We never insured ours even though we ran in allowance races and claiming races. It is such a high risk discipline, that the mortality insurance premiums are very expensive. I would assume most of the graded stakes horses are insured but I bet once they fall into the lower ranks, they stop paying the premiums.
So why do they enter the horses? The horse has no value at this point. They know it is too slow or injured so they want to make any amount of money they can with it because there is no RISK to the trainer/owner. They are not paying daily training fees as they ARE the trainer. It does not cost to enter a claiming race so nothing at risk there. In this horse’s last race, $174 was paid to the horse who finished in 6th place. TI Doublegrrr even got $65 being vanned off – enough to pay the jockey. The owner/trainer has nothing to lose by entering a slow or injured horse repeatedly but money to gain. They are only going to do drug testing on the winner of the race and randomly some other horse so the odds are, knowing their horse, it isn’t going to win but maybe it can make 4th place which would have paid $348 and in these type of cases, it’s tempting not to use overage of legal drugs and illegal drugs.
The horse is an object, like thrown dice at a crap table, that they enter to race. If the horse dies racing, the track picks up the tab. Not out any money there either. If it finally gets so bad that it limps back to its stall and is removed from the track, no one monitors WHERE it goes. Thoroughbreds are the second highest breed going to slaughter. The finish line is still a slaughterhouse to the majority of racehorses. So angry, frustrated and sad.
Thank you Jo Anne,
for the explanation.
There are many assumptions in racing out there that are simply not true.
Most people do not realize that:
Thoroughbreds are the second highest breed going to slaughter. The finish line is still a slaughterhouse to the majority of racehorses.
Thank you Jo Anne! I didn’t know how that worked and you provided an easy to understand explanation. If you don’t mind, I’m going to share this. Thanks for all you do and love your book!
Yes GF. We worked at or visited different stables than these times. TG Patrick is here to MONITOR Where they go! He’s a good man but you already know that.
Ask my friend Donna Armani Pineda about loss. Jockeys lost, her husband who I didn’t know & her brotherin law who was a close friend. Yet, the horses have NO voice.
LUV ya Jo Anne
Jo Anne,
What these owners and trainers will lose in the long run is their soul.
this is incomprehensible to me that people can be this cruel and heartless to innocent animals.
From what I understand the horse finished the race and then fell to the ground. A horse will give everything they have to try to make someone happy even if it means dying in the process.. They get no such love or care in return.
Have missed you. Sorry to meet again in these circumstances. I hope to have answers or the AG will be on the case.
Thank you Jo Anne for the explanation and research regarding the insurance on race horses. I had the idea that they were insured and there was an entry fee and the owner had to pay for removal. The race tracks are making it easy for a horse to race to his death. I am horrified that this is happening and the tracks are promoting it. Heartbreaking….
Jo Anne, I agree with you, but I would like to convey the following: there is a Claiming Insurance available via most HBPA’s that fully insures any horse being claimed. It’s very inexpensive. The claiming Insurance Policy usually covers 100% of the Claiming price, and is usually taken out when somebody is planning to claim a horse. I’ve witnessed very suspicious activity surrounding some claims on the track. For example, a horse running for $20,000 that hasn’t been hitting the board is valueless except for when a Claim is put in for that horse, and it dies during the race. Somebody picks up a check for $20,000 on a horse that’s otherwise valueless. Corruption enters the equation when the claimers know the owners. The make a tidy profit while they get rid of a horse costing them money. This is horse racing.
The abuse of this poor horse makes me so angry I just want to scream. What is wrong with these people? I would love to shake some sense into them, that these are living, breathing, creatures, that feel the same pain that we do,
The abuse of this particular horse is so blatant, that they all need to be held accountable, the trainer, owner, vets, all of them. They need to know it is unacceptable. We all need to loudly complain and voice our outrage to the New Mexico Racing Commission. I can’t convey how disgusted I am by this continual pattern of abuse.
Marlene Thornley
I have e-mailed Mark D’Antonio the Third Judicial District Attorney in NM regarding the abuse of T I Doublegrrr. Patrick gave us the link to respond above. I urge all of us on this site to send an e-mail voicing your outrage. This abuse needs to stop now. I hope this poor baby is still alive. Marlene Thornley
Thank you Patrick for this additional information. Is it like this in every state or just certain states. ?
New Mexico’s “Cruelty to animals” statute reads:
“Cruelty to animals consists of a person negligently mistreating, injuring, killing without lawful justification or tormenting an animal.”
Still looking for phone numbers for this horse’s trainer/owners
Even with their full names, I cannot find anything online so i am going to call the
New Mexico Horse Breeders Assoc next
Stats for this horse.
