The first time I wrote on Salt On the Rim was in June. At the time, the 12-year-old mare had been raced 101 times. Since then, nine more – that makes it 110 turns under the whip. Now, I know what the officials at Mountaineer, her almost-exclusive track for the past three years, would say (and in fact have said): Salt is still “competitive,” finishing second in her most recent race three days ago. But should that be the only yardstick, what you can see, including results, on the outside?
In the states that give us full necropsies, we are seeing that a majority of not-yet-fully-mature horses (under five) are dying with chronic conditions like osteoarthritis and degenerative joint disease – clear evidence of the incessant pounding their young bodies were forced to absorb. Again, these are pubescents/adolescents with, often, just a dozen (or even less) races on their resumes. Salt On the Rim will turn 13 in January. Her primary abusers remain Lois Meals and Country Acres Stables.
West Virginia Executive Director Joe Moore: 304-558-2150; joe.k.moore@wv.gov
West Virginia Commissioners: phones, emails
Mountaineer Chief Steward Jim O’Brien: 304-387-8371; jim.o’brien@wv.gov
Mountaineer Investigator Bret Smith: 304-387-8530; bret.smith@wv.gov
Mountaineer Contact Form; 800-804-0468 (ask for racing office)
An truly – how “competitive” is a horse in a 4, 5, or 6 horse field of mostly sore and crippled horses? What a joke
THERE NEEDS TO BE A LIMIT SET RIGHT NOW ON HOW MANY TIMES YOU CAN MAKE A HORSE RACE. CLEARLY WITH THE DEATH RATE OF HORSES, IT IS CLEAR THIS HORSE NEEDS RETIREMENT. WHY ISNT THERE A FUND SET UP FOR RETIREMENT FOR HORSES. WHY DONT WE MAKE OWNERS RETIRE HORSES AT SOME POINT. WHY DO THEY HAVE TO KEEP RACING UNTIL THEY DIE ON THE TRACK. THAT IS CLEARLY ABUSE AND HORROR FOR THE ANIMAL.
I agree, Jean.. I mean we know how these are terrible people but ; seriously. I would say 50 races??… I know that ending this immoral activity is the ultimate goal but until then.
Starting colts and fillies out as Yearlings and 2-year-olds, in other words, as babies, should be outlawed! Yeah, should be.
It’s normal to teach basic stuff to young, underdeveloped colts and fillies, but it is abuse, not horsemanship, to force them to be racehorses as babies. It is so deeply wrong!
what i really want is all horse racing to cease and i have asked for that many times. but to make a horse run l00 races so outraged me, i asked for less.
West Virginia needs to set a horse age limit for Mountaineer…clearly, the owners and trainer plan on running Salt on the Rim until she breaks down…then toss her away.
Another example of the need to have nationwide uniform regulations. NY and CA have age restrictions for racing horses.
It’s 16 years old so let’s be clear here.
Got what I’m saying?
West Virginia needs to be cut-off from all the government subsidies and government-directed benefits to horseracing.
Horseracing in West Virginia needs to be exposed to the public at large like it has never been exposed before and shut down!
The bosses (especially the one that says, “Get the hell out of here with your cameras! Get the hell out of here with your undercover video cameras! No, you’re not allowed here past this point! Do you comprehend?) at Mountaineer Racetrack and Charles Town Racetrack need to be arrested and put in prison! Although I don’t expect it will happen, it should happen.
The limit for how many times a horse can be raced should be zero. This poor horse will be used until she is used up: has a catastrophic injury that ends her “career” and most likely her life. Then we will hear the owners crying out about how much they loved her.
To use the words “safety” or “safe” in conjunction with “horse racing” is an oxymoron because there is nothing safe about horse racing!
To exploit horses for racing is to put their lives at risk, at high risk, of injury and death. That is a given, not a variable. (If you keep playing Russian Roulette long enough, sooner or later, you’re going to get the bullet in your head.)
It’s a no-brainer that the horse used for racing is subject to serious injuries! That’s why they have veterinarians and trainers that do both “legal” and illegal stuff such as inject medications like lidocaine and all that other crap into horses suffering from the natural consequences of the abuse of race training and the actual racing forced upon them by human beings.
There is nothing safe about racing any horse at any age the way they do this “organized” horse abuse in this blood sport of killing horses for racing, wagering handle, breeding and slaughtering horses for their meat.
#HorseracingisAnimalCruelty
#EndHorseracingNOW
Speaking of the snake pit, known as Mountaineer, I had information on 18 Nov. from a reliable source re a 4 yr. old mare, Rushing Time, standing on the backstretch for several days with an injury said to be a broken leg.
Her final race was on 9 Nov. when she finished last, 18 1/4 off the winner. Under comments it said “pressed pace, spent” (spent indeed!!)
Her connections collected $170 and her claiming price was $4,000.
Her trainer was Shane Spiess, owner Tracey Wisner Racing LLC, and she was bred by Ledgerwood Farms, IN.
I could not get an answer at the racing office (dark day) so I contacted the county state trooper office. A trooper contacted the state investigator, Bret Smith and James Colvin, Director of Racing. He was told Rushing Time was “sold” to someone in MI and was no longer at the track .
I wonder what the truth is concerning this unfortunate mare. Where is she?
And should we be surprised Salt on The Rim is being run to death?!!!
,
Possibly the term “sold” in this particular case of a “career” ending injury to a young racehorse could mean that her dead body was picked up by the rendering service even though the owner and/or trainer would have to pay for the rendering service to pick up the body of the deceased filly/mare. That’s one case scenario. It’s also possible that they gave her to somebody that isn’t going to take care of her and she will just suffer and starve to death. Who knows…?
I believe that Shane Spiess will do anything to keep the stall space at the racetrack.
