Let’s start with the obvious: All horseracing is animal abuse. All of it – no matter the form, no matter the level, no matter the country, no matter the state, no matter the “connections.” Horseracing is inherently cruel. Period. But every once in a while, someone manages to ratchet up that cruelty just a tad.
5-year-old Blazingulch was raced at Rillito Park in Tucson at 3:45 pm Saturday. (That race, by the way, was about as cheap a race as you can get: All the entries were “For Sale” prior to at a pittance – $2,000.) At 1:00 pm the next day, Blazingulch was put to the whip at Turf Paradise in Phoenix. So: raced, loaded onto a truck, shipped some two hours away, unloaded, raced again (where, unsurprisingly, he finished dead last, “trailing the field”). All in less than 24 hours. Oh, and injected with Lasix for both races.
The wretched (feel free to insert your own adjectives) man responsible – among others: where were the Turf vets/stewards? – is trainer/owner Juan Pablo Silva.
Disgusting, vile, greedy scum!
Reblogged this on Armory of the Revolution.
What authority would allow this level of cruelty and stupidity? No person should ever be allowed to do this to any horse! I suspect this horse, BLAZINGULCH, will either disappear (be hauled to Mexico for slaughter) or show up on one of your lists of dead horses, Patrick. Juan Pablo Silva could at least sell BLAZINGULCH to someone who could give him a soft landing but he is showing all the signs of a serial-horse-abuser-and-killer. This is heinous cruelty to a horse!
Juan Pablo Silva needs to be taken to task for horseracing cruelty. This exploitation is called caring about an equine athlete?
This is so wrong, a horse should never be entered and run in races two days in a row. Any other athlete, football, basketball or baseball never play games two days in a row, what works for humans should work the same for a racehorse. Horses never demand more money or threaten to race for someone else until they get the high price salary that they’re asking to receive, they race their hearts out without any question. These magnificent animals should receive the mental and physical care that they deserve. Anything else is total animal abuse, owners, trainers and jockeys should all be aware of that fact! Actually, all they care about is the money, they are so greedy that they will always put their horse in danger no matter the consequences!
It’s not uncommon for a racehorse to race 2 days in a row here in Australia. Often a trainer/connections will nominate a horse to race for the two days and the stewards accept such nominations. If the horse wins on day 1 he’ll likely be scratched for day 2 but not always, I hasten to add.
If the horse does badly on day 1 he races again on day 2 – sometimes he does well and sometimes he does badly, just like Blazingulch. Here, a horse usually earns prize money to 10th place. However, it does of course vary depending on whether it’s a city, provincial or country meeting – the prize money can go from say $400+ in the country to $thousands in the city. And if there’s no prize money for wherever the horse came home e.g. 11th place, his connections get a few hundred dollars appearance money.
So who cares if the horse is up to it or not – the racing industry certainly doesn’t care because it has no rules in place to prevent the horse from racing 2 days in a row.
How do the horses spend their prize money?
Yet another example of an innocent horse being raced into the ground and flogged when doing his best with nothing more to give, I mean how bloody cruel can you get. Thrown from pillar to post with absolutely no consideration for his welfare, none whatsoever. The travelling takes its toll e.g. respiratory, ulcerated stomachs. These horses never get to relax. It makes me feel sick in the stomach.
The disturbing fact is that Blazingulch is one of many racehorses being cruelly treated like this, needless to say this cruelty is common enough in Australia.
Where were the vets/stewards? Right there, of course. Doing their “jobs” abusing animals, as per usual.
Oh, and these same, sleazy horse “professionals” had another (likely) kill today. Midnight Zither “finished well, gained late, and was vanned off.” Let’s hope his loving owner/trainer, Valorie Lund, took her vast winnings from his third place finish and bought herself a conscience. I hear they’re cheap in Arizona.
Juan Pablo Silva is the perpetrator of this egregious racehorse abuse and it’s easy to blame only him.
However, it’s everybody else in this business who is equally responsible for Blazingulch’s demise.
Every single apologist, supporter, participator from the racing commissions to the person placing bets.