TI DOUBLEGRR
the horse has won $302.00 in two years. that is terrible.
Jockey: Jesiere Medina
Trainer: Jeff D. Hudson
Owner: McDonald, Benjamin G. and Hudson, Jeffery D.
Breeder: Jeff Hudson & Ben McDonald
New Mexico Horse Breeders Assoc.)
http://www.equibase.com/profiles/Results.cfm?type=Horse&refno=9128037®istry=T
Call Animal Cruelty, NM 1-888-260-2178. You can also bother the Atty General @ 1-505-222-9000 ;) Let’s bother some people & shake some feathers ( not horse feathers) but theirs :) And mention the Freedom of Information Act.
The reason you can’t contact anyone Kathleen is because Sunland Park finished their meet on 4/13, the day the 4 yr old was vanned off for the 3rd time! Here are some #s for you. Atty General’s office in Alb. who will send you elsewhere but they will know we are on it. 1-505-222-9000 Then Animal Cruelty 1-888-260-2178
This horse was down and not moving. He finished the race and I did not see him fall, but he was down in the first turn after the race. He was not standing or trying to get up. I was at the track. They quickly blocked the view I am certain in what I saw that he is not alive. I had a camera but could not bear to take any photos because the Jockey was down too.
Horse Fan,
THank you. That is heartbreaking.
I wish you would have taken a photo. the only way to stop the abuse is to have as many photos and videos and stats as possible.
PLease take a photo if you see if happen again.
I couldn’t bring myself to take a photo. I was certain in my mind the horse was gone, He was on the ground, no trashing, nothing, My thought was he had a heart attack. (but i was also worried about the jockey because she was not moving either-probably knocked the wind out of her because she did race later) I just wanted to run out there too and help. :(
nothing is pretty about it & that female jockey? Got up, injured or not to make another $100 or so. I had a female jockey friend, broke her pelvis, cervical cancer, many injuries, ran a fine line between being accepted or not, was in Playboy, then? BAMMMM a gunshot at 43 years old, Mary’s ashes are spread over Belmont & Ruffian.
sorry you witnessed it. I witnessed Ruffian. Still have my “pin” :'( Make ya think? I’m in NM too! Nice to meet you
I saw Ruffian on TV…It was awful. We are definitely neighbors. I’m in EP. Sorry we had to meet this way though. My thoughts are with T I Doublegrrr run free in paradise. I hope the page can confirm. I just know what I saw.
what is EP?
Update on T I DOUBLERGRR
I called three racetracks and spoke with at least seven different people and I finally found Jeff Hudson through one of those people. He is also a breeder.
Here is what happened when I called
I told him that I had heard from a friend that had attended the race that at the end of the horse was on the ground and that they thought the horse must have been euthanized because they put up the screen.
Jeff said that the horse is still alive. He said that the horse dropped to the ground but he did not die. He did get up and walk off the track on his own. the Vet later said he was “holding his breath” and that the vet said he thought he was having a panic attack and was “panicking”. I asked him if he was going to keep racing him and he said yes.
I told him that my friend said he had been vanned off two other times. Jeff said that one of the times was the jockeys fault and i forget what he said about the other.
Then he said he had to go. he did not want to talk about his horse anymore.
I am going to call him back tomorrow and explain to him that I think the horse should be retired because if he panics and “holds his breath” once he could do it again and hurt himself and the jockey. I wanted to find out from a vet or any of you what you think is happening because this breeder/trainer/owner is planning on racing him again so he is not taking this condition seriously. It could happen again. this horse should not be racing.
Have you ever heard of a horse doing this ???
I think it is dangerous to run this horse again. He could do the same thing and kill the jockey if he falls down again. this makes no sense to me at all.
I need to find out if anyone has heard of this before so when I call him back I say something intelligent.
Kathleen, thanks for all you are doing for this poor horse, T I Doublegrr. In my experience many trainers have lied through their teeth to me in circumstances such as this and I’m afraid I’m very skeptical about anything a trainer says when he’s confronted about the well-being of his horse. He might be telling the truth but then again he may not.
In my view Sunland Park and its so called “veterinarians” would have information on Doublegrr. I would be on their backs as well and perhaps remind them of the transparency and disclosure obligations they have to uphold when a member of the public makes such an enquiry. There would’ve been some sort of report by the on duty vet to the officials there. Patrick reported that he was “vanned off” and that was official from Sunland Park and Horse Fan reported what we know he observed. And yet Hudson says Doublegrrr “walked off on his own”?
