I have written on Salt On the Rim extensively. Next month, this poor girl will be 13 years old. Last night, at – where else? – Mountaineer, she was put to the whip for the 111th time. But this time, they can’t even claim she was “competitive”: In a $4K claiming race – yes, she, along with her compatriots, was “For Sale” for less than a (cheap) used car – Salt came in 10th (of 10), almost 24 lengths back. Is it not time – at last – to force the abhorrent Lois Meals’ hand? Are you listening, powers that be?
Enough is enough.
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)
Just another gross tidbit.the race was the last one at 10:00 at night in the freezing cold. She barely made it over the finish line. This is animal abuse without question…and more importantly so so sad.
This is the time of year that mountaineer’s surface becomes even more horrible. The track freezes and develops clods and because they are so crappy at maintaining it- the clods aren’t broken up very well. I can only imagine the irreparable wear and tear this poor horse is developing, between overuse and shitty track management.
Reminds us of when our now redeveloped track, Portland Meadows would start to freeze up as we were galloping horses in the am & the foolish horse people would enter their horses for the next racing day! The foolish idiots I would tell them the track is freezing up & there is no point in entering after we came of the track at 9:50 am. That was in 2004 & the whole area was shutdown due to the ice & snow conditions for many days, even the major east/ west freeway was closed! We thank Amazon everyday for buying the property & redeveloping the land into a warehousing / office center. The landscaping that Amazon has done to the property looks 100% better than anything track owners did for 73 years!
Yet another example of the nauseating cruelty inflicted by the racing industry upon its “much loved” horses.
This 13 year old mare has endured ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN (111) race starts. She comes home distanced and is forced to race when clearly she’s UNCOMPETITIVE (in Australia if a horse comes home distanced more than twice/thrice the horse is classed as uncompetitive and banned from racing).
The officials at Mountaineer have the power to stop this horrible mistreatment of SALT ON THE RIM.
Let’s see what they’re going to do about this long suffering mare…
From what I read, some states don’t have an age limit on Thoroughbreds. New York has an age limit of 14 years old for Thoroughbred racehorses. I just read part of an article about “how old is too old to race” and basically, as you may have already known, the prevailing attitude is that the horse stays more physically fit to race by not giving the horse any time off according to the horseracing die-hards such as Dr. Lawrence (Larry) Bramlege. It sounds like they just want to run the horses into the ground as long as they can get away with it. They basically have no mercy for the horses. This is cruel indifference to the horse, of course. What else can we expect from anyone in this industry?
I expect that one of these days, we will be reading about SALT ON THE RIM being “pulled up” or some such thing and either we will find out that she was euthanized, or she will disappear off the racing radar and we will wonder what happened to her for the rest of our days.
I think they will race her up to and including 14 years of age, if she doesn’t break down this year. I think they would race her until she is 17 years old if her mind and body could last that long. If so, the horseracing die-hards would boast about her “longevity” in this so-called sport. That’s how they roll.
Your extensive research and posts have brought much attention to Salt On the Rim, Patrick – thank you. If what I’ve been told by at least 3 acquaintances, she’ll be rescued from her life of cruel and unnecessary risks, all demanded of her by the racing industry that views her as a mere tool of the trade. To recognize she’s “LUCKY” to make it out of racing alive after years of servitude speaks volumes of this disgusting industry.
Thanks again to Patrick and his work with Horseracing Wrongs.
I hope this rescue of SALT ON THE RIM is successful and that there will be a follow-up story. 🙏
please somebody save this poor old horse before she dies on the track being whipped to death. please, retire her to a pasture to enjoy the rest of her life instead of this vile devilish disgusting activity of drugged up horse racing wheere they have drugs that are untestable.