Through a FOIA request to the Colorado Dept. of Revenue, I have confirmed the following kills at Arapahoe Park in 2022. (I will be posting in installments.) The report, by the way, came with this comment: “Gastric ulceration is common in performance horses with a multifactorial etiology including nutrition, environment, and stress.”
My Money Is Good, Jun 14, training
“Complete, displaced, severely comminuted, open [through skin] fracture of the cannon bone.” My Money Is Good was two years old and being prepped for his first race.
Swanky, Jul 18, training
“The left carpus has fractured bone protruding from the limb and is completely separated [and] lacking ligamentous or tendon attachments. P1, 2 and 3 remain attached to the protruding metacarpal bone by a thin strand of soft tissue/skin.” Also: “chronic stomach erosions.” Swanky was seven years old.
Root Toot Tootie, Jul 22, training
“Sudden death, cause not determined.” Also: “end-stage renal disease, both kidneys.” Root Toot Tootie was just four years old.
Our Buddy, Jul 27, training
“Multiple comminuted, displaced skull fractures; extensive hemorrhage.” Our Buddy was two years old and being prepped for his first race.
Unlawful Assembly, Aug 7, stall
“Cranial dorsal displacement with focal left ventral colon perforation.” Unlawful Assembly was five years old.
Strawfly Eagle, Aug 30, racing
“High-speed trauma: open, displaced fractures, left carpus and right fetlock [that’s two broken legs]; complete rupture of suspensory ligament and complete loss of supporting structures; all intra- and peri-articular supporting structures were severed.” Also: “chronic gastric ulcerations.” Strawfly Eagle was just three years old.
End stage renal disease. I can only imagine the amount of suffering this poor horse went through.
Pictures of these injuries(my better word would be offensive) should be posted where people can see them. What a disgrace.
“Our Buddy, Jul 27, training
“Multiple comminuted, displaced skull fractures; extensive hemorrhage.” Our Buddy was two years old and being prepped for his first race.”
HOW/WHY did this poor horse suffer ………… skull fractures?!
Many thoroughbreds flip over backwards in the barn area as a result of the tongue ties and stud chains used on them – it’s a horse’s last resort to escape extreme pressure, either physical or psychological. The majority of people working in the racing industry either have no idea of how to work with a horse, or don’t care what pain they inflict as long as they can force the horse to do what they want. When a horse flips over, the weight of their own bodies coming down onto the cement will often fracture their skulls or render them paralyzed.
Not having a video of what happened, it makes me wonder if somebody at any point took a hammer to his head or something equally sadistic and abusive.
Oh, my goodness—- that’s just agonizingly awful for those poor horses!!
I myself can maybe empathize with the pain of head trauma, i.e., because I had a stroke in 2004, [with no lasting sequelae, except for some slight drooping of the left side of my mouth when I’m really fatigued or stressed]; then, a few years ago, I fell full-body/face-down at night on an extremely dangerous sidewalk at a major Conference Center, shattering my left maxilla (cheek bone).
I’m sure the horses’ head pain is 1,000x worse than anything I ever experienced, and ………… I honestly don’t have strong-enough words for those who ~intentionally/blithely/cruelly/sadistically~ inflict head trauma on horses + all the other kinds of human-caused trauma associated with Horseracing!!
Thank you so much for explaining this to me, Rebecca!
I am astounded at how these post mortum exams show horrific injuries – and of very young horses – and there is no consequence to the owners, trainers, veterinarians involved.