The following comes from Bergen Stables, owner of the 2-year-old Hey Hey Dancer:
There is nothing more detestable in racing than when the “connections” invoke the “Rainbow Bridge” after they themselves have done the killing. Even worse, here, Bergen reassures that Hey Hey has gone to be with his brothers – who were also Bergen victims. Not even a hint of shame.
This is beyond vomit-inducing to those of us who have lost horses who truly were loved.
The willful exploitation of horses for money, ego trips and whatever morbidly sick pleasure these sick, perverted people get out of this horrendous abuse needs to be constantly and continually exposed so that people of conscience can demand that this horrific ABUSE, BRUTALITY & CRUELTY be stopped! I’m grateful to all who are keeping up the fight to hold these vile people accountable!
These morally depraved horse-killing thugs don’t have an ounce of common decency to continually and repeatedly abuse horses to perform to the point of fatal injuries and death.
Killing a certain number of, or percentage of, defenseless animals appears to be a “standard” part of using animals in any kind of blood sport.
To kill off the animals whether it’s racehorses, sled dogs, Greyhounds, homing pigeons, or whatever animal can be exploited for money and egos is NOT OKAY! It’s EVIL, INHUMANE and, as you said, DETESTABLE!
What kind of psychopath/sociopath would willfully put their horse’s lives on the line until they (the human beings) literally kill the horses? What kind of “human being” practically brags about racing their horses to death and expect sympathy/ condolences on “their loss”? Vile, despicable, disgusting, vomit-worthy… 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮
I laugh at all of you when you say we do this for money – all that tells me is you have no idea what it costs to take care of a horse. Let me ask you, if your child is outside running and or training for their sport/activity and steps in a hole or trips and breaks a bone, should you be charged with child abuse?
Hello, Sharlene Kenny: I have never deliberately and willfully forced any of my children to perform in races for purse money or gambling bets, nor did I pay someone else to whip them to perform as you and your kind do with horses.
They are not forced to. If they show they don’t want to race then they live at the farm – like several already do. I don’t know how much of the purse money you think we actually get but you may want to research that. Anyone looking to get into breeding and racing horses for money is in the wrong business. Yes – they may get a whip for their own safety or urging. Some horses actually rely on it – some don’t like it and may actually back up. They are not racehorses. There are jockeys will will use a whip in excess and maybe they should be whipped. There are bad owners and trainers. Don’t look at everything from that side.
Could you please explain the statement “they may get a whip for their own safety or urging”? Doesn’t that contradict your insistence that if a horse doesn’t want to race he isn’t forced to – which we all know is a blatant lie.
And please stop with the comparing of parenting to owning racehorses. You guys don’t love your horses, because if you did there would be no way you could send them out to the track knowing they could be injured or killed. They are not your children, they are not your family, they are not treated like royalty – they are disposable assets to make you money. You keep them locked in boxes for 23 hours a day, you force feed them drugs, you over train their still developing bodies, you use tongue ties, chains, and other torturous devices to dominate them, you allow and encourage the jockeys to literally beat them down the track, and then you toss their broken bodies in landfills when you’re done with them, when you aren’t shipping the ones who are no longer profitable to you to be hung up, bled out, and butchered while still alive.
Unfortunately, the people on this site aren’t part of the willfully ignorant public you can feed your propaganda to. We know exactly who and what you are.
You are an animal abuser who makes money off the exploitation and abuse of a sentient being.
Sick B*stards.
Ah, Racing Twitter: the most defensive place in the horse-killing world. Nearly everyone who’s part of it just wants to share their “heartbreaks” unmolested by their growing legion of critics.
THREE separate (but related) young horse deaths? Guess that’s just three opportunities to seek reassurances and condolences — but only from those on Twitter still invested enough in racing to offer them. (Everyone else must be silenced. Especially those of us who find the ghastly, fatal injuries of at least three racehorses…shall we say, “unpalatable.”)
When will they realize that hitting the Block button won’t keep the public from noticing all their carnage?
Hopefully, never. Let them tell on themselves.
Don’t believe everything you read. Do you know why those horses died? No. Rather than research, you would all like to make assumptions.
Wait. Did you just ask me to “research” the most fiercely guarded secrets (CAUSE AND MANNER OF YOUNG EQUINE DEATHS) in all of racing? LOL.
And, from whom, exactly, should I try and seek this information? The (laughably-named) Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority? The Jockey Club? You? Since racing trade groups and “regulatory” agencies make HIDING all the horse kills their absolute, number one mission in life, could you please direct me to the source responsible for providing that information?
