Through a FOIA request to the Idaho Racing Commission, I have confirmed the following 5 kills at Les Bois Park in 2015:
2-year-old Quincy Anne, May 2, Les Bois, training
“bilateral cannon bone fracture”
2-year-old Cool Vista, May 15, Les Bois, training
“sesamoid fracture”
2-year-old Elite Corona, May 23, Les Bois 1
“broken right humerus”
3-year-old Kt Turtle Moves, June 6, Les Bois 3
“open fetlock fracture”
4-year-old Eneff’s Neff, June 24, Les Bois, training
“cannon fracture”
In addition, one horse died on track grounds from what the industry refers to as a “non-racing” cause. “Non-racing”? In truth, she is no less a casualty of this vile business than her compatriots above.
9-year-old Celinderella, July 16
“severe colic”
Finally, the FOIA document came with this note: “Does not include horses from State Veterinarian that have been previously reported to ISRC.” In other words, there were other dead racehorses in Idaho last year.
CELINDERELLA – this 9 1/2 year old bay mare began her racing career in August 2009 as a 3 year old.
She raced for almost SIX (6) YEARS – a mare!
45: 4-10-6 earning a mere $34,008. She placed in less than one-half of her starts.
Also half of her starts were in the insidious Claiming Races. She changed hands a number of times.
I don’t have the time to look at all of her 45 race charts but in random checks I noticed that she was “fractious in the gates” “tired” “weakened” etc. etc. In her last start on June 20, 2015, she “tripped” and was “empty” and came home last – she was not a well horse. On July 16 she was DEAD.
Yep, they just kept forcing this NINE ½ YEARS OLD mare to race after laboring for 6 years on racetracks and no one took any notice of the signs she was displaying. They just race them until they get the last drop of blood out of them.
Probably the worst death a horse can suffer is a COLIC death. The FOIA document revealed that she died from “severe colic”. SEVERE and that tells me that she suffered a horrific excrutiatingly painful death and likely died alone. There is no mention that she was euthanased. I find it utterly unbearable to think of her suffering.
This is horseracing.
JUSTIFY THIS, RACING APOLOGISTS!
Thank you for your wise and caring words regarding Celinderella’s horrific suffering and death, Carolyn. We can be certain this mare suffered with gastric ulcers (as nearly all racehorses do)…and the manner in which racehorses are forced to live predisposes them to colic. I recently saw someone’s comment here that justified colic deaths in racehorses by saying any horse can colic – true, but racehorses are at an INCREASED risk due to a number of factors. And once again, even the racing industry supporters and insiders admit these risks!
Here, a quote from the Paulick Report from January 11, 2016, titled “Managing a Horse on Stall Rest: Suggestions to Avoid Colic” (that title should just be changed to “Suggestions to Avoid Colic in the Racehorse Who Lives 23 Hours in a Stall”); “Horses relegated to stall rest have a much higher risk of impaction colic, according to equine nutritionist Kristen Janicki.”
Gastric ulcers, decreased gastrointestinal motility secondary to living in a stall, high-energy diets, dehydration from withholding water pre-race and/or Lasix administration, lack of grazing, the stress of living isolated (not in a herd environment)…and other consequences of a racehorse’s living environment SET THEM UP for colic.
Veterinarians will tell you – to help your horse attain his maximum health allow them to live as close as possible to how they would live in the wild. For racehorses, their forced daily existence is the extreme opposite.
Joy, you are 100% right on as usual. When you really think about it, it’s not unlike a pig in a gestation crate confined with barely enough room to turn around.
Every racetrack in North America has different sizes of stalls, but the one with some of the smallest stalls is Churchill Downs. The majority of stalls there are 10 x 10. When I shipped in to race there I was appalled at the facilities for racehorses there being the racetrack of the infamous Kentucky Derby.
I asked why? Why were the stalls so small, and why didn’t they invest in better facilities for the racehorses?
In this business, you don’t ask questions. You are expected to conform. That was my experience anyways. The Trainers that make it are the ones who uphold the system, don’t speak out much, and facilitate the exploitation. That’s my observation.
