Because this increasingly-desperate industry is doing all it can to reduce horse deaths through ill-conceived and (mostly) ill-fated surgeries, I keep a rather large watch list. (The industry is also outright concealing kills: see Florida.) One horse I was periodically checking was Freddymo Factor, who was “vanned off” at Aqueduct May 10. Yesterday, this update from the Gaming Commission: “Horse experienced RF fracture and ligament disruption on May 10. On Nov 12, due to a decline in health, euthanasia was elected.”
There is another possibility in this case, for you see Freddy was a mare with, no doubt, breeding value post-track. But either way, owner/trainer Eduardo Jones is a bastard for making her suffer for six extra months. Poor, poor girl.
Elon Musk is the richest man in the world and he is the one who will be in charge of “government waste” and if you can find one word about subsidized horseracing in the 900 page document known as “Project 2025” written by and supported by the Heritage Foundation and openly denied by you know who, but actions speak louder than words, please let me know. I don’t think the various organizations that lobby for horseracing and subsidies are going to be ignored by the man who scorches the Earth with launching rockets. The animals and the Earth get burned by the fires surrounding the rockets when they are launched.
Nancy & Patrick,
The idea Nancy proposed is a wonderful one. Every opportunity needs to be utilized and this is perhaps the ideal time to classify all the crimes that cause the deliberate deaths of race horses. Examples must include for example — the annual crop of foals (average 20,000 or so) half of that number die due to criminal training and intentional administration of lethal doses of drugs. The tragedies of nurse mares having their foals ruthlessly murdered so thoroughbred mares can be separated from their foal and returned to the breeding shed without a six month period with her foal. The foal has a natural mother but is denied the nurturing of her dam because of avaricious breeders.
Not to be overlooked are the farms where atrocious conditions as to the safety of barns and horses are not up to structural codes and standards that protect the welfare and comfort of horses and other farm animals thus exposing them to horrible dangers.
Moreover, the lack of safety on vans where horses have perished due to lack of fire extinguishers and defibrillators also has to be corrected. Attention and education has to be a paramount issue concerning evacuating horses from burning barns…one groom in Maryland watched a horse perish in the stall and then casually sauntered off to feed his horses! This specimen of non-humanity and any like him must be booted out of the gate and sent to a job waiting on tables or picking up detritus in public parks.
Every racing season there should be fire drills on how to get horses to safety in the event of conflagrations. Every track should have designated areas where horses can be kept out of danger. And, eventually, (when the public rediscovers their conscience and stops attending horse races), the horses will have had some protection and respect that they are entitled to receive from those who owe their riches and fame to the labors of horses. Of all the domesticated animals the horse has served mankind generously and magnificently…they deserve our gratitude and some rewards of comfort and protection…to deny them compassion and admiration is an immeasurable outrage!
As far as I know, no one is counting the many ways thoroughbreds are dying because of criminals who routinely train their horses on lethal substance. A casual perusal of the net came up with the following Headline: “Cobalt chloride doping in racehorses: Concerns over a potentially lethal practice.” The article explained that radioactive cobalt is being administered to race horses – The Veterinary Journal, Volume 205, Issue, 3, September 2015, Pages 335-336.
Evidently, the only way to get horses protected is to document the poisons that are routinely given to horses without any concern as to the dangers these drugs pose to the health and welfare of horses currently in training. How many drugs on the market are used illegally on horses and are causing the spills to occur? It should be federal law that every fatality should be tested for substances in their bodies and reported to the FDA officials. The public must demand that charges of Criminal Administration of lethal drugs with the intention to cause injury and death must be heard in the courts of criminal justice and dealt with appropriately.
How many drugs are on the market that imperil the lives of humans and are not beneficial to the health and welfare of humans and yet they are being produced and used to kill both species of life – humans and horses? When did the FDA stop doing moral responsibility and turned the drug business in “Caution this drug may cause side effects of vomiting, heart seizures and death?”
I agree with your assessment, Fred and Joan. It’s The Jockey Club that promotes Thoroughbred horseracing as “the Sport of Kings” which I thought was so cool in 1964/1965+ because I was too young to know better back then. I still think the horses are awesome, but the way they get mistreated is criminal.
Wanda we prefer the “Sport of slaves” . Both of horses & those unfortunate unknowing people who participate in this business. We once were one of them & quit in 2004 after a certain life changing experience with a very good horse in the middle of the home stretch that had us become aware very quickly!
It is so sickening that thousands of horses are exploited this way and are forced to suffer for human vanity. And they call it a sport; the “Sport of Kings” no less.
Patrick, there will be a cabinet position in January aimed at reducing government wasteful spending. The head of the department is encouraging people to suggest issues in that regard. Perhaps this is an opportunity to voice our truths and they will not fall on deaf ears. Cut subsidies and heaven knows what else can be resolved . Just one of my brainstorm ideas that maybe will become a saving grace .