Last week…
(note: The weather last week caused multiple card cancellations at multiple tracks.)
Get the Net “went wrong, vanned off” at Fair Grounds
The Circle Game “returned bleeding” at Laurel
C’Mon Jenna “bled and was vanned off” at Santa Anita
So Much Happy “bled” at Santa Anita
Hilton Magic “went wrong, vanned off” at Fair Grounds
Solar Reflection “fell to her face, DNF” at Fair Grounds
Faceys First “injured past the wire, vanned off” at Mahoning
Ariana’s Myth “vanned off” at Turf
Knox Court “vanned off” at Tampa Bay
While not all the “vanned” end up dead, most do, as borne out by our year-end FOIA reports. But even if death is not the ultimate result, the above are victims nonetheless, suffering painful injuries – in the case of the bleeders, pulmonary hemorrhage – so that some men may gamble, others chase pots of gold. (For any new confirmed deaths during the week, please see our running annual list.)
Many horses are showing some bleeding now that Lasix (diuretic) is being phased out. Horses have alot of blood in them so a small amount of blood showing in the nose or mouth is not critical. Bleeding can be controlled in other ways besides administration of Lasix.
Bleeding can be controlled by not running them!
Seriously?
So, when a horse can’t run because the lungs are filling up with blood, it’s no biggie to some folks, eh? So what, if the horse drowns in its own blood, eh? What the heck, if a horse dies from internal rupturing and bleeding, you just replace that horse with your next victim, right, marymbaggaley????
Oh, wait! You could stop the bleeding by euthanizing the horse, right, m.m.b.????
I agree, Mary, a little is not critical. And better to van as a safety precaution. I agree with the phasing of lasix, and I hope trainers are able to adapt their training and other methods (no drugs!) to prevent bleeding. Less reliance on drugs will be fruitful in the long run, especially with the Horse Racing Safety and Integrity Act, and I believe that all these changes are heading in the right direction.
How do you know how much “little” is? What you see coming out of their nose? What do you think their lungs look like if it’s coming out their nose?? And, unlike us, horses can’t breathe through their mouths. How would you like to have a copious nosebleed and have someone clamp your mouth shut? Don’t think you’d be very comfortable would you? And for most people – a nosebleed isn’t because their lungs are bleeding. But in horses, it is!
I had a horse bleed once coming back from a race. At the track, he had a “little” blood. In the barn, he looked like we slaughtered him. There was blood all over the walls, in his bedding. It was grotesque. And he was on lasix for every single one of the races he ever ran. You and marybaggalay are ridiculous.
Yeah, right. “Van as a safety precaution,” because you’re all so concerned about horse safety, aren’t you, “Stella”? The only reason you van bleeders is the same reason you do everything else you do in your animal cruelty business: Helps Hide your Horrors.
So, yeah, you’re heading in the right direction, all right — into animal abuse oblivion.
Making these outrageously stupid remarks regarding “a little blood” coming out of a racehorse’s nose is on a level of stupidity that is laughable. To be so incredibly INSENSITIVE IS UNFORGIVABLE!!!!
It’s not insensitive, I felt bad for the horse. But the vast majority were not bleeding, so something needs to change in that horse’s training to accommodate for its susceptibility to bleeding. Saying that the best way to avoid them bleeding is to not run them is just stupid. Most horses don’t bleed, if they did as much as you say they do then they couldn’t be athletes! There are better training practices WITHOUT DRUGS that can be effective in having not horses bleed.
FYI my friend’s mare had a little blood after a trail ride (11 mi), so she gave her a few weeks off, saw the vet, he said there was no issue, and it hasn’t been a problem since. We weren’t sure what was wrong that day, but the mare also wasn’t in any discomfort. “A little blood” isn’t a major issue unless it’s obstructing breathing- but definitely should be looked at by the vet.
You are wrong. It’s well known that as many as 75% of racehorses bleed. Among horses that are scoped twice the number rises to 95%. It is not an occurrence in the majority of horses not subjected to racing, it does not just naturally occur in horses, it is a result of increased cardiac pressure under repetitive strenuous exercise, demands exceeding the normal function of the horse, which causes ruptured bronchial capillaries. Just because there’s a medication which appears to reduce the incidence of bleeding doesn’t mean it’s okay. If a human experiences EIPH they go to the ER and reduce training. I don’t know why you think it’s okay in a horse. Is it because it’s just a horse?
Stella T.,
I rest my case! You epitomize stupidity and insensitivity by the incredibly stupid and insensitive remarks you just made here!!!!!
When the horses that bleed from PULMONARY HEMORRHAGING are not able to run without bleeding, they will disappear from the racetracks and be sent to slaughter.
And I’ll bet my house your friend’s mare wasn’t bleeding from EIPH after that trail ride – bleeding from the nostril from a source other than the lungs is not EIPH and is not what racehorses suffer from. No comparison.
UNLESS, that is, during your trail ride your friend was whipping her mare to run as fast as she could for the distance a race would demand. But I doubt it.