Another thing, racing secretaries and/or racing office clerks must check the race record of any racehorse that is entered to race for eligibility.
So that means that somebody knew damn well that Blazingulch had been raced the day before and permitted this horse to be entered, and subsequently raced.
Which brings me to the next point.
There are no minimum hours in the rules & regulations for any racehorse to run because they leave that up to the discretion of the trainer who enters the racehorse.
Yet another example of how this industry doesn’t even make a minimum effort to protect racehorses from abuse.
Parasites – every single one of them.
Gina, I don’t think Blazingulch is dead yet. Well on his way, thanks to all the racing creeps like Mr. Silva and those imbecile vets and so-called regulators in AZ, but still lives to die another day.
The “walking dead” like most of them.
Yes, one of the countless walking dead. How long before Blazingulch is running in match races or is crammed into a trailer headed for a Mexican slaughterhouse. I can’t freaking stand it.
He appears to be from Tijuana Stables. My guess is the short drive up to maybe sell him for the $2,000 posted is what was going on. Another guess is he’s headed down to the slaughter house or kill auction as we write.
Just when you think they can’t stoop any lower they do it AGAIN and AGAIN! You, Juan Pablo Silva are a disgrace to the human race… and so are all those supporting this imbecile, cruel, despicable “business”. I would REALLY enjoy seeing you run for your life twice in a day, hauled back and forth in a trailer, drugged up and whipped many times!! And when/if you can’t run anymore, WHIPPED some more!!!
Contemptible, gut-churning, appauling!
Vile is too nice. Now we wait to see how soon this innocent, overworked and abused animal collapses and dies on a track somewhere. The whole industry is beyond disgusting. Juan Pablo is just a small part of the corruption. BAN HORSE RACING.
Okay. Turn it off. I can’t even look at him.
Same here! I just scroll past as quickly as possible to avoid the creep’s pic.
Here in Ohio, there isn’t a “rule” which limits the number of times a horse can race within a certain time period. Quite a few years ago, a horse I was following in my Virtual Stable, Pass Me A Drink, raced on a Friday and raced again on a Monday. I was sickened by this but no laws/rules were broken. Sometimes I think of racing as a “free for all” as in “anything goes.” The lure of a paycheck is a powerful motivator.
O’Neill, who whines that we expose the cruelty and deaths in horseracing, claimed Blazingulch in January of 2017…by MARCH, he no longer was part owner. DUMPED.
Oh but he cares about the horses? – see the lies, folks – SEE THE LIES.
(I’ve shared a photo of Blazingulch on my FB page and in the comments of the HW FB post about this vile abuse.)
Just to clarify, as a former Steward and years training, there are NO RULES in most all racing jurisdictions governing the amount of times a racehorse can run OR a minimum amount of days that should pass before a racehorse can be entered.
This is left up to the discretion of the trainer. In some cases it’s the owner ordering the trainer to run the horse so that they can pick up a check and with tracks now paying up until last place it actually condones the abuse.
Case in point, The Stronach Group recently announced that they were raising the amount paid out for last place from $300 to $500.
This will further facilitate the abuse of racehorses as many claiming trainers will do just about anything to pick-up $500. There running crippled horses now for $300 so it’s not getting any better, but worse as if it isn’t worse enough now.
It’s about filling races and their wagering coffers for their company XpressBet, but all tracks have the same goal.
So much for “caring” right?
WHY are racing insiders, supporters and apologists upset and angry about Blazingulch having been raced twice in less than 24 hours? – don’t they always claim that being raced is no different than what horses do on their own in their pastures and paddocks? – that they LOVE it and it’s their JOB that is GOOD for them?
Telling, isn’t it.
I think it’s more to do with the fact that “terrorist” and “animal activists” like us found out about it and are calling them out for it. If they could get away with shoving the same horses out in the track on a daily basis they would, no question in my mind.
No Rebecca. That’s actually not true. We want our horses to do well. Racing more often than they can safely race would not make sense.
You want your horses to do “well”? – and you think that’s something we don’t know? Not one of you who uses horses to make your living wants your horses to NOT do “well”…“well” as in getting a check.
