Through a FOIA request to the New Mexico Racing Commission, I have confirmed the following kills at that state’s tracks last year (this is part 3; part 1 here; part 2 here).
(Age of the victim in parentheses.)
Jm Hola Bonita, May 2, Ruidoso T – “broke back legs [yes, plural]” (two)
Tax Free Texas, May 30, Ruidoso T – “scapula fracture” (three)
My Valiant Prize, Jun 4, Ruidoso T – “head trauma” (two)
Exit Strategy, Jun 15, Ruidoso T – “catastrophic injury” (two)
Big John B, Jun 17, Ruidoso T – “humerus/scapula fracture” (two)
Vgc Catana, Jun 25, Ruidoso S – “colic, died [just died, not euthanized]” (three)
Awesome Company, Jun 28, Ruidoso S – “found dead outside of stall” (three)
Bougie Girl, Aug 3, Albuquerque T – “hit rail, broke right shoulder” (three)
Bonito, Sep 14, Albuquerque R (euth Sep 15) – “displaced fracture” (three)
Sweet Duchess, Sep 18, Albuquerque R – “open disarticulation, euthanized on track” (two)
A Fabulous Delight, Sep 19, Albuquerque R – “[multiple] open fractures” (two)
Ragtime Rythm, Sep 29, Albuquerque T – “[multiple] open, comminuted fractures” (six)
Elegant Jess, Sep 29, Albuquerque R – “[multiple] fractures, disarticulation” (four)
Kid Custer, Oct 9, Albuquerque R – “[multiple] fractures, euthanized on track” (three)
More Firewater, Oct 18, Albuquerque S – “severe colic, died from shock” (six)
Eye of Denial, Nov 1, Zia T – “head trauma, died prior to vet arrival” (two)
Crafty Money, Nov 2, Zia T – “compound fracture” (four)
Wings of a Dove, Nov 2, Zia R – “broke down on jog out” (two)
Mr Cinch, Nov 17, Zia R – “disarticulated fetlock” (four)
Won the Shake, Nov 23, Zia R – “[injured] in gate, euthanized” (three)
Ize On Savannah, Dec 2, Zia R – “suspensory rupture” (four)
Kj Leader Ofthe Pack, Dec 15, Zia R – “[died] in gate” (four)
These deaths are horrific. I can’t imagine what happened to cause a young horse to be “found dead outside of stall”… These horses were not owned by people who truly love horses.
The racing industry press writers like to get all gushy about how in this industry they love horses. At the same time, they can say that when a horse “doesn’t measure up” they drop or dump them into a claiming race. That is not too mention how they can inflict unbelievable pain and suffering on the horses they profess to love and also dump them in the slaughter pipeline where killbuyers ship live horses from the United States to Mexico and Canada to fill a contract with a meat packer.
This kind of “love” of horses needs to be recognized as the cold-hearted and calculating abuse that it is and punished accordingly.