Thank you, Ms. Kenny. And, because I was yet another of those Twitter users you blocked — preemptively, it appears — I guess I’ll have to await your reply on this forum;)
Assuming every horse is a racehorse and assuming they are all at the racetrack and believing what you read is a problem. Not sure why you were blocked but I don’t need negativity in my feed or posts of my horses for someone else’s cause. We have never hidden anything – totally transparent. Have you ever taken care of horse? Many horses? Do you have any idea what they can do to themselves in the blink of an eye? Do you understand they also get sick and contract illnesses and diseases? Do you have any idea the money spent on vets if they get sick or hurt? I have lost horses to pneumonia, aneurism, a mare because her foal punctured her uterus during foaling but everyone wants to assume these are racehorse/racetrack injuries and I don’t care. Wrong.
Hello, Sharlene Kenny: Just to give you a hint, you’re kind of, sort of wasting your time lying to people because we’re not as freaking stupid as you think. Most of us have a lot of experience with horses and that includes first-hand, hands on experience with equines!!!!! We know a lot more than you are “assuming” that we know.
Still eagerly awaiting your answer to my question. (Who to ask as an accurate source for racehorse death information, remember?)
Nonetheless, I’ll go ahead and answer yours: Yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes. My OTTB gelding (mid-20’s, Cal bred, only raced as a 2-year-old) enjoys the life they should ALL get. Sadly, though, very few do. The biggest reason for this is COST. As I’m sure you know, it’s impossible to provide a lifetime of care to any ONE retired/rescued thoroughbred for less than $50 thousand. I imagine it’s shot up much higher now, probably closer to $100k, for 20-25 years of feeding, vet care, farrier, transportation, supplements/incidentals alone — never mind the TIME.
For me, it’s worth it; this is happily how I’ll spend my money, time, energy. But how many others like me are out there? And what becomes of the VAST majority of Throwaway Thoroughbreds who don’t stand a chance in hell of getting to enjoy the life mine has?
Those in racing, you included, do it for a pay-off. I get it, really, I do. But at what point do you open your eyes to the sheer WASTE OF EQUINE LIFE you’re actively contributing to?
The racetrack has to provide info for any horses that was injured or euthanized on the track.
Responsible owners will report to the Jockey Club. I have no idea where this pay-off is but I wish someone would tell me were all this money is. Bergen Stables has over 30 horses. Not all are racehorses – many retired or didn’t want to race, just living at the farm. Yes, I’m well aware of the expense. Yes, there are bad people in this industry – that’s who needs to be eliminated, not the industry. You call it a waste and you are entitled to your opinion.
“The racetrack has to provide info for any horses that was injured or euthanized on the track.”
Good to know, since NONE of the shady characters running these archaic, horse-mangling races voluntarily shares that information publicly. They might feel compelled to report some of their carnage to The Jockey Club, and, now, to (the comically-titled) HISA. But both groups do everything in their power to bury the reports. (Got to keep the identities of both the equine victims and, more importantly, their horse-killing human connections, out of the public eye.)
Sick
First of all, you were blocked on twitter from viewing our posts because they are not to be seen and used by you. Second, you are posting false information by voicing your uninformed opinion on our horses. A horse is at the farm, gets sick or contracts a disease and that’s my fault? One of your employees/associates had posted that we crippled another horse. Amazing that I see this horse run around his pasture every day with our other horses. You should know that spreading lies and not fact checking, well… you know what would come next. Instead of trolling social media and using non-profit money to buy billboards, why don’t you actually show compassion for a horse instead of using this as a platform to spew vile hatred. Why don’t you actually try helping or rescuing a horse instead of using your so called “non-profit” company to hide behind your computer – you know, be proactive instead of inactive. I welcome anyone to come meet with Bergen Stables and say this hatred to our face but none of you have the guts unless you’re hiding behind a computer. There’s an old saying “don’t talk the talk unless you can walk the walk”. If you people really cared about horses, then do something for them. Attacking people from your keyboard does nothing for them.
You kill horses. Full stop.
YOU STOP. I’ve never killed a horse. You cannot spread lies. You cannot use our posts. Do your own research. You cannot just say whatever you want without repercussions. You should know – you’re supposed to be a journalist. Yet, you only want your one sided view and are afraid to post my response. DO NOT use my social media posts that you have been blocked from viewing for your cause. You never check the facts and spread lies on your own assumptions, not to mention it’s harassment and emotionally upsetting.
So, those horses aren’t dead, Ms. Kenny?
They are. You assume they all died at the track. FALSE.
Sharlene, perhaps one of the reasons I assumed they all died at the track is because your website has them listed as “racing,” and nowhere under their profile does it acknowledge that they died somewhere else or even died.
As a racehorse lover I must admit that I started to cry when I saw the profile of Hey Hey Haley and her baby pics.
She was a beautiful horse, but you really need to stop rationalizing this business and the fact that you were solely responsible for bringing them into this world and sending them to a business that killed them.
I urge you to reexamine your involvement in horse racing, like I did, and get out of it now.
It’s a total waste of money, time and racehorse lives.