Making money is the incentive in this industry – and when a starter allowance has a purse of $7,800 for “cheap claimers” (as the industry calls horses like Blazingulch) and there are no rules to protect the horse (which is certainly the case here), there will always be those who will take a chance the horse finishes “well” and gets a nice check – for his exploiters, of course.
So tell me, Claire, when YOUR horses are finished “doing well” at the track where are they going to end up? Do you have a plan for their comfortable retirement? Or are they just going to end up at the racing industry’s ultimate example of “loving them like children” – the slaughterhouse.
Oh, wait, let me guess: you’ve never sent a horse to slaughter and you don’t know anybody on the racetrack who does because the thousands of racehorses that are documented ending up in slaughterhouses is just irrational sensationalism thrown out there by us “terrorists” who refuse to leave you apologists alone in your utopia of exploited, broken and abused horses and instead insist on doing the unthinkable and exposing you for what you truly are: animal abusers, plain and simple. YOU KILL HORSES. No other equine venue has the sickening numbers of dead horses like the racing industry, and you can throw the word “love” out as much as you want but those horses dying from catastrophic injuries and the vile horrors of the slaughterhouse can’t hear you.
joy, please!! Rational arguments. You can’t rely on sensationalism to win this battle!
DUH, Claire! Why wouldn’t you want your horse to do well? May as well get some nice, free money for a minimum amount of work, courtesy of casinos and taxpayers, and the blood and sweat of your horse! And racing them “more often than they safely race” happens every day, you silly goof. This happens every day at low tier tracks, and the biggest example of it was the break down of Mongolian groom. I just can’t with your delusional self.
You know Claire,until a horse you loved so FUCKING much goes down in front of your eyes,because of this brain-dead corny scumshit,you have no idea. There is NO reason at all for this cornball shit , that costs horses their lives,to continue. PERIOD end of story. Get a fucking life…go torture humans. Don’t pick on animals,who can’t speak for themselves.Too many horses have lost their lives,for NOTHING.
We know why racehorses need time off between races – because racing IS NOTHING like the (very little) running my horses do in their pastures and of their own accord – although that is an argument racing insiders, fans and apologists frequently use. It’s another LIE the industry tries to sell to the public…just as “we love them like family” is. You said it yourself – the horses need “days” or a “week” to recover from a race – a “big effort”…my horses don’t need a week to recover from what they choose to do with their herd.
Only the extremely wealthy who race horses for their own egos might continue to race them if there was no money involved – the MAJORITY make their horses risk life and limb in this taxing activity to earn a living. And since the majority of racehorses are claimers, they are constantly at additional risk of being acquired by the scum even you admit exist in this industry. Sounds real “loving” to me.
Why don’t you get busy “weeding out” those bad apples? – or is it that you can’t get them out, either? Just as Arthur Hancock stated at the 2008 Congressional sub-committee hearing on the drugs and breakdown in TB racing, HE had been begging for independent national oversight that would address those issues for a quarter of a century…and NOTHING. It’s nearly 12 years later and STILL the racing industry cannot rid itself of the cheaters and blatant abusers. Even your own people admit it…to quote Colleen McEvoy; “I rode for many a trainer that gave Lasix with no reason and never scoping them to see if they needed it.”
Finally, you can’t “support our efforts”? – you never have and unless you choose to be on the side of the HORSES and not that of an industry that cripples, kills and sends them to slaughter, you never will.
Your fate is sealed. Your greed and abuse will come around, believe me.
Sick barbaric SOB.
Now this I agree with you on. Racing two days in a row is greedy and unfair to the horse. Horses definitely need to rest between races. Regardless of how much they tried or didn’t try.