I was told by an old timer Trainer that they needed more stalls for horses so they decided to cut them in half or make them smaller to add on more stalls. Now I can’t confirm whether this is true because it’s difficult if not impossible to get answers to viable questions. Somebody else told me it was to accommodate a plumbing pipes that run across the top part of most stalls at Churchill Downs. Like I say, can’t confirm why, but it was the racehorse that got their space reduced in the end.
Anyways, to watch my very large 1500 pound gelding in that stall really disturbed me, and that was at the height of my delusion as an Owner/Trainer. I just shipped in for a race, but we returned to a private Training center where the stalls were so much bigger with a nice window to reduce the boredom. I rented a small paddock there to give him some outside time as well.
When I got back from the race that day, I shook my head thinking about the horses that were stabled there 23 hours per day in a 10 x 10 stall. My gelding could barely turn around. He was continually banging his head on the pipes that overhang. It drove me crazy so you can imagine what it does to them.
Then the old timer said to me “that’s the way you want it.” I said “why?”
He said because when they can’t move around for 23 hours per day, they are sure to move around the track better to stretch their legs. The more confined they are, the better they run.”
Many have this mentality in the business. The entire system from start to finish is to maximize the exploitation it seems, maximize the profit, pick-up that check.
This is the “good” folks of horse racing.
Continually hitting his head on water pipes? It sounds like they also have low ceilings too. To cheap to bury water lines in ground? What happens in cold weather with freezing temperatures? These people are not just money driven they are stupid too.
Water pipes Gina?? Really?? Do your ever tell the truth or are you just that bitter ? I read the transcript of your problem in California . your accusations proved unfounded .. In other words you lied . just every accusation you make .. Just so the lay person knows those pipe you are referring to are most likely sprinkler system for FIRE !!
It doesn’t matter what sort of pipes are in place, it is very obvious that the ceiling height is far too low and once again, as always, the horses’ very basic needs for safety and health are not a consideration. At a track near me, a horse fractured his head because the ceiling was far too low and he died.
“accusations proved unfounded” Pfft!…… where does one start? In a nutshell, the racing authorities always have and always will make sure that any allegations of animal abuse, mistreatment, cruelty or anything derogatory about the racing industry, will be whitewashed. A classic example is the PETA expose of the trainer Steve Asmussen and his partner in crime, Steve Blasi – the racing authorities found NO EVIDENCE of animal abuse, mistreatment, cruelty, etc. That PETA expose went worldwide and people saw the unspeakable cruelty inflicted on the racehorse NEHRO which resulted in his death. His owner, Mr Zayat (American Pharoah is his famous racehorse) swiftly removed all of his other racehorses from Asmussen’s stable – no evidence?
Any standard you walk past is the standard you accept. Gina had the integrity and courage to speak out for the horses which is something you just don’t do in this industry, I speak from personal experience.
We know what standard you walk past every single day, Laura.
Thank you Carolyn. The horse racing industry can silence the horses while they are being turned into drug addicts, confined to space, whipped to run, dying on tracks, and/or slaughterhouses. Yes Laura it’s so easy to silence the slave isn’t it?
You are not going to silence me. People in this industry must remain silent because the power keeps them that way especially when you have horses in training or racing. Boy do I know this. I was a direct recipient of their oppressed system.
I, for one, will no longer subscribe to their world of secrecy, silence, and oppression.
You can Laura, but I’m not.
They have targeted me, they made my life a living hell, they continue to cause me problems in my personal life to this day. I suppose it’s retribution for speaking out.
I hate to disappoint you, but I’m not bitter. My motivation isn’t bitter orientated.
My motivation is to speak the truth (whether you believe me or not is your choice) on behalf of the horses. I’m a voice for the voiceless.
Carolyn Nehro died from colic !! To be more specific a ruptured intestine .. Colic is the number one killer of horses period all horses !! He ruptured on his way to one of the best equine hospitals in the world for surgery ! Now apparently you have never seen a horse die from a ruptured intestine it happens to be horrible . there is nothing anyone can do at that point .. I recently had a pony horse die from the same thing he took his last breath with his head in my lap I still have nightmares . Scott may not have used the proper language to describe it but I can tell you he wasn’t lying it is horrible and violent ..Of course it’s horrible to watch an 1100 pound animal you love go into shock …. That video is crap ! It’s pretty out of 9 months all you can come up with is highly edited ten minutes Sad !! Everything thing in it was either legal ,therapeutic ,or a supplement .. Personally I hope Steve sues the crap out of them !!!