Just wondering if you can get either Jeff Hudson’s or Ben McDonald’s email address I would be able to send an email to them. And if you can give me Sunland Park’s email address I would email them as well. Living on the other side of the world I cannot make phone calls.
Let’s just take Hudson’s words as the truth for a minute –
“holding his breath”, then obviously Doublegrrr has a respiratory problem and he could have a soft palate issue and many racehorses have an operation to fix this. He could have also swallowed his tongue back. Where I am, the trainers apply a tongue tie (a piece of pantyhose leg) and you tie it over the horse’s tongue and under his chin so when he’s racing he can’t get his tongue over the bit and swallow his tongue back, it is a common practice. I’ve seen instances where a vet on duty has noticed as a horse goes into the gates that part of his tongue was hanging out and it had gone blue because it had been done far too tightly. Removed tie but still passed horse fit to race! I remember a horse post race when a young strapper removed tongue tie she burst into tears because the horse’s tongue was badly swollen and bleeding, again because it had been badly applied by someone else in that stable.
A vet says “horse was having a panic attack”. I find it very hard to believe that a qualified vet would make such a statement. More likely Doublegrrr was in a very distressed condition.
“horse was vanned off because it was the jockey’s fault”? No, this doesn’t wash with me Kathleen. Hudson was attempting to deceive and placate you – and yes, they’re always in a hurry to end the conversation, gets a bit uncomfortable for them.
If he intends to continue racing Doublegrrr then we’ve got to try and stop him and the only way I can see us achieving this is to make demands of the relevant racing commissions and its officials and veterinarians. They have the power and are obviously responsible to place an embargo on T I Doublegrrr and to date have failed in their duty of care to this racehorse in my opinion.
These unfeeling, thoughtless, trainers really are a dime a dozen. This trainer won’t be happy until this poor horse collapses and dies. He should not be racing period. This horse is terrified, if he was having a panic attack. This is blatant animal cruelty.
Kathleen, do you know the trainers e-mail address. I would like to send him an e-mail. Marlene Thornley
Marlene,
I do not have his email address. Only a phone number and physical address.
Hello everyone and I want to thank each and every one of you for caring for a horse you knew nothing about before reading his plight. That says so much about all of you. We are kindred spirits and working together on things like this CAN make changes. You all have really gone to bat to help T I Doublegrr and we don’t want to let up.
To Kathleen, Rose Smith, Carolyn McDonald, Noslaughter Ortiz, Debra-Anne and Carolyn Hyatt, you are most heartily welcome for your kind remarks.
I am so glad to hear that T I is still alive and with reference to the horse “holding his breath”, I believe he is referring to the condition in some horses called displacement of the soft palate. Here are two links with reference to the condition httgle.com://www.thehorse.com/articles/14186/dorsal-displacement-of-the-soft-palate-winning-with-air and http://text.lsuagcenter.com/en/crops_livestock/livestock/animal_health/horses/Dorsal-Displacement-of-the-Soft-Palate-in-Horses.htm
There is no way this man is going to get surgery for this horse and the surgery sometimes causes more problems. The horse needs to be banned from racing but as we all know, there is no central authority that can do that so it means following the horse and whenever it is entered making such noice about its past record and if it suffers from a physical condition wherein it cannot race and breathe properly, it is NOT a competitive horse and he is a danger to any future riders and horses. What if he were to have collapsed in the stretch drive with horses behind him? Are they waiting for a dead jockey or multiple horses and riders falling before they stop him from racing?
I am not anywhere near NM but I did receive a contact from a very good source that can possibly help in taking this horse and work with the racing commission. Her name is Laura Bonar, Program Director Animal Protection of New Mexico Email laura@apnm.org (505) 401-8936
If someone who is in NM here could contact her and ask for her help getting this horse banned from racing and the possibility of her taking him in or finding a rescue for him.
No matter what the trainer says, this horse is NOT competitive and whether that is because it is injured or has a physical condition that it cannot breathe during extreme exertion, it should NOT be raced.
The best way to bring her up to speed is simply to ask her to read this blog and the comments.
Debra-Anne, I so appreciate your enthusiasm for my book that is a true story about my experiences in racing two horses, one a granddaughter of Secretariat. I was totally enamored of racing and elected to the two racing boards of directors in Michigan. I was at the racetrack every morning because it was 13 minutes from my house. I first learned of horse slaughter right there at the track in the 1990s. I ended up leaving racing to start the first CANTER program to save those very horses and my book tells that story. Yes, I am promoting my book because it tells the truth and people must stop thinking of racing by what they see on TV. In addition, a portion of the book sales help the new rescue I co-founded with 3 others: Saving Baby Equine Charity http://www.savingbaby.org For more information about my book and to learn more about the world of horseracing from the inside, please, visit http://www.savingbaby.com
Thank you all and let’s not stop until we know at least this poor horse who is injured or unable to breathe properly on exertion can retire! Let’s keep this going! Does anyone have him in their virtual stable so we will know when he is entered again??? Thank you ALL! Whinnies and nickers, Jo Anne
Jo Anne…he has been placed in a virtual stable.