Racing a horse is abusive! Racing a horse twice in 24 hours is even more abusive. Horses would not run more than approximately one-quarter of a mile in natural settings to get away from a perceived threat. Thoroughbreds are forced to run for usually more than one-quarter of a mile. They normally don’t run unless they are fearful for their lives in natural settings. Horseracing is not natural to a horse. In horseracing, they are forced to run for their lives and the perpetrators exploit this trait to the extreme and drug/dope the horses to “enhance” the horses’ performance. This is part of the inherent cruelty of horseracing and it is blatant abuse. Horseracing exists to provide a perverted form of entertainment and to use horses as gambling chips, not to mention that some “people” prefer to eat horse meat. Is that sensationalizing to you? Do you just kind of look the other way when you see horses being whipped or mistreated in a multitude of other ways?
And why do they need to “rest”, Claire? – we are told again and again that racing horses is no different than what my horses do of their own accord in their pastures…
Why?
Joy,
Racehorses work hard. Why would they need to rest? Because that’s the way it works. They train so that they are fit enough to race. It builds up their stamina and fitness. They feel good and they are strong. Then, if everything is alright, they enter a race. The race is a big effort for them. That is why they rest for days or maybe a week after. Then, if the intention is to race again, repeat the process.
To the other commenters…yes we want them to do well. By well we, or at least I, mean that they are healthy, sound and content. If all those things are in place AND if they are fast enough to be competitive, they race. If they aren’t happy, sound etc etc they retire and are re schooled to become the OTTBs so many of you have and adore.
In my opinion this is the way it should be in all cases. Owners/trainers that don’t have similar values need to be weeded out.
If you ladies as a group can’t accept that this is the way that many many race horse owners do things, you are choosing to ignore a huge reality. If that is the case I just can’t support your efforts in trying to help horses.
Claire, have you ever gone 36 hours without sleep? Can you imagine how much sleep BLAZINGULCH got during this 24-hour period of time that he was raced at one racetrack and hauled to a second racetrack and raced again without any rest? I’m guessing he didn’t get any sleep besides no rest. I have read that horses can die from not getting enough sleep. If the horse cannot ever get enough rest and SLEEP, they cannot keep functioning anymore than a human could be expected to perform without enough SLEEP besides rest. Horseracing is inherently CRUEL TO HORSES but the horseracing industry insiders do not care!
Wanda, no, I don’t think I have. It was certainly a terrible thing for that trainer to do to that horse.
Claire, a short time ago I read an article on Team Valor. They are fed up with the “insane cheating” and lack of oversight and lack of regulation on doping and drugging racehorses in order to win in the United States; so they are going to be racing in Europe. How do you feel about the doping/drugging of racehorses, both legal and illegal, in the United States, as well as the lack of oversight and regulation of said use?
Dear Pat, Now you’re getting warmer ( picture of this S.O.B. Trainer and publish his name.) BUT NO CIGAR! You are misguided Pat. Do you really think this poor excuse for a human, cares that his name and picture appear on your blog for egregious atrocities against horses?When you printed the article with his picture,I can guarantee you.Him and all his training buddies are still laughing at you and your naietivity, you just turned him into a celebrity amongst his pals at his track.In his world this is free advertisement,you really don’t understand this worlds mentality.Dear Mr.Patrick,you just did this piece of garbage a favor with this free advertisement,this will bring him more low level horses to be abused,from more low life owners. Before you gave this garbage,free advertising,no one ever heard of him,but you helped him with free advertisement.Now Mr. Patrick, you are making progress ( now listen carefully, you must name “THE OWNERS” of abused horses)WHY? Because the owners have business outside racing and this abuse will change the way people think of them in their outside,from horse racing business.These owners are not earning a living from racing,so hit them and expose them to their peers outside of horse racing. This strategy will hurt them in their outside business,meaning loss of income from their real jobs.Expose them for the animal abusers they are. This will get you leaps and bounds ahead of what you’re doing now. I admire your effort but in my opinion you are going about this ineffectively. You don’t have to slander anyone,just report the facts as is,but just include the “OWNERS NAMES”! With your passion for the cause,this will get you the results you’re looking for. NO OWNERS, NO HORSE RACING,PERIOD! As is, you are going no where with this cause. In my opinion if it weren’t for horse racing most of these horse people would be criminals,circus or carnival workers. Especially those at the smaller venues,and most at the larger venues.