You may have not directly killed a horse, Sharlene, but you actively support and defend an industry that kills them by the thousands, and that makes you every bit as guilty as the owners and trainers who have.
And it’s funny you should talk about showing compassion for a horse when you are involved in an industry that commits the most atrocious acts of cruelty on a daily basis without those repercussions you keep talking about.
You spread lies and hatred. You do not help horses. You are against horseracing so you want to eliminate it. What is the last horse you rescued from the racetrack and helped? YOU STOP.
Hello, Sharlene Kenny: Please explain in your own words why anyone should be rescuing the horses that you and the rest of your kind exploit for purse money and gambling bets on a daily basis.
Please explain in your own words why you can’t stop victimizing horses and pretending like you didn’t do anything wrong.
Why can you not care enough about the horses to rescue them yourself since you are there and actively engaging in the activity that causes so much harm to so many horses?
You asked Sharlene to answer in her own words and since she has done so truthfully just fine throughout this thread I will not put words in her mouth as you do. However, you asked why you should rescue a horse in need of a home and I feel compelled to ask why you WON’T? Don’t YOU care enough to help an animal you profess to love? You claim you “know” these horses are harmed. Why wouldn’t you do whatever you could to save them from the people you call vile and other slanderous names? If you think someone is so wrong why don’t you put your money where your convictions are and step up to do what’s right? Save a horse. Just one. I challenge you. To say it’s not your problem reeks of hypocrisy. If the tables were turned wouldn’t you be quick to berate the double standard?. I also cannot help but wonder how you can be so confident you are able to read the thoughts of someone you have never met or the level of a total stranger’s emotions? Who are you to dictate how another human feels or asign your own personal assumptions to anyone else’s level of commitment to anything? Your commitment doesn’t come across as strongly as your words when you say you don’t see a reason to help and that speaks volumes.
Hey, kellycrimmins: You just put a bunch of words in my mouth, so that is really awesome of you to spare putting words in Sharlene Kenny’s mouth. Hahaha…
You missed the point that I was making about “why should anyone be rescuing racehorses?” which doesn’t surprise me.
The point is that ya’ll say you don’t kill horses, you don’t force horses to be racehorses and other things that are in defense of racing which has a documented history of causing injuries and death to horses exploited for racing.
Ya’ll deny the facts and at the same time throw it out to those of us who want to see the carnage stopped to rescue the horses that this industry throws away like garbage. Can you see the hypocrisy in yourself or your kind?
Why do racing apologist always scream at those of us who are opposed to this disgusting horror that we have to be out there saving their horses? Did we breed them? Did we force them into a life that physically destroys them? YOU challenge US to save just one horse – how many have you saved? How many horses have your lauded trainers and owners who have made MILLIONS actually given a forever home to – and I don’t mean the breeding shed after their racing careers are over. People like you and Sharlene come here waving your tattered morals and spewing your tired propaganda, trying to shame us into feeling like we are not doing enough to clean up YOUR mess. If you are so morally superior then how can you see a sentient being crash face first into the dirt with a leg snapped off and hanging by a thread of skin and continue to defend the industry that put him there? How can you see the blood running from their noses, the oversized joints, the chronic lameness, the tongue ties and chains, the jockeys flailing away on babies with whips, the broken spines, pelvises, shoulders, legs, and necks, and the mental abuse of keeping these social animals locked in boxes for 23 hours a day and continue to insist that these are your “family’? How can you throw a challenge to anyone else knowing that so many of these horses – many only two or three years old – will be crammed into tiny trailers to be shackled, hung up, bled out, and butchered while still alive just because the industry that you love so much has no further use for them?
You accuse us of spreading lies, but the reality is that it is an inconvenient truth. If you can just bury your head in the sand of your social media pages and the Paulick Report then you can pretend that you have the moral high ground because the filthy animal rights activists just aren’t doing enough to save all the horses that your industry created and subsequently destroyed, all in the name of money. That the real problem is our hatred of your beloved racing industry, not the exploitation and abuse blatantly rampant in the industry itself.
Come up for air, kellycrimmins. Look into the eyes of one of these horses and tell him that you are sorry. Take that first step back toward your humanity.
I submitted a response to that already but as per usual it was sensored. It explained, amount other things, that I own rescue horses. I own retired race horses. I donate money to aftercare programs. I help to both organize and contribute to fundraisers and charity events that 100% benefit the animals in need. I work very hard to do this and more.
Why do you support this horse-killing industry that cripples so many horses, kellycrimmins? Do you enjoy the sadistic cruelty of horses being abused?
It’s incumbent upon the multibillion dollar horse racing industry to rescue and provide for the racehorses whom they exploit.
Horse racing, and apologists like you who support it, are solely responsible for creating the out of control unwanted racehorse mess and you should all be the ones cleaning it up.
