Opening lines from a May 16 Cleveland.com article:
“Hiram trainer Jeff Radosevich had a heavy heart as he prepared Culpepper Creek…for Saturday’s…Michael F. Rowland Memorial Handicap… Radosevich took his outstanding stakes mare Caviar N Champagne out on the ThistleDown track on Friday in preparation for her first start of the 2015 season. The six-year-old stakes winner seemed healthy and happy, he said. But after a short gallop, Caviar N Champagne suffered a heart attack and immediately collapsed and died. ‘Believe me, I cried,’ said Radosevich. ‘Owner Ron Paolucci (of Loooch Racing Stables in Stow) was devastated by it.'”
A fatal heart attack for a 6-year-old horse (just about reaching full maturity) raises no eyebrows in Racing world. Instead, it’s “heavy hearts,” tears, and “devastation.”
Also, according to the Paulick Report, 4-year-old Diversy Harbor was euthanized for an injury – snapped sesamoids- sustained in the 7th at Santa Anita April 18. This, of course, only qualifies as news at Paulick because Diversy Harbor was a graded stakes winner who was felled in a $150,000 race; obituaries for the more pedestrian are noticeably lacking. Paulick also reprinted this drivel from owner Glen Hill Farm:
“Sorry to write that Diversy Harbor didn’t make it. She was a brilliant filly, had a sweet demeanor, and was a great patient. Her good foot ended up rotating to the point that she literally didn’t have a good leg to stand on. Thanks for all the well wishes.” These people are revolting.
Any animal just like humans can suffer a heart attack suddenly and without warning.
Horse do not have heart attacks. However, they can drop dead from a serious arrhythmia which would not show on necropsy. Whereas a heart attack would show evidence of coronary artery disease and horses do not suffer from coronary disease.
However, fatal arrhythmias can be caused by electrolyte imbalance which could be caused by Lasix, especially in hot weather. Of course there are OTHER DRUGS, sometimes even referred to as “supplements” in the business, that can have devastating effects on the heart and result in sudden death..
It is soo rediculous to hear about
“Heart attacks” in these young horses as the cause of horse dropping dead.
You are right, however, in that Humans can suffer heart attacks without warning……you are wrong about horses !!
You are absolutely correct Rose. Cardiovascular failure is as a result of another cause. My research has found that “exercised induced” (the stress of the race or fast workout) is another common reason and this might possibly have been the case for this horse even though they said it was a short gallop (how fast was it being pushed in readiness for Saturday’s race?).
Necropsies conducted by a University state e.g.
the probable cause of death was exercise induced cardiovascular failure which permitted pulmonary haemorrhage into the lungs and trachea of horse.
acute cardiovascular failure, although the CAUSE of such failure could not be identified in the necropsy.
I currently have an example where the horse collapsed and died in its box some 5 hours post an official trial. The length of time from when trial took place to time of death was queried. The necropsy stated exercise induced cardiovascular failure albeit such heart failure occurring an extended period after the physical activity and the necropsy was carried out by a University.
Yes, the DRUGS playing havoc with their bodies (and minds) need one say any more!
Here is a couple of links of why this happens .
http://horses.about.com/od/commonproblems/tp/Why-Horses-Sometimes-Die-Suddenly.htm
http://eventingnation.com/home/dr-laura-werner-heart-attacks-and-sudden-death-in-horses/
Thank you for the links.
Like I said, horses do not suffer from coronary artery disease and therefore do not have “heart attacks”.
Ruptured aortas, heart valve issues, arrhythmias, etc. do not qualify as heart attacks. The business needs to stop attributing sudden deaths to this cause. It is just one more carless lie.
P.S. If racing was anyway interested in knowing why a horse dropped dead, the necropsy would not reveal an area of injured heart muscle (myocardial infarct/necrosis) and therefore the cause of death could not be listed as a “heart attack”. Of course it is so much easier and cheaper to just say whatever comes to mind.
Why do we expect anything more of these despicable people? Horsr racing apologists are devoid of anything remotely resembling conscience and will do or say anything to protect the blood sport on which they rely. Disguting wastes of oxygen….every one of them.
SAM HOUSTON RACETRACK
I just read this today on Facebook on the Canadians Against Horse Abuse Facebook page.
Has anyone heard about this ?
____________________________________________________________
We freeze branded 6 horses today at Sam Houston Race Park with the Unfit for Slaughter brand. This painless freeze brand signifies that this individual thoroughbred has has bute making it ineligible for human consumption. Phenylbutazone, often called Bute, is a known cause of Aplastic anemia, a rapidly growing disease in European children thought to be caused from eating horse meat tainted with the substance.
