The danger, of course, is becoming numb to all this. But we cannot. The horses need us to be their voices – tirelessly, unwaveringly. Cozzy’s Attitude was killed training at Belmont yesterday: “leg injury, euthanized on track.” He was two years old and had been raced four times. He is the 42nd dead horse at Belmont, one of racing’s most celebrated venues, this year. In fact, Belmont is fast closing in on 100 kills for 2020-21. Please remain active and let the world know – social media, letters to the editor, local tv/radio stations, etc. – what’s happening to our horses. Please.
What is the purpose of the contraption on this horse’s tongue? I assume it keeps him from swallowing his tongue. I think, based solely on my experience, how could I be expected to perform to the best of my abilities when I’m distracted by having my tongue yanked on, having blinkers and puffy things all over my face, my legs wrapped up and a horrid little monster with absolutely no feelings for me whipping me?
Always hated the use of tongue ties & lip chains!! The horse above is clearly in great distress & afraid of what`s happening to him or her.Agreed. We must not become numbed down by all the daily carnage to these poor horses.
Not born to run at those speeds, for so long a distance, carrying riders, some going over hurdles.
Bob, you are so right! In steeplechase racing, the horses carry more weight than flat track racing. The quarter-mile fractions in flat track racing are expected to be about 22 seconds to be considered fast. I don’t know what is considered fast in steeplechase or jumps racing and the races are much longer distances than flat track races. It’s barbaric and absolutely unnecessary at any rate. All of this is definitely unnatural for the horse! Racing is forced on the horses and breakdowns are a natural consequence of an unnatural activity.
Steeplechase Races here, are run at 2 1/2 mile distances. In the US at a flat track, one race per day. In Europe, it is the way most races are run.
This morning at Navan 7, Wide Receiver took a bad spill and is dead. His trainer is that sweetheart Gordon Elliott (he now has another passed away horse to sit on with his phone and have his picture taken by one of his buddies) The BARBARIC STEEPLECHASE
THANK GOD the vet scratched the beautiful filly Estilio Talentoso. In my opinion that trainer Juan something, and the ownership group has run that sweet BABY girl into the ground!!!!!!!! Thank GOD the BC’s vet scratched this abused (running too frequently) baby. I would have pitched a fit like you’ve never seen me do, if that little girl had broken down in the BC Classic Distaff.
Bonnie, I would very much bet that everyone involved here was read the riot act so there would not be any unnecessary “incidents” in their control. Especially on the “famous” Breeder Cup day.
Nancy, not only has Juan the trainer abused her by forcing her to race so much, but, he has also shipped this BABY all over the whole country. Karma is a bitch. I will ALWAYS be all about the ANIMALS. Hate to say it …but, I could care less what happens to the humans. #IOnlyCareAboutTheAnimals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nancy, I think the same thing. Having another “incident” to bring negative publicity to their coveted “Cup” races as the case of MONGOLIAN GROOM did on November 2, 2019 must be taken seriously. It’s sickening that they are only putting their own interests of taking/raking in millions of dollars at the expense of the horses’ health and wellness. These psychopaths will eventually cause these racehorses to breakdown at a future date. Just not today, okay.
You got that right Wanda. Their lives are doomed from the second they come out of their Mama!
The horses just want someone to be kind to them and they get this organized systematic abuse instead — horseracing is organized systematic abuse of horses.
horseracing must end.
I will never get that vomit inducing visual of todd pletcher and mike repole with their over-the top celebration when Mongolian Groom was dying,and their horse won. I WILL NEVER FORGET that.
Bonnie, I was not watching the races that closely to see that dementedly evil sight you describe of egregious selfishness and indifference to a horse’s suffering and pain. It sounds like the epitome of the mentality of the horseracing industry — two “men” celebrating a win while another horse is suffering a life-ending breakdown that could have been prevented, but wasn’t. Horseracing and wagering cannot exist without this dementedly evil mentality.
Thank you Wanda. There are certain things you witness in life that “scar” you,and you can’t ever forget. I wish I HADN’T seen it. Only added to the anguish. What’s that old saying ….”Ignorance is bliss”.
Bonnie, more people need to see this reality of horseracing and be a voice for the horses. Thank you for sharing this extremely-difficult-to-cope-with reality no matter how heart-breaking, gut-wrenching and vomit-inducing. The general public needs to be informed of this ugly reality.
