I received the following email this morning. I will, of course, be following up. The horse in question, by the way, is but two years old.
“Hello. I witnessed a traumatizing event at the Sam Houston Race Park in Houston, TX. On Saturday before race 6, as the horses were being walked around the paddock area where the jockeys mount, a horse called Runway Hit was acting strangely, reared up and fell over, seized briefly, and began violently hemorrhaging out her nose. I cannot be 100% sure she died, but I would assume as much.
“I have long held mixed emotions about going to the races. Something I did with my parents for years was chalked up as a fun activity we could do together. This has me completely shook. I am done supporting a sport that just says, ‘well, this is just the cost we pay to play.’ I have worked in vet clinics and been around animals my whole life, and that was the worst thing I have ever seen. This happened in front of dozens of people – including children – and yet I find no news of it. What a terribly dark sport.
“Anyway, thank you for what you are doing. I will be interested to know if you can confirm this story, as you clearly have access to insider information. Lord knows it’s not headline news as it should be!!! Shame on me for making excuses all these years.”
Erin M.
Texas
Thank you, Erin M., for sharing this horror story that sounds like the turning point for you personally. There is so much abuse and neglect of both animals and humans that we somehow learn to “live with it” because we feel that there are no alternatives. Anyway, that is the short version of our mindset, according to me. Of course, there is a lot more to be said on the matter.
Many thanks to dedicated people who believe that there IS an alternative to “living with” the abuse and neglect of both animals and humans. And especially thanks to Patrick & Nicole for their dedication and commitment to educating the public at large on the many reasons why horse racing should be banned!
Top priority for those still engaged in this sick, deadly game is to make sure Patrick Battuello DOESN’T confirm each and every horse kill that regularly occurs at each and every American track. In fact, I’m pretty sure they created an entire “quasi-governmental regulatory agency” to block his access to this info. They call themselves HISA, hilariously enough, though their stated emphasis on both “Safety” and “Integrity” leads me to believe even they understand that they’re just involved in a Whack-a-Mole game of Hide the Horrors.
(HISA’s motto should be: “THAT’S the worst thing you’ve ever seen? Wait’ll you see what we’ve got for you tomorrow.”)
How many other people witnessed what happened to Runway Hit? How many people found ways to rationalize their participation. You didn’t, Erin. You decided to share your story and to actively stop participating and supporting this cruel industry. Thank you for sharing your story with us. And thank you for caring about the horses.
I was at this race and it was horrific. I work in medicine and I didn’t understand why no one ran o it to help the horse or sedate it. They just brought out a tarp to hide what was happening from the public. It was during weiner dog races and so many kids saw it.
I feel the same way you feel. There were easily 50 people out there witnessing this event and it was traumatizing.
Hi everyone,
Erin M here. Thank you for being kind in your replies. Jackie, I am relieved to know that someone else was as outraged as I was. Nicole, I could have easily captured the entire scene on my phone because the angle I was standing at was off to the side and in direct view of the horse’s head. You can view the entire arena from a second story balcony and there were about half a dozen people watching and never left. There were dozens of families around, like Jackie mentioned, because it was Weiner dog race day, which draws in more families than normal. My husband took my crying daughter to get the car, and I stayed back to watch the process. They immediately brought out a screen to block her from view and the vet staff was on her within minutes. I’d say 6-8 people were working on her. There was a man in a suit, the owner presumably. I’d say within 5 minutes a tractor pulling a wooden single horse trailer pulled up. The man in the suit was yelling at these two security guards to get people out of the viewing arena, but clearly, they didn’t enforce that. People just stood and watched. The man in the suit did seem very upset at the entire event. There was a lot of blood. I had to leave. I chose to give the horse some dignity and walked to the car in utter shame. I’m never going back.
I spent the entire morning last Sunday on this website and reaching and listening to interviews from equine vets that refuse to work in the industry based on their personal experience. I did find the owner of the horse and also emailed the racetrack to ask what happened. No response. I educated myself and I feel if others do the same, the industry would continue to crumble. I would like to see it banned in my lifetime.
Thanks again.
Erin
Thank you so much for writing in, Erin – but more important, for your change of heart. You are obviously a kind, compassionate person. Thank you. Thank you.