I, too, am grateful for everyone’s calls and e-mails to racing industry members in support of T I Doublegrrr. This poor gelding is just ANOTHER example of the industry’s complete lack of caring for the racehorses’ welfare. If he’s not dead, he is waiting for help that might be denied…by the very people who are responsible for him.
I’ve left Vince Mares a voice mail, and have sent him an e-mail and a fax. If nothing else, he’ll likely never forget T I Doublegrrr’s name.
Carolyn,
Thank you for your post.
this is so incredibly sad to me.
the fact that you, Gina, Jo Anne, Joy and Mary have been dealing with this abuse and rescuing horses from trainers like this for years is amazing to me. it is such a burden to me that horses are treated this way.
i will call him tomorrow and read off the list of what you think may be going on and tell him to get a second opinion. this horse could have another attack and kill someone including himself.
a soon as i started listing his history of being vanned off and asking him Why, is when he wanted to get off the phone.
T I Doublegrrr did not walk off the race track. He was down in the first turn and it took a few minutes for the personnel to realize he and the jockey were down. We would have seen him walk off, we were right there, and it would have been a long walk back to the barns. I hope and pray he is alive, but when a horse is down legs outstretched and absolutely no movement, things don’t look good in my eyes.
Horse Fan,
thank you for that information. i thought he finished the race.
Then the owner/trainer/breeder flat out lied to me. that is why a picture is so important.
Do you live in New Mexico ?
It would be great for someone to go and see the horse. He was willing to talk to me until i started asking him about the vanned off history then he wanted to get off the phone.
I replied below, but he did finish the race and was down in the first turn after. I don’t have any pictures of him down. I am sure the horse is not at Sunland, the track is closed for the meet. I don’t live in NM, but 20 mins from the track. They are probably in Albuquerque by now though. Have the trainer send you a video at the track & flip his lip so you can see the tattoo.
Horse Fan,
Jeff Hudson says he is still alive and that he is going to race him again and i believe him. He bred the horse. he told me the story of how he named the horse. I feel confident that the horse is till alive but something is seriously wrong with him if he collapse right out of the gate in the first turn.
What you witnessed sounds terrible. when i called Jeff i said how is your horse and he said “WHY?” and then i said a friend of mine was at the track and witnessed him collapsing and that is when he said. “Oh, he is fine. He just stopped breathing and had a panic attack.”
Really. He just stopped breathing ? Panic Attack ?
I am trying to find a photo of the horse and cannot. DId you get a good look at him before he went down.
I got a good look at him finishing the race. As he went across the wire he was sweating(which is not unusual), not being whipped at all, then I went over to watch the horses come back to be unsaddled and he was down. I have some photos but none of this horse. The only thing I noticed is that he appeared to be running well and dropped back quickly in the stretch, but it wasn’t alarming.
Sorry, Let me clarify. He finished the race, but fell in the first turn after the race was over. Thankfully he didn’t fall during the race because he was running in third when they came to the stretch. He would have taken out several horses and riders.
Horse FAn,
Thank you for the clarification. did you get a good look at the him in terms of his color.
I am trying to convince the owner that he should retire him to a good home.
saying he had a panic attack makes no sense to me. why would he have a panic attack at the end of the race.
Jeff said that he stopped Breathing. that is serious and what you said that he could have “taken out several horses and riders”
That is serious.
Since he is not dead, he still can be saved. the question is. How do we get the owner to listen ?
Yes, he is a Dark Bay Gelding. I believe I have a picture of him, but not 100% certain. I believe he has 2 hind white pasterns, no other markings. Can someone confirm in JC? I wouldn’t want to put a picture out there of the wrong horse.
Can you send me the picture.
then I will send it to the owner and ask him if it is the right horse. I told him there were people on Social media that were concerned about his horse after he fell. that would be one way to get his email address.
I can email it to you. Need email address.
Horse Fan,
You can email it to kathleen@usbusinessfinancecorp.com
Thank you !
Sent.
Held his breath ??? I don’t think so. The horse could have some kind of seizure problem. Of course I should not speculate. However, there is a strong possibility that Hudson is not telling the truth… just a guess.
He races with Lasix, don’t know if there are any issues with Lasix in some horses. I have a hard time believing he held his breath though…..