Excellent Points
I know this game inside and out, if you and others believe this is the only strategy that will get the intended results,let’s start keeping this as our goal and let’s encourage Mr.Patrick to go this route. Any set of people that allow and condone this mistreatment of these precious animals should be handled as such,they don’t deserve any better. It’s time we get hard and make it hard on these abusers. Keeping a record of all the breakdowns and deaths is an awful lot of work,time and effort to only have the enemy laugh at your tactics,Patrick. It’s time has come where we squeeze the puss out of them.
Read Patrick’s posts carefully, Sopher D – you want the OWNER named? – Patrick named him…right there with his photo.
Dearest Joy,Yes you are correct Patrick showed this TRAINER/OWNERS picture and named his name. You just proved my “POINT” exactly! How many deaths has Patrick recorded? And just one name of an owner who abuses.And he picks an owner/ trainer.Do you think his peers will think less of him?Because his peers are abusing also. You must be missing my point,name names of owners that have peers and business outside of horse racing,expose owners involved with the abusive trainer to these egregious activities,to people that may effect the owners life and his business on the outside of this horse racing disaster.
There is a special place in hell for abusers. No conscience ,no guilt, they just keep on abusing. Racing has to stop now. Period.
Here is a challenge for Mr.Patrick…A couple of years ago 2018. There was a horse named.”THE BIG DELUXE” on the NYRA circuit. Where is he? Was he kidnapped and held for ransom? Since his last start I have not seen him entered to race anywhere. Did he leave the country? Is “THE BIG DELUXE” in the witness protection program? Was he terminated and can he be found in the trunk of a car in a parking lot at Jones Beach? What gives? I’m sure “THE NEW YORK GAMING COMMISSION” would be the perfect place to start to tracking down “THE BIG DELUXE” …. Where is this horse? I’ve checked most farms in the New York and New Jersey,Pennsylvania area.No sightings of “THE BIG DELUXE”. I KNOW! ,it was an alien abduction.
Did you check the slaughterhouses?
http://secondchancethoroughbreds.org/the-big-deluxe….he happens to be one of the lucky ones
TY Billy – The Big Deluxe was an easy find, wasn’t he?
Lucky, indeed, considering racing did this to him…
“The Big Deluxe (Tuna) is back home after knee surgery. The surgery turned out to be quite extensive and our original quote of 2600 ended up being over $3800. Thank you to all who donated. We will be doing a T-shirt fundraiser to help out with the bill. Tuna had severe osteophytes along the dorsoproximal radial carpal, intermediate and ulnar carpal bone and craniodistal radius. Also, several large chronic osteochondral fragments off the dorsoproximal radiocarpal bone and distal radius. He had cartilage loss and fibrillation along the proximal surface radial and intermediate carpal bone and distal radius. He is in great spirits and has two weeks of complete stall rest followed by hand walking and then small turnout. If you would like to donate towards Tuna’s bill, our Paypal is sctottbs@gmail.com.”
That was from 2017. TBD was another example of this multi-billion dollar industry and one of its broken horses – yet the rescue had to beg for donations to help him. Typical.
Dearest Sopher D, you state you know this industry inside and out. I’m sure you know how to look up all the information on Equibase, and you can post all the information on the owners here. I’m sure you would be more than welcome to Investigate all the actual humans behind the partnerships, the farm names, the racing stable names, the LLC’s, and business names that horses run under.
I know from personal experience, that finding out who these humans actually are, can be almost impossible. For the general public that follows this site, the racing stables names themselves mean nothing. A prime example of this was “O Mason racing stables”. They were mentioned and called out on this site A LOT for the ongoing abuse and exploitation of a mare named Halos And Angels. If not for an amazing group of people here, this poor mare would probably still be racing. Calling out O. Mason meant nothing. And, come to find out, O. Mason was actually at least two or three people, none of which were actually named O. Mason.
Patrick does all of the work of investigating these horses without pay and on his own time. So if you would like to do all the investigative work to find out who these owners are, and feel that it would help the cause of ending horse racing, I don’t think he would be opposed to you posting that info here.
