The following photos were taken by HW’s Peter Herrera at Pimlico Race Course in September. I do believe they speak for themselves.
What Do You See?
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The following photos were taken by HW’s Peter Herrera at Pimlico Race Course in September. I do believe they speak for themselves.
Comments are closed.
Marie, according to The Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses (CPR) in Australia, they do use tongue ties in Australia. There is an extremely well-written piece about the practice of tongue tying on their website. I’m not good at copy and paste or I would copy and paste it. I mean everybody needs to read it, in my opinion.
Thanks Joe, have a happy holiday.
While racing has the most disgusting display of torture equipment, the majority of “horseman” that I’ve encountered would rather use a bigger bit, a tie down, heavier spurs, etc. than actually work on communicating with their horse.
I always say, if you saw a horse coming in from the pasture with his head up in the air, his eye whites showing, and his mouth gaping open, you would naturally assume – and rightly so – that he injured his mouth/face. But shove a piece of metal in his mouth and suddenly he’s just being an ass for evading the rider.
These parasites have no clue on God’s earth how to handle a horse, and they don’t care. This is control on overkill, just one more example of the never-ending torture and abuse horses on the track are subjected to day in and day out.
I loved this sport.
The betting, the handicapping, the post parades, the warm-ups, the thrill of watching your horse thunder down the stretch run right in front of the pack with your money squarely on the nose, the social interaction ( “who d’ya like…”) both at the track and off, the parties and cocktails after the races, – the whole enchilada.
It was great, it was fun, it was, [at least for me] mostly profitable, and it was, without a doubt, pretty much my whole life.
But although I considered myself quite street-smart and a very savvy bettor for many years, I was, although I didn’t know it at the time, also hopelessly naïve about the conditions and how these racehorses are treated throughout their entire, too-short lives.
If I ever had second thoughts about returning to my old way of life, they’re long gone now, particularly after seeing so many disturbing photos that can’t be explained away, no matter how much the industry might try. More people need to see the horrid conditions that these animals are subject to and more people will turn away from this ‘sport’ in droves and never return.
But it is happening. Racetracks closing right and left, more ‘action’ on sports betting, and a growing trend among young people to disregard horse racing, both thoroughbred and standardbred is, thankfully, painting a very dim portrait for the horse racing industry for the future. Particularly since horse racing no longer has even a prayer of chance of surviving on its own without the help of government- sponsored subsidies.
And speaking of which, don’t be fooled by the latest “Belmont Stakes to be run at Saratoga” and the “new” totally rebuilt Belmont Park racing news-hype you may be hearing. It’s a desperate attempt to shore up the game using borrowed money and hoping to keep the ‘sport’ alive for a few more years.
Understand, Belmont’s new grandstand is to be onyl one-fourth the size of the old building; Aqueduct will be closed forever; and the ‘racino’ and taxpayer money will keep it above water, at least temporarily. But once that almighty ‘betting handle’ drops down too far [i.e., like this year’s Breeder’s Cup?] voters will tell the politicians where to shove it if they decide they’d like to grant more money from your hard-earned taxpayer dollars to shore up this failing, outdated, financially and morally bankrupt animal-abusive enterprise.
Nope, put a fork in me, I’m done, folks, and I ‘ain’t’a looking back. My gambling urges are satiated now by wagering on legal games at legal casinos that do not involve animal abuse. I hope more horse racing bettors will take a clue from me and abandon this vile enterprise which seems to be getting worse each day.
So, a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Happy Kwanza, Happy New Year and ‘Season’s Greetings’ -if by chance I forgot to include anyone’s celebrations of choice this time of year – to all.
-Joe
Yes that’s a fact but that’s the excuse the racing folks use. Iirc, they don’t even use them in the UK and other countries.
A horse cannot swallow their tongue! If the equine industry would dispense using bits, MANY problems would be solved with regards to riding. We have a Seattle Slew close up horse. He actually is better to ride with a Dr. Cooks bit-less bridle than with a bit. Better response for halting & gait control. Yes he`s strong, fast & very smart! A tongue ties primary purpose is stop a horse from getting the tongue over the bit. Hate them with passion!
Actually they say it’s because they can “swallow” their tongue, not so much to prevent them from putting them over the bit.
Emma, horses can sometimes get their tongue over the bit.
The tongue tie prevents the horse from getting their tongue over the bit. The rider has more control of the horse when the bit is on top of the tongue, not under the tongue.
Some of them say that tongue tying “improves the performance” of the horse. Of course they would say that because, in their sadistic minds, that would justify their abuse of the horses.
There are several different sources of information about racehorse trainers tying the tongues of racehorses on the internet.
One source, The Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses (in Australia), says the tying of the horse’s tongue is UNREGULATED.
I personally consider tongue tying a substitute for horsemanship because it is for sadistic people who don’t care about the finer points of skill and achieving some degree of harmony with the horse.
The racing industry people just want to force horses to run at top speed to “win” races or at the very least just win some money no matter how they get it.
When they say that 1) tongue tying “improves performance” keep in mind that the same thing could be said about 2) using whips to beat the horse to run faster, 3) the sadistic and illegal use of the buzzer (a small, handheld electrical shocking device), 4) the use of pain-killing drugs on sore and injured horses, and 5) the use of performance enhancing drugs to increase the chances of the horse winning the race.
Greedy people exploiting horses for racing and wagering never stops being cruelty to horses!
Follow the money…
They do not care who they abuse..torture..or kill..
They only want the money from these sweet souls..
Horse Racing must be outlawed asap
This just makes me sick. My mare has been off the track for 2 years and I can now see in better detail her issues with her bridle/bit. I knew it was bad but I did not know it was this bad. Thank you for opening my eyes.
Follow the cash..
They don’t care who they torture..abuse..or kill..
The only thing that matters to them is the money!
They all need to be gone..Horse Racing needs to End!
All I know is HRW is coming for the abusers and is making a big impact! 💪❤️🙏
I have a genuine question. Why do they use tongue ties? I don’t really see them much in any other discipline involving horses.
Sick…so depressing. How come we can’t see more of these types of photos and stories in mainstream media reporting abuse. So sick of this cruelty and abuse blatantly used as normal everyday riding equipment…..so disturbing and heart wrenching! Even people without knowing much about horses can see how terrible it looks not too mention how painful it must be. HR wrongs does a phenomenal job with the all information and hidden fact finding, my hope is that we can bring more information into the open and social media arena, like Ringling Bros. and greyhound racing. The more light and attention shown on the subject the better.
Lip chains, tongue ties, ring bits all horrible cruel devices used on horses in racing only to common. Horses lips are incredibly sensitive. Ask us how we know. Our horses on our property have never so much as had a twitch used ever used or applied on them. These horrible, cruel devices use was one of many reasons why we quit the racing industry! That one horse pictured is clearly terrified as to what is happening or about to happen to them. You can see it in the eyes. Thanks Peter for taking these pictures showing the abject cruelty in racing.
I can’t say how much I hate the fact that these sadistic people tie the horses’ tongues up! I can’t stand the insane cruelty of forcing the horses to have their tongues HANGING out of their mouths!!!!!!!
The sadists who handle horses this way should be charged with excessive cruelty to horses. These morally depraved people are definitely sadistic people who need to be called out for their cruelty to horses!