Rose,
what ever it is. Is is very serious. he was lying down on the track not moving.
T I DOUBLEGRR
This horse has been in last place in every race except one from what I read and vanned off three times including now he has collapsed on the track.
“Breath holding is most often evident in horses that have previously experienced upper airways collapse during periods of maximal exercise either on the training or race track.”
If he races again without treatment, he could once again collapse on the track and kill other horses in the process.
“Upper airway dysfunction associated with collapse of the apex of the corniculate process of the left arytenoid cartilage during exercise in 15 horses.”
“Fifteen horses with a history of poor performance and/or upper respiratory tract noise during exercise.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16343139
CLINICAL RELEVANCE:
Dynamic collapse of the apex of the left corniculate process and into the airway at the dorsal apposition between the paired arytenoid cartilages can only be diagnosed during HSTV.
It is an uncommon cause of upper airway dysfunction but may affect the athletic potential of racing Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds.
Question: What does HSTV mean ??
when I call the owner back to tell him to get a second opinion as his horse could collapse again, I need to know what HSTV means.
Dynamic collapse of the apex of the left corniculate process and into the airway at the dorsal apposition between the paired arytenoid cartilages can only be diagnosed during HSTV.
High-speed treadmill video endoscopy, Kathleen. (googled it)
Joy,
THank you !
I had no idea what that meant and did not think to Google it. This horse has a serious problem. I only hope that he will listen to me when I call him.
What a disgusting chain of events and I am so happy this horse has so many wonderful people looking out for him. One word of caution: if there is anyone local or at his current track who can monitor this horse on a daily (or at the least weekly) basis, they should. This horse is not making the trainer any money. He has now brought the trainer unwanted and unflattering attention. Presumably he is already injured, which would allow the trainer to say he had to euthanize him, when in reality he slid him out the back door to a kill buyer. He stands to get as much money from the kill buyer as the horse made in his entire career and also save himself the costs associated with rehoming or euthanasia. Wish we were evenly remotely close to that track. Praying for good news soon.
Amen, Anne Maria Cray! I have a list of horses that disappeared out of Beulah Park and many have never been heard from again. A few might be in good homes, but many have ended up in the slaughter pipeline. Not only is this horse injured, but the cost to provide veterinary care can’t be ignored. Additional costs will quickly add up. However, it is important to realize that this is not an isolated event. This happens continually in an industry based on greed and gambling, just so someone can get a thrill on a Saturday afternoon. Yes, this is horseracing…
Just an update: I have sent an email (and copied Patrick) to Laura Bonar, the Program Director of Animal Protection of New Mexico. Hopefully, we will hear something back from her.
For some reason, my virtual stable does not work with Equibase. I sign up and it sends them for a short time and then stops again. Frustrating so glad that he’s being followed.
Weather he has a physical injury or a breathing problem due to something like soft palate displacement, he should NEVER race again. Unfortunately, if his real problem is the palate displacement or something similar that is triggered at extreme exertion, that will not be found on a veterinary lameness exam which is going to give the racing commission an “out” but the past performance of the horse and the knowledge that it could have a breathing problem that could cause it to go down again and perhaps taking other jockeys and horses with it, ought to be enough for them to ban the horse from racing.
Imagine the lawsuit if they had knowledge of this danger and did nothing? Wherever he’s entered to race needs to be reminded of that liability.
TI DOUBLEGRRR –
I got this photo from a good friend of mine. I believe that this is the horse before the race. hopefully you can see it.
https://scontent-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/t31.0-8/11116261_1425694084412918_9059896292077736849_o.jpg
Thanks Kathleen for putting this photo up, you are a gem! His two hind white pasterns make him easily identifiable which is helpful.
Just look at him, a beautiful horse but he’s like a prisoner on death row. Chain across his nose to restrain him should he display behaviour saying that he just cannot go ahead with this race – he has no voice but his connections and others are aware as to why he should not be racing. Apart from his trainer/owners, how could racing officials/vets pass this horse fit to race when his history screams out likely to break down. It is aggravated cruelty upon this noble animal, T I DOUBLEGRRR.
Look at the defeated expression in his eyes and the eye of the chestnut behind him, you can’t tell me that these horses are happy and “love” to race!
Footnote: Handler with a cigarette in his hand and holding lead improperly should horse take fright and same for handler of the chestnut and they call themselves horsemen.
I meant to add that this prisoner is not on death row because he has committed an heinous crime – it is HORSERACING that has committed the crime.