Freeze Branding – Heart of Phoenix Equine Rescue
Kathleen, this is my thought on freeze branding. Do I think it is better than nothing? Absolutely, but please remember that Standardbreds are normally branded on the upper right side of their neck and they still go to slaughter by the hundreds. Not as many are slaughtered as TB’s because there are simply fewer STB’s. What this brand does allow is for TB’s to easily be found in kill pens so that they can be “rescued” by the TB advocates. The brand makes them easier to identify. However, the flip side of this is that it may give people a false sense of security that TB’s are now protected because of the brand. Ms. Donna Keen (Remember Me Rescue) is a huge supporter of this freeze brand yet the majority of TB’s go underground and direct to kill. She should know since 3 of Midwest TB’s were recently confirmed to have gone to Mexico for slaughter. Therefore, what is the purpose of the brand? I think it is just a way for the pro-racing apologists to feel better about themselves when it comes to protecting the horses that their industry exploits.
Of course, the racing apologists will babble that the brand will show that the horse is unsuitable for human consumption due to drugs being in the horses system. No one needs to tell me that. The vast majority of horses are unsuitable for human consumption since they have been given at least one dose of bute during the course of their lives. The bottom line is that there is a demand for horsemeat and, where there is a demand, someone will supply that demand.
Finally, I disagree with Heart of Phoenix. The vast majority of the time the freeze brand will NOT protect a horse. It certainly doesn’t protect the Standardbreds.
THank you Mary,
I appreciate your insight.
This is the RESCUE GROUP that put together the YOU TUBE video in my previous post.
HEART OF PHOENIX
is proud to announce we NOW Freeze Brand
the horses in the rescue to protect them should they ever fall off our watchful radar after adoption!
OUR MAIN focus is getting as many adoptable HORSES out of dangerous situations and giving them a chance at a real life with a kind home as possible with a focus on the very emaciated horses above all other cases of need.
http://www.wvhorserescue.org/
Kathleen…I wanted to add to what Mary stated about this freeze-brand.
If its purpose is to “alert” anyone involved in the slaughter pipeline – from the auction house employees/owners to the dealers and kill buyers to those who actually butcher the horses in the slaughterhouses – that the horse bearing the brand has had bute at some point in his/her lifetime, and is therefore unfit for human consumption, does anyone TRULY believe that ANY of the aforementioned pipeline insiders give a s***? Really? Let’s think about this for just a minute. So, the thought is they AREN’T going to butcher this horse with this brand on his/her shoulder because they now know this particular horse has had bute. THINK. Is there a racing Standardbred (with the highly visible tattoo) that HASN’T had bute at least once in his/her life? Is there a racing TB (with their highly visible racing plates still intact) that HASN’T had bute at least once in his/her life? Is there a horse on the planet – and I’ll be generous and give the benefit of the doubt here – over the age of three that HASN’T had bute at least once in his/her life? YET…they were all butchered, weren’t they? It is absolutely ludicrous to believe that the kill buyers and the slaughterhouse butchers are NOT going to accept and kill a horse that has a brand on his/her body, signifying he/she has had bute…because there’s barely a horse on this earth that hasn’t had it. And that hasn’t prevented their slaughter, has it.
The marketing of this freeze brand and the claim that it will protect horses is dangerous. From the Heart of Phoenix: “[We are] proud to announce we now freeze brand the horses in the rescue to protect them should they ever fall off our watchful radar after adoption.” I’ve seen many comments by ill-informed folks believing this is true. But again, let’s think about this…just HOW is this brand going to “protect” them? Let’s be real here – it’s not going to be because the kill buyers or the slaughterhouse butchers give a damn. They’ve had thousands of horses with evidence of bute consumption staring them in the face that still suffered the captive bolt. The only “protection” that freeze brand provides the horse is quicker identification IF an advocate looking for racing TB’s HAPPENS to be at the particular auction or feedlot where the horse is. That’s the extent of that “protection”. Like Mary mentioned, this brand is little more than something that is giving a false sense of security to those who don’t understand the slaughter industry. One more thing to think about…isn’t it telling that a racing industry insider feels racehorses need a visible brand to keep them from being slaughtered. That’s quite an admission of the industry’s preferred method of “placement” of their used-up “athletes”.
Thank You Joy, for sharing that information.
I was really hoping that it would help to protect the horses.
The only thing that will really help the horses is
1. Pass the SAFE ACT
2. Pass legislation in Parliament to stop horse slaughter in Canada
3. End Horse races FOREVER
Excellent post Joy! You are spot on as always.
May I add, just like a contract on a piece of paper, a certain brand on a horse will not prevent a horse going to slaughter. When I watched the video I thought who do these people think they’re trying to kid. I suspect more propaganda from the racing industry here in a pathetic attempt to dupe the public.