Hi Peggy, I do admire Patricks Action and Fortitude but I believe there is a more efficient way to accomplish what he is setting out to do. Unfortunately I’m going to have to turn down your offer to get these owners names, as I have my own cause which takes up my time and I’m sorry to say,closing down racing is not ever going to happen.There is too much cash floating around without federal oversight to keep it in check..Getting names of owners is not that difficult. Obviously you can’t get them all but it is possible to get a significant amount of names ( NO OWNERS – Means-NO RACING Period. People don’t have to read this sight to get the names. Word travels fast in the racing game about what is being said about their world, the owners names and his association with the abusers will leak out fast enough.
Sophie D, you say the “owners” names and “his” association with the abusers will leak out fast enough. The owners are the abusers as much as everyone else involved in the horseracing industry. The horseracing industry is subsidized by the government, so, in reality, the abuse and killing of racehorses is state-sponsored. I commend anyone for shedding light on the diabolically dark side of horseracing and wagering on horses used and abused as gambling chips. You can criticize all you want but who will listen to you as long as you think you know everything and aren’t willing to do anything to protect horses from abuse?
This incident of outrageous cruelty is absolutely condoned by this business. The overworking of horses just highlights the conflict of interest between “safety” and filling race cards – MONEY! Racing officials hide behind the excuse of “we leave it up to the trainer”. This business does not give a damn about the “safety” of the horse regardless of how many “reviews” and toothless “recommendations” which are triggered by the recent deaths and ensuing negative PR . Racing is banking on their tried and true modus operandi that has always worked: make it look like something is being done and wait it out, people will forget and move on!
I called Greg Stiles, Racing Enforcement and Operations, at the Arizona Department of Gaming (602 771 4263). I was assured Blazingulch was “examined” by a vet when he arrived and again before entering the gate! One of my many questions was, why this outrageous abuse was allowed and, of course, I was told there were NO RULES to prevent it. I said there was no excuse for such deliberate dereliction of duty to the horse. Also, I asked about any drug tests plus the administration of back to back Lasix with the ensuing dehydration which can take the horse up to 3 days to rehydrate from a single dose…
In response to AZ having twice the national average of fatalities 2017-18 the “Arizona Fatality Breakthrough Project” was formed, resulting in the predictable “reviews” and “recommendations”
The following were listed under “Additional Risk Factors to Consider”:
1. Vets list for lameness at any time.
2. Fewer than 24 days since last start (try fewer than 24 HOURS!!!!) – the shortest gap between starts was 9 days. Really!
I submitted to Stiles the incident with Blazinggulch has to result in rules to protect horses from overworking for any of this “effort” to be credible.
The Equine Safety Review report is said to be published each Sept. I asked if there was a report for 2019 (I could not find it) Stiles assured me there was, but it had not been published yet – done in Sept. and no report published by the middle of Feb.!!!!!
All MAKE-BELIEVE BY THIS FRAUDLENT BUSINESS
Thank you, Rose…the SECOND I read “I called Greg…”, I knew you were going to be met with the typical response – empty reassurance and meaningless excuses. And then there is the incompetence…ALWAYS the incompetence.
Thank you, Rose. I applaud your efforts! I completely agree that there is no excuse for such horrendous INHUMANE TREATMENT OF A HORSE!!!!
Rose, so the report was due Sept. 1, 2019, and here it is almost six months later and it STILL hasn’t been published? This situation would never be tolerated in the “real” world where accountability is a standard business practice. All talk…no action. Typical of an industry that cripples, maims, and kills daily.
Blazingulch should have been a vet. scratch. Allowing the horse to race shows an absence of moral integrity and a lack of regard for the professional oath. Further, allowing the horse to receive a second dose of Lasix within 24 hrs. when the horse was still dehydrated from the previous dose and spent hours being transported to the track is “malpractice”. No one in racing is looking out for the horse, not even the professionals.
The ongoing lack of any rules to protect the horse from even this most basic and visible form of abuse speaks volumes about the commitment to the safety of the horse – there is none and there never will be.