Just horrible to see all that metal in this unfortunate 2-year old’s mouth. this stuff should be in the jockey/trainer’s mouths and see what happens. This is the only way to control this poor horse? Close down horse racing now.
Becoming numb is not the issue, it’s having the constant stories of horror and abuse affect you emotionally to the point depression seeps into your daily life. There are times I just have to step away from this site for several days just to “catch my breath” emotionally. Terrible, I know, when the barbaric suffering of these horses is literally on an hourly basis. I commend everyone who can face this every day.
Rebecca, what you’re saying is resonating with me.. To say it’s soul crushing is an understatement. One of the MANY things that sticks in my crawl is …these “men” getting rich abusing animals. Let me explain…. the males on both sides of my “pedigree”, if you will,were self-made, AMAZINGLY hard working men,I mean REAL work …not goofing around with horses. They were Iron/Steel foundry owners,lawyers,school district superintendents…etc. In other words good family providers that took a lot of smarts and grit. It’s not easy by any means to achieve those things. And,now I see these people USING horses to get rich. It is a hard pill to swallow. It’s like you got wealthy by murdering and maiming innocent horses, who have given so much to stupid humans. Who, by the way ….don’t deserve it. Why I ask anyone should Bob Baffert, Brad Cox, Steve Ass, be rich? NO, they shouldn’t be rich for abusing horses. Let’s get our PRIORITIES straight America.
The reality that these horses die horrendous deaths after what we know is solitary confinement and abuse, it so difficult for me to wrap my brain around.
Just read a story about a racehorse found in an Arizona desert, a “walking skeleton” is what the headline of the story was. All of this is so disturbing and I will continue to share my voice against this abuse.
You know the old saying ….there’s a special place in ****, for people who abuse children and animals.
While men are the predominant racehorse abusers and gamblers in horse racing, women do their fair share as well and that needs to be mentioned here.
There are no gender differences when it comes to the horrific abuse and racehorse kills in this business.
One of the richest, most influential, prolific breeders (breeds HUNDREDS of racehorses) and sends her racehorses to the multiple doping, cheating, racehorse killers like Bob Baffert, Todd Pletcher, etc (meaning she supports their daily abusive business practices on racehorses PLUS pays them well for that) is Barbara Banke owner of Stonestreet Farm.
This former attorney and one of the biggest wine producers in California who owns Kendall-Jackson wineries spends millions supporting, promoting and prolificating horse racing on a grand scale.
For example, she sat on the board at Keeneland for years and when approached with a request for minimal mandatory aftercare contributions she ignored or refused this request.
With a stroke of the pen she could have changed things for the better for thousands of racehorses.
At every sale at Keeneland they are making millions so even 1% would have made a huge difference.
Here was a woman in power that did absolutely nothing for the health and welfare of racehorses.
Then there’s Belinda Stronach another super wealthy businesswoman who facilitates the massive pain, suffering and dying of racehorses.
She doesn’t have to own racetracks because she doesn’t need the money.
She could easily sell-off Golden Gate, Santa Anita and Gulfstream to developers and get out of the racehorse killing business.
Instead, as we all know, that is not happening as she continues to facilitate the racehorse horrors on her tracks.
There are countless female trainers: Linda Rice, Patricia Farro (Python Pat) Josie Carroll of Woodbine Racetrack, Carla Gaines at Del Mar, former Trainer Amber Cobb and countless others that carry out the exact same daily abusive business practices and racehorse kills that rivals any of their male counterparts.
Since this is a fact-based site I feel that blaming everything on “men” is just untrue, although a predominant factor, because women who make it in the ranks in this business must succumb and carry out all of the daily abusive business practices that men do.
Oh, and by the way, women gamble too they mostly do it in private from their homes, but there are plenty of female addicted racehorse gamblers.
I’ve met a lot of women who are actually worse than men when it comes to abusing horses because they have the mindset that they have to “show the horse who is boss” since they don’t have the physical strength of men. It’s so ingrained in our society that tanking on a piece of metal in a horse’s mouth and striking him repeatedly with a whip is acceptable behavior because horses are big, dumb animals with thick skin, when the complete opposite is true. For a society that celebrates strides in animal communication, we really haven’t moved much past the dark ages.