TI DOUBLEGRR_
I will be calling the owner/trainer/breeder again this weekend to try explain to him that this horse needs help and the condition he has is way beyond a “Panic attack”
if that is what his vet is telling him and if his vet is not telling him he needs more tests, then he needs a new vet.
if anyone near Sunland racetrack or in Albuquerque, can go and visit the horse, please email me and i will give you his address.
Kathleen,
Thanks for the photo of TI Doublegrr, he is really beautiful. I am praying for some good news about him. There is so much support for him, which is really great. I feel confident that he can be saved if things come together right. Hope to hear from you soon, you are doing a great job and all of appreciate your efforts. Marlene Thornley
Marlene,
He is a beautiful horse. i am glad my good friend got a picture of him.
i am trying to determine how to talk to the owner/ trainer where he will actually listen to me and not get upset. He has gotten bad advice form his vet. Not all vets are created equal as you know.
if the horse is raced again without a complete exam and evaluation and assessment and treatment, he could end up collapsing on the track and killing himself, the jockey and other horses.
i have to figure out a way to say that without the owner hanging up on me.
Kathleen,
First thank him for talking to you the other day, and how much you appreciated it. Talk to him calmly, and don’t accuse him of anything, but instead let him know how much you care about his horse and want the best for him. Tell him you really think it would be a good idea to get a second opinion, because it could be something serious, and he could collapse again, and injure himself, or bring down other horses and the jockey.
I don’t think you should bring up anything about the 3 ambulance rides, or the fact that he was 117 lengths back in his last 4 races, and that he is not competitive, because you will put him on the defensive.
Tell him if it is something serious and he can’t afford the treatment, you know someone who might be willing to retire him and rescue him. Tell him, “I know you care about your horse, and he would be taken great care of”. Tell him to just think about it and give him your number and e-mail, and ask him if it is alright for you to call and touch base with him again.
These are just my thoughts, and something to think about. Marlene
Thank You Marlene.
I will follow that advice. He was very nice until i started asking him about the other races and then he got defensive and said he had to go.
i plan on telling him the following as well
Second to musculoskeletal problems, abnormalities of the upper airway are the most common reason for poor performance.
It is therefore imperative that the upper airway be examined during hard exercise.
that can be done with a high-speed treadmill video endoscopy for racehorses
In order to make an accurate diagnosis, advise on appropriate treatment options and provide a prognosis for affected horses he should find a vet that uses the treadmill.
Kathleen,
Good job, all of us appreciate your efforts. Hope to hear some good news soon. Marlene Thornley
Thanks to Joy, I could do research on this
They use this with horses who have “poor performance” and other issues
HSTV
High-speed treadmill video endoscopy
The purpose of the study was to describe the prevalence of upper airway abnormalities and establish if any significant associations existed between study variables and the two most frequently identified disorders; axial deviation of the aryepiglottic folds and dorsal displacement of the soft palate.
High-speed treadmill videoendoscopy is an important component of the evaluation of poor performance, particularly in horses with a history of respiratory noise. The occurrence of multiple abnormalities in a large proportion of horses suggests that high-speed treadmill videoendoscopy should be recommended, where possible, to make an accurate diagnosis, advise on appropriate treatment options and provide a prognosis for affected horses.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16129344
TI DOUBLEGRR
More research
Thoroughbred racehorses that suffer from poor performance
high-speed treadmill video endoscopy for racehorses 2014
Second to musculoskeletal problems, abnormalities of the upper airway are the most common reason for poor performance.
It therefore is imperative that the upper airway be examined during hard exercise.
Exercise performance is impaired because of inadequate oxygen supply.
Recent studies at the University of Pennsylvania showed that 55 of 348 horses evaluated for poor performance had clinically important irregular heart beats during exercise. Some of these horses also had evidence of an upper airway obstruction, and it has been suggested that hypoxemia predisposes the development of the irregular heart beat (Martin et al. 2000).
http://www.thehorse.com/articles/10101/stress-testing
Kathleen,
Have you had any luck speaking with Jeff Hudson regarding the situation with T I Doublegrrr? Marlene
Marlene,
Still working on some research.
you are welcome to email me privately. not ready to talk about it yet online. kathleen@usbusinessfinancecorp.com
I love this Quote.
“A Man is truly Ethical only when he obeys the compulsion to help All life he is able to assist.
And Shrinks from injuring anything that lives.”
Albert Schweitzer
Thank you, Patrick, for getting the word out on the incomprehensible treatment of T I Doublegrrr. It looks like this situation would go “unnoticed” but for this site. Just another example of how well racing polices itself !!!
I find it outrageous that no “official” stepped in at that track or even notified the New Mexico Racing Commission concerning the situation. But I suppose since there are no rules to cover such abuse it was just ignored. And nobody in racing had the human decency or cared a whit about the unfortunate horse to try and stop the abuse.
