While true that Standardbreds do not break down with the same frequency as their Thoroughbred and QuarterHorse cousins, they do indeed break down. (Having said that, life on the harness circuit is just as cruel and mean and in fact usually persists longer than the other forms of racing, with the typical Standardbred’s servitude lasting up to ten years and beyond; after the racing people have had their way, the abuse often continues under the heavy hand of groups like the Amish. Then, for many or most, those same Canadian and Mexican slaughterhouses.)
Yesterday afternoon, Shooby Said, seven, “took a bad step” in the 2nd at Buffalo, was “ambulanced off the track” and, says the Gaming Commission, “euthanized.” He is the 20th horse to die on or at a New York State track this year.
You’re so right about the Standardbreds, Patrick. It is also not unusual for them to race 2 or 3 times in a week. And the Amish are becoming more prominent in breeding and racing them- then using them as buggy horses. It’s also not a coincidence that many of the kill buyer auctions in the Pa, Ohio, and Indiana areas are in the highest Amish population communities. They have no qualms with sending horses to slaughter once they have no more use for them.
Spot-on, Peggy. Thank you.
That’s just what is needed, more horses to abuse while they live and then send them on their cruel journies to horrific deaths in the slaughterhouses of Canada and Mexico.
People, stop betting. You are enabling cruelty and slaughter.
Go bet on football and whatever. Leave the animals out of it.
Please add the barbaric steeplechase races in addition to harness and regular races as abuse.