This message is for Wanda,somewhere along the way my message got changed and misunderstood. We don’t need other horse owners or trainers to know who the abusers are,they know who they are.(From the beginning)most horse owners have outside sources of income and businesses, which comes along with business associates in the “normal world”I think if these non- horse people knew the truth about what their business partners,friends and family are really involved with.This will have an effect on how people in the normal world see them.
Sophie D.,
I might be in disagreement with your assumption that anyone involved in horseracing (and horse killing) could keep their activities a big secret, or hidden, from their business associates. Even so, a lot of people who don’t follow horseracing would not necessarily be aware of how abusive horseracing is to horses. Therefore, the thing that I believe that will be much more effective to change the will of the people or the will of our elected Senators and Representatives is to make our will to change how horseracing is supported by tax dollars (subsidies) known to our state officials. If you believe that publishing the names of owners would turn business associates against owners of racing Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses, that is your right. But, to tell someone else to do it is a little obnoxious in my opinion.
Message to Wanda, Senators?Reps? It doesn’t work that way.No politician,is going to rock this boat.The government corruption goes too high.This easy money game is here to stay. Wanda,if you can refer to Alan Hevesi’s report,maybe 2003-04 it might give you a well rounded picture of how this all works and what the racing game is all about.
Sophie D, have you read the post on Horseracing Wrongs about Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf and his proposal to take subsidies away from the horseracing industry in Pennsylvania and provide scholarships to students?
Sophie D – in my view, it’s getting to the stage where the politicians will have no choice but to intervene and take action.
All these cruel horse deaths being exposed day after day simply cannot be ignored anymore.
The media is on to it, both Governors Gavin Newsom and Tom Wolf are making noises and as I understand it, some racinos are not wanting to be associated with horseracing.
Hey Wanda, Yes I did read it. Remember,these people are still politicians. What are they best at doing? I really hope you are right. Keep on believing.First Penn. Next ? Who Knows…. IF it works and that’s a “BIG IF “ I would think Penn. would somehow have the propping and backing from the larger Venues.The larger Venues will not let Penn. fold.Not that care about Penn.racing but it peels away one more layer and gets closer to the larger venues ( Ky, Ny, Ca. etc. ) who could potentially be next. Penn. racing is thoroughbred racing’s first defense.
Speaking OF racing. There was an article in Paulick Report that talked about Pennsylvania and racing.
I will not Link to his Article as he makes money off of horse abuse as well. I hope all these breeders of race horses are forced to shut down. HORSE RACING is HORSE ABUSE . They need to find another way to learn a living besides Abusing horses.
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Pennsylvania Breeders Say Governor’s Proposal Will Bankrupt Family Farms (EXCERPT)
2/12/2020
As Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf comes to Lock Haven University to tout his college tuition plan, state residents are speaking out about the negative impact his plan – which will divert money from Pennsylvania agriculture — will have on jobs and the agricultural industry in the Commonwealth. Supporters of Pennsylvania agriculture say Wolf’s plan for funding the new initiative would result in the end of horse breeding and racing and put more than 20,000 state residents out of work, eliminate an industry that delivers a $1.6 billion economic impact each year, and jeopardize hundreds of thousands of acres of open space.
“You don’t rob hard working families to give money away to those who have not earned it,” said local resident Randy Brungard, whose family owns the 360-acre Brungard Farm in Howard, Pa, Centre County where they breed and are currently raising 22 thoroughbred horses. He and his family can often be found in the barn before 6 a.m. and after 11 p.m. caring for the animals, especially during foaling season. “The governor’s proposal would bankrupt family-owned farms and leave as many as 20,000 hard-working individuals and their families without jobs. People don’t understand how big an impact this would have on our state’s economy, or what it will do to countless Pennsylvania families, farms, and small businesses.”
“When a horse wins a race, they earn purse money for their owner, which the owner then uses to pay the horse’s jockey, trainer, blacksmith, groom, veterinarian, and equine dentist, as well as buy hay and straw from farmers, feed from local feed mills, and supplies and equipment from small businesses,” said Brungard. “They reinvest that money in new barns and fencing on their farms that are constructed by local carpenters, and purchase horse trailers, tractors and farm equipment that are sold here in Pennsylvania. The economic impact is tremendous and far reaching.”