As usual the comeback will be, no laws were broken !! There is no morality or human decency in this business.
Any new info on this poor guy?
Has anyone received any replies/responses to the emails and phone calls sent to the relevant racing authorities/officials? The trainer/owner and owner/breeder would be fully aware of the status of T I Doublegrrr and would be obligated to inform the racing officials. If they have failed to do this, then the onus is upon the racing officials to inquire and establish the status of this horse and then disclose, especially in view of the fact that several complaints were formally lodged which were received by them from members of the public.
http://www.thehorse.com/articles/35516/new-law-should-protect-kentucky-horses-local-communities?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=welfare-industry&utm_campaign=03-26-2015
Just wondering about these poor stray horses – some, I suspect, would be former racehorses. What happens after the 15 days then when owners cannot be traced back (my understanding is that all racehorses are microchipped) or a permanent home is found for them? Would euthanasia be an option? Would they go to kill buyers? Or will each and every one of them go to rescue organisations?
“The passage of House Bill 312 is a critical achievement for the Commonwealth of Kentucky that will eliminate the legal barriers that have long been in place, preventing the stray horses from receiving dependable feed and shelter and finding permanent homes,” said the coalition in a joint statement.”
How can they be sure of finding permanent homes for them? Not a good look for Kentucky to have discarded stray horses wandering along the road searching for food and water, especially when some of them may be former racehorses. Just my opinion.
http://www.thehorse.com/articles/35615/richardson-to-discuss-fixing-broken-horses?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=welfare-industry&utm_campaign=04-16-2015
Here is a renowned equine surgeon re giving a series of Lectures on “FIXING BROKEN HORSES” pictured with the ill-fated BARBERO. Says it all!
The Jockey Club here does NOT require microchipping of North American racehorses although it IS required in other countries. Here, they would rather stay stuck in the mud of the 1950’s than do anything to better keep track of their supposedly loved horses, who they are, which horses are going in and out of the racetrack on what days and times, and what medications they have been given and how to easily find them in an auction or kill pen with the wave of a $300 microchip identification hand scanner.
Think about it: They STILL identify fractious racehorses prerace by a man called the “identifier” flipping the lip trying to read and compare a tattoo to a clipboard while they both hop around! This byline from a Great Britain newspaper article says it all: “The tagging of racehorses with microchips will end the day of the “ringers” forever” WHEN was that article? October 12, 1998!!! Here the Jockey Club has refused to adopt the microchip as the best means of identification even though they supposedly “love” their horses upon whom millions of dollars are bet. Toilet paper in the grocery store is monitored better (even who bought it and when and where!!) through a scan of its barcode than the racing industry monitors their horses. Why? We can only assume they do not WANT to end the practice of bringing the wrong horse to post, make identification easy at feed lots and auctions and most fearful of all I assume, they don’t want someone to start keeping track of their medications through the microchip. A microchip is the size of a grain of rice.
Jo Anne Normile, i am gobsmacked that racehorses there do not have to be microchipped. How easy it must be to substitute a horse with a ring-in. Appears that they are not concerned about that. Microchipping protects a horse in many respects such as veterinary treatment and breeder/ownership identification and in the breeding barn. Appears that they are not concerned about that either!
Agreed, “We can only assume they do not WANT to end the practice……………….. etc.”
Especially identification at the slaughterhouses…… oh yes, that is for sure.
Carolyn, Isn’t it astonishing that racehorses in the United States are not microchipped for identification? And the tattooing is not even done until JUST before a horse races. That means all those bays and chestnusts walking around previous to their race carry no identification — their owners provide Jockey Club registration papers at any time previous to their first race. Michigan’s Reid Gross, a licensed racing trainer in MI and in surrounding states and also one of the trainers who would willingly give another trainer a few hundred dollars for any horse, was frequently caught bringing the wrong horse to post. Everyone thought it was just silly ole Reid who was then fined $50 but it is my opinion that such an occurrence should never ever be allowed to even happen and it would not happen if there were microchips and if you could trust the identifier prerace was not willing to make a few shady bucks.
I was a presenter at the 2013 American Equine Summit at Equine Advocates in NY and my topic was what the racing industry could do to end the slaughter of their racehorses and I do go into detail about microchips. If interested, you can view my entire presentation and power point on You Tube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WirQvv3F4XI
Thank you so much for being active in your advocacy of racehorses and all horses!