Laura…you challenge someone on TRUTH – in this instance, Gina – when you support an industry that CANNOT tell a truth?!? In addition, in your accusations about truth-telling, you state the ambiguous words “are most likely”!…so not facts, Laura, just “most likely”. Incredible…
Whatever the pipes are for the bottom line is the racehorses, once again, paid the price. The multibillion dollar racetrack decided to cut their stall space instead of doing other options because it would have cost money.
They sure want to make the money off the bones, and backs of the racehorses, but give them little in return. That’s what this business is about: exploitation from start to finish.
No, my accusations were not proven unfounded since the racehorse was disqualified and the purse money was ordered returned. All of this was not even addressed or done until people like me spoke out about what was going on.
California horse racing scene is a complete joke. Everybody knows that.
Yes, I know Nehro died from colic, Laura. Here is an excerpt from the PETA expose which I only quoted again today on another of Patrick’s posts. Racehorses dying from colic is far too common in the racing industry.
The notorious Steve Blasi (assistant trainer to Asmussen) stated to doomed horse, NEHRO: “Quit being such an asshole. Aggravating son of a bitch.”
After Nehro died of colic: “I have seen a lot of shit. THAT IS THE MOST VIOLENT FUCKING DEATH I HAVE EVER SEEN.”
NEHRO died from COLIC (the ruptured intestine was part of that). If it is true that he died in transport on the way to an equine hospital, as you allege, then that is even more pathetic because it is obvious that Asmussen’s stable failed to detect that NEHRO was sick and showing signs of colic. Now how bad is that, especially when Mr Zayat loved Nehro (it was reported that in a telephone conversation Mr Zayat’s son said that Nehro was his father’s favourite horse) and would’ve expected that if he became unwell a vet would immediately be called in – money not an issue here. Inexcusable negligence and animal cruelty. Mr Zayat (American Pharoah) swiftly removed his other racehorses from Asmussen when he lost beautiful Nehro. Now what does that tell you? And remember that Nehro was being forced to race on very painful dysfunctional feet, they were in a shocking state and even the farrier was very concerned. I cannot bear to look at that footage again because it disturbs me no end and makes me physically ill.
Colic is not quick (remember you said that your cheap Claiming mare suffered colic for 14 hours before she finally died? Remember that Laura?). As you are well aware I once worked in the racing industry and witnessed a young colt die from colic due to negligence – no one bothered to call a vet in as soon as the colic symptoms appeared.
Below is an excerpt from Joy Aten’s recent comment on COLIC
Here, a quote from the Paulick Report from January 11, 2016, titled “Managing a Horse on Stall Rest: Suggestions to Avoid Colic” (that title should just be changed to “Suggestions to Avoid Colic in the Racehorse Who Lives 23 Hours in a Stall”); “Horses relegated to stall rest have a much higher risk of impaction colic, according to equine nutritionist Kristen Janicki.”
Gastric ulcers, decreased gastrointestinal motility secondary to living in a stall, high-energy diets, dehydration from withholding water pre-race and/or Lasix administration, lack of grazing, the stress of living isolated (not in a herd environment)…and other consequences of a racehorse’s living environment SET THEM UP for colic.
By the way, Blasi would have no grounds to sue and he and Asmussen would know that. Also, I suspect that the powers that be in Kentucky and New York State Racing Commissions, who btw found “no evidence” of animal cruelty and fined Asmussen something like a paltry $10,000 (what a circus they made of that) would advise them against that because it would be incriminating evidence against the racing industry generally and very bad publicity…. The PETA expose was viewed worldwide and it was indisputable evidence, no doubt about that. People saw the unspeakable cruelty inflicted on the racehorse NEHRO which resulted in his death.
Last but not least, the fact that you are defending Blasi/Asmussen tells me that you condone and support inflicting cruelty upon racehorses.