Over the years, horses born on the Brungard farm have raced at all three of Pennsylvania’s thoroughbred race tracks: Penn National Racetrack in Grantville, Dauphin County; Parx Racing in Bensalem, Bucks County; and Presque Isle Downs in Erie.”
Thank you, Kathleen. If the breeding farm people and owners can spend so much money on all of those different things by winning purse money, why do they need the tax money from the government? I know, it’s because they are not self-supporting. So, in essence, it is the government tax money that is buying all of those “horse trailers” and all the rest. A big boo-hoo for those horse breeders taking advantage of “corporate welfare” and running horses to their deaths while using them as gambling chips or selling their horses to the killbuyers and slaughter.
Wanda, what do you think of this.Being that the veterinarians and the trainers are unable to reduce or prevent horse catastrophic breakdowns.Why don’t they turn to an alternative approach of therapies to keep the horses running sounder. Nobody wants their horses to die on the track.But to be honest with you,I don’t think the most vets and most trainers are giving the best possible treatments for horses to feel their best without the use of medications,both painkillers,blood builders and stimulants.There are many individuals on the racetrack practicing alternative therapies but I believe recently they have been prevented from practicing on the racetrack. Example… In order for a horse to receive massage it has to be done by a Licensed Vet. Or a Vet.Tech. Under the supervision of a Lic.Vet. These guide lines are for the most part are unrealistic. There is not one Vet. that will spend 1 Hr. To massage a horse,when he can be treating 2-4 horses in 1 Hr. The Vet.Tech assists the vets in their treatments.Racing is not going to end,so why not try to reduce the break down rate with alternative treatments and a little common sense. If polled,I’ll bet most alternative therapists have not had any horses break down or at least drastically reduced the rate of catastrophic breakdown.Can we get that done with help from different racing jurisdictions?
Sopher D,
The only alternative therapy that would prevent the breakdowns of racehorses is to not race them until they are matured. Thoroughbred horses mature at the age of 6-years-old.
Massage therapy is not something that could prevent broken bones in yearlings, 2-year-olds, 3-year-olds, or any age. The pain killing medications are to keep horses with serious issues in their joints to continue to be able to walk and run. Remember, racehorses are being used as gambling chips. The industry will either kill their horses on a training track, a race track, in their stall, in a pit of some type to be picked up by a removal service later after the horse is dead from being euthanized, or if the horse somehow survived all of this, their owners/trainers will sell them at auction where the chance of being bought by a killbuyer is close to 100%. Once in awhile, a relatively small number of horses will be rescued from racing by a rescue or be retired to a breeding farm to be used as a broodmare or a stud. Geldings are very seldom given any respect by their owners. I remember one gelding named KELSO that was kept alive by his wealthy owner and re-trained for riding and jumping. That is rare. We usually read about geldings being run in a race when they clearly should have been retired from racing and given a second chance to have a life without constantly having the life sucked out of them in one way or another by the greedy and exploitative racing industry people.
Sopher D, you made the statement that “Nobody wants their horses to die on the track.” If that were true, we would NOT be reading about so many horses dying on the track because they were raced with injuries that predisposed them to catastrophic breakdowns that lead to the necessary euthanasia to stop the horse’s suffering. The case of MONGOLIAN GROOM is a perfect example of this. I researched it on Google and downloaded a PDF file. It shows what was known beforehand that indicates the horse should not have ever been entered, let alone run, in the Breeder’s Cup race in November 2019. HE WAS ON A VET’S LIST of some sort on OCTOBER 30 or 31, 2019. HE WAS RACED TWO or three DAYS LATER AND BROKE DOWN. HE HAD BROKEN BONES. Do you understand where I’m coming from? It isn’t true that no horse owner wants their horses to die or breakdown on the track. If that were true, they would NOT run them knowing what they know. It’s a business of racing and gambling and breeding and charging outrageous stud fees. You cannot stand a gelding at stud. MONGOLIAN GROOM was a gelding. This is not your local gymkhana (Western) or Pony Club event.