Jo Anne, yes, “silly ole Reid Gross” who sent hundreds of horses to their grisly deaths over the years, yet the racing industry turned a blind eye to one of the most despicable humans on the face of this earth. I’ll never forget the bastard saying that he would rather send a horse to slaughter than work with a rescue.
JoAnne,
I am reading your book. i have the the hard cover. it is a beautiful cover .
i had no idea that SECRETARIAT had such a huge influence on expanding racing.
Kathleen,
Thank you for sharing my life with me in this way and that of thousands of racehorses through my memoir! Yes, Secretariat did come along at a time in history when people needed something positive to look up to and he was majestic. It was an honor to have touched him, kissed him, and video tape him while visiting him at Claiborne Farm the year before he died and to have his granddaughter right now in my “backyard”. Scarlett Secretary will be 23 on May 28th. She is a half-sister to “Baby” of Saving Baby. I hope my true experiences in horseracing and then in racehorse rescue are informative. People cannot demand change unless they first know what must change. Whinnies!
You with Secretariat, me with Affirmed! A match made in Heaven! Just NO match races! Last one I went to … Ruffian :'(
Jo Anne,
I love the Design of the Cover of your book. I Love the colors you used. Beautifully done.
I love the back cover design, too.
Is that BABY on the back ??
________________________
THis is an excellent quote you have in the book.
“If we see cruelty or wrong that we have power to stop, and do nothing, we make ourselves sharers in the guilt.”
Anna Sewell, author of Black Beauty
Jo Anne Normile,
What can you tell me about the Prime MInister of Canada on the subject of horses.
You mentioned him before but I cannot find that post.
I am part of 3 facebook groups in Canada that are dedicated to stopping horse slaughter.
One is BAN Live Export @YYC. They just had a protest in Calgary to bring awareness to the conditions in which Live horses are being shipped to Japan for slaughter.
Another one is STOP Horse Slaughter in Canada.
Canadian Horse Defence Coalition is the third one.
These groups are going to put together petitions to help change legislation to stop horse slaughter in Canada.
WHere does PRime Minister Harper stand on the issue of horses. Do you know ?
Kathleen,
Sorry I was gone a lot yesterday and unable to respond to your questions. Thank you for your lovely comments about my book! It was first self-published with a different cover and when picked up by St. Martin’s Press, they redesigned the cover. Because my involvement in racing was in the 1990s and I only had little throw away or Instamatic cameras, I had no pictures of high enough quality/pixels that were head shots to use for the cover so a woman allowed us to use a picture of her horse who looks nearly like Baby, down to just a few white hairs in the middle of his forehead and in the original self-published cover, you could see more of his head and his wild full bushy mane and that was like Babv’s also. There is an explanation about that picture in the back of the book on page 304 but you are not that far yet.
The book Black Beauty had a great impact on me as a child and I even renamed my first horse Black Beauty at age 36! I too love that quote.
I do not recall posting anything about the Prime Minister of Canada and perhaps that’s why you cannot find a post by me. I always share the different things going on there on Facebook and support the work of our counterpart anti-slaughter organizations in Canada but it must have been someone else that spoke of the Prime Minister.
Thank you for your enthusiasm for my book! Being a true story, that means a lot to me.
Jo Anne,
Thank you for sharing more about the book. I am excited to finish reading it. I just began a few days ago.
There is another Jo Anne that lives in Canada. that is the Jo Anne that made the comment. I thought she had written the book because her name was JoAnne and then Patrick corrected me so I i will try and find the comment..
Kathleen, I’m glad Patrick clarified that there was another Jo Anne! When you asked about that, I just did not recall ever commenting on the Prime Minister and was a bit mystified. Trying to keep up with 20 years of press releases and testimonial promises to improve horse welfare by various individuals from the numerous Thoroughbred racing organization spokespersons in the United States and then documenting their failure to do so boggles the mind and I needed something to jog my memory. Thank you, Patrick for clarifying and thank you heartily, Kathleen, for all you do for these magnificent beings!
Five-year-old T I Doublegrrr was brought back after 16 months to race again this past August. He finished last of 7, over 20 lengths behind. He gave his breeder-owner-trainer, Jeff Hudson, a $97 check.
The owner did not want to sell him last year. He said he was going to put him through some operation to help him run faster. Clearly, it is not working. My prayer to God is to see all horse racing BANNED forever. it is slave labor and sheer cruelty and HORSE ABUSE
Thanks for this, Joy. Glad to hear this beautiful horse survived but what a dreadful shock for him after 16 months he finds himself back on a racetrack. His distanced last and the fact that he hasn’t appeared again is cause for worry.
The photo that Kathleen put up last year told a story with the chestnut behind him, so unhappy with the miserable lives forced upon them.