Under horse racing’s business model they are not “born to run,” rather, they are born to die and the facts, statistics, kill auctions and slaughterhouse floor tells us so.
Instead of you going after people like us, who don’t support your industry nor do we contribute to the unwanted racehorse mess, why don’t you use your time and energy to go after the sectors of horse racing who make millions off of the racehorses, but do nothing to rescue them?
You are directing your anger towards the wrong group of people.
I will give you a constructive blueprint to assist you with your unwanted racehorse mess.
1) approach the multibillion dollar wagering companies like Keeneland or Fasig-Tipton and demand that they contribute 1% of all of their sales profits to racehorse aftercare. Now in the last 2 sales auction, and that’s only two, netted about $500 million dollars in sales profits. Don’t you think it’s time for them to pay their fair share and take care of racehorses? 2) contact the multibillion dollar wagering companies who constantly boast about their billion dollar profits and have them contribute 1% of their profits since they do little for racehorses. Ms. Belinda Stronach owns about 20 wagering companies and since she professes to care so much about racehorses perhaps you can get her to implement a 1% mandatory aftercare contribution into all of her wagering companies and tracks.
3) contact your local HBPA who automatically gets about 1% to 10% of all starts in their jurisdiction for doing absolutely nothing other than using those funds to buy themselves racehorses and have them contribute 1% of their profits 4) contact the elected politicians who hand over millions in public subsidies to horse racing and have them include a caveat that they must contribute 1% of their about $350 million per year to racehorse aftercare. Approach the NYRA who gets about $110 million per year and have them contribute.
Makes sense right and good luck with your advocacy work on behalf of the dumped racehorses.
Just for the record, I’ve rescued at least 22 racehorses over the years and paid for them myself because nobody in horse racing wanted to pay for them after they were done crippling them.
It’s long overdue for your industry to be legally mandated to provide a portion of their profits to racehorse aftercare so don’t come barking up the wrong tree.
To SHARLENE KENNY:
With THREE DEAD HORSES that were being exploited for racing and wagering, you and your kind are right there in the category of a bad owner/bad trainer; bad, bad, bad!!!!! Rest In Peace HEY HEY HALEY, GATOR BITE & HEY HEY DANCER (a Two-Year-Old who was not given the chance to become a fully-grown and matured horse)…💔💔💔💔💔
Why? Because this industry chews them up and spits them out, then moves on to their next victims! 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮
You ask me questions but it is evident the answers are not actually wanted. They go unheard, are censored and unpublished if they do not fit the narrative, or are twisted out of context. As for the last comments I did not ask you to be responsible for anything. I simply hoped that someone with a heart for animals would wish to help the ones they profess to care about. I always do what I can to help the horses which includes asking because that can never hurt. I am always just baffled as to why the loudest no’s always come from the advocacy groups. You accuse me of directing anger but I have been civil in every exchange. I have not called a single name, but have been called names. I have not insulted anyone, but attempts have been made to insult me. I have not looked to perpetuate inaccurate information, only correct it. Unfortunately some of that goes unseen by the moderators choice. I have not asked for anything for myself, only a horse in need. I have not been nasty in any response, but have read plenty of ugliness. I have not slandered anyone, yet it has been thrown about by others. If you are calling for change why not work to facilitate it as opposed to building walls?
You have a lot of nice things to say about yourself but you still support this horse-abusing, horse-doping, horse-killing industry. If you will notice, there is a donate button to help further the cause of stopping this atrocity called horseracing, which is horse ABUSE. You say there are walls but there is also a door. Remember, when anyone supports horseracing, they also support the abuse and CRUELTY that is inherent to horseracing. Supporting the cruelty to horses is not nice.
As usual, people like you who still continue to support the racing industry come in here trying to walk the moral high ground by insisting that you are nothing but gentle, civil human beings who have done nothing to warrant the vitriol that seems to be directed at you because you have rescued horses and donate a great deal of your time and money to helping animals. The fact that you still keep one foot firmly planted in that graveyard called horse racing instantly negates any good you claim you do for horses or any other animal. You cannot claim to love animals and want to help them when you are willing to turn a blind eye to the horrific abuse that goes on at the track.
And as to the insistence that the only thing perpetuated on this site are lies, all you have to do is watch a race to see the horrific abuse that goes on. The tongue ties, the chains, the whips, the horses bleeding from the nose, the horses collapsing during and after races, and the absolutely catastrophic injuries – think about it, kellycrimmins, a horse has a leg COMPLETELY SNAP IN HALF. Their spines break, their shoulders break, their hips shatter, their necks snap as they collide at full speed and 1000 lbs. of horse cartwheel through the air to crash onto the track, and their legs simply explode while at full gallop. What is it about the racing industry that you feel the need to defend and support?
If what is presented on this site causes you this much discomfort, perhaps it is because it IS the truth, and you just don’t want to admit it.