I stated what the trooper relayed to me, that the injured horse, Rushing Time, was no longer standing on the backside of Mountaineer because she was sold to someone in MI.
The trainer, Shane Spiess, does not have a sterling reputation when it comes to the disposition of horses that are no longer “productive”.
We know money, even a few hundred dollars, trumps the welfare of any horse for these people.
Further, it is difficult to place a sound horse, let alone getting someone to buy an injured one to feed and take care of for years to come!!
All things considered, the odds of a trip to Canada for Rushing Time are pretty high!
She is just one of thousands that are never accounted for…
It doesn’t sound logical to me that she could stay on her feet long enough to be hauled that far in a truck or a trailer with other horses. I don’t know how they could do that without her falling down and getting trampled with a broken leg. Otherwise, it sounds perfectly logical that she was sold to a killbuyer.
If a horse falls down or gets pushed down or a combination of both, the killbuyer would lose money because slaughterhouses do the killing of live horses. Any horse with a broken leg would not have a fighting chance on a truckload of loose horses and get trampled to death.
Another thing is, if this state trooper was lied to by “whoever the person was who said that this filly/mare was sold and no longer at the racetrack” it wouldn’t be the first time anybody ever lied to a law enforcement officer — I can guarantee you that. I just don’t know if this state trooper demanded proof that the horse was sold, or to whom this filly/mare was allegedly sold. It didn’t sound like he did from what you have stated here.
Please feel free to pursue the disposition of the horse, Rushing Time, however you see fit.
Rose, I appreciate your contacting a trooper.
You said you wonder what the truth is concerning this unfortunate mare…and I wonder the same thing. I’d like to know where she is as well. It’s highly unlikely that I’ll ever find out unless someone else can find out and pass it on.
SALT ON THE RIM – so sorry for you.
Unfortunately, SALT ON THE RIM is one of many voiceless victims and here’s some more:
I isolated a few, there were so many, and they are all NY-breds because they want to gain access to the obscene purse money, breeders and state rewards all supported by public subsidies.
PRAIRIE FIRE (NY) This 6 y.o mare is a multiple-stakes placed mare. She earned $422,465.
Now dumped into the claiming ranks she got claimed by LINDA RICE her last time out, but in the race before that she was a DNF. The description of what happened to her is outrageous and it’s something that I’ve never read before. Once in the gate, she “tossed her head just prior to the start and the latch was sprung leaving the assistant starter with a two handed grab on his charge successfully removing his left hand while unable to get his right hand away quick enough forcing a tangled walk start and an inwards break, had the rider quickly pulled up and dismount when having lost all chance and was walked off under escort of the outrider.” The result of the race was allowed to stand so all of the gambling money on PRAIRIE FIRE which was in the thousands was NOT reimbursed and here’s why. There’s a strong rule that states “any horse that leaves the gate is considered a legal start.” So all bets were on under these horrific circumstances for PRAIRIE FIRE.
True to industry form, they ran her right back in less than 8 weeks where the Claiming Parasite Queen, Linda Rice, snatched her up.
BATTLE STATION. (NY) This 7 y.o gelding had earned $744,735! He’s a multiple GRADED (top of the line) stakes winner or placed. He’s now running for his life in claiming and his precipitous decline in the claiming ranks is inevitable because not one of these claiming parasites have any good intentions for him other than drain him out of every last drop of sweat, blood and life left in him. This is all supported by the entire structure of horse racing that is set-up to fail them every step of the way. He just got claimed by Parasite Queen LINDA RICE whose made her entire living off of these racehorses by claiming, dumping and/or killing them. IN the meantime, she squeezes them like a lemon for her own financial gain. Pathetic human being whose supposed to be suspended. What’s up with that?
RUNNINGWSCISSORS (NY) This 6 y.o gelding has earned $415,041. See above.
Some people have suggested a maximum amount of starts or earnings for required retirement, but the sole purpose of this vile business is to squeeze everything they can out of them and if they drop dead they don’t care because they get their subsidies anyways.
– “The result of the race was allowed to stand, so all of the gambling money on PRAIRIE FIRE, which was in the thousands, was NOT reimbursed and here’s why. There’s a strong rule that states ‘any horse that leaves the gate is considered a legal start.’ So all bets were on under these horrific circumstances for PRAIRIE FIRE.”
This, above, is one of the best reasons in the world to stop gambling on horses if you still already do so.
This is also one of the main reasons why I left the game for good last year.
While I am certainly in no way attempting to diminish or demean the suffering and abuse of the race horses, yes, I’ve lost a lot of money on horses that show “wonderful” PPs indicating, and falsely, I might add, that the horse was ‘sound’, ‘in good form’ and ‘ready to win’. Yet, all the bettors, other the race horses’ own connections are completely in the dark regarding a horse’s TRUE current condition on race day, and I’ve always felt that the connections should make this information public well before the race is run, so bettors would have an honest chance to use their handicapping skills to pick the winner.
Fat chance.
Once again at the terrible risk of sounding redundant, this is why I left the game and why I encourage other bettors to do so as well. Even on the most basic of levels, this is cheating, lying, and conducting a legal activity, but maliciously, deliberately and underhandedly sabotaging your best customers – the bettors. A ‘three card monte’ game on the street is probably more honest than horse racing is today.
-Joe
Horseracing is animal cruelty on the most basic of levels, aside from the racketeering and corruption within the racing commissions and everyone else who is a die-hard horse-abusing, horse-doping, horse-killing human participant.
HORSERACING is INHERENTLY CRUEL to horses at every level from world class to claiming races.
There are untold thousands of dead colts on “the road to the Kentucky Derby” so much so that they are just so much “roadkill” and they are not significant to this despicable industry anymore, because they are not viable as gambling objects.
This abuse of horses must end. horseracing must end!