Earlier this month, an eyewitness to Kinetic Control’s breakdown at Churchill on Jun 20 allowed me to publish her account – here. The writer, Kayla Centaure, was subsequently interviewed by a Louisville station, and I was also included in the piece – here.
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J Arb, If you want to see horses run free in a large acreage, and if you’re not wealthy enough to go out and rent or buy that large acreage and the horses to graze on it, you can see Mustangs running but mostly walking and grazing on public lands.
However, if you prefer to see the depressing abuse inflicted on a horse being confined to a stall for 23 hours a day, seven days a week and developing seriously abnormal behaviors, such as weaving for one, then go to a racetrack. Turning a blind eye to the various sorts of torture to the horses does not make racing safe for the horses. The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority is a type of group that is not legally bound to report the numerous deaths that occur at various racetracks on a daily basis. So they at HISA are hiding the true number of horses that are killed due to being exploited for racing and Pari-mutuel gambling. HISA is a pro-racing group, not a protecting horses from abuse, period, group.
The fundamental wrongs of forcing underdeveloped colts and fillies to gallop under the weight of a rider carrying a whip and most likely an illegal electric shock device (see undercover video of Gary Stevens and D. Wayne Lukas) is absolute cruelty to horses. No adult should be allowed to be so ignorant in this day and age of information technology to use the excuse of saying they didn’t know.
Ask Doug O’Neill, for example, to define “Soundness” in a horse. He lies his ass off and says the horse with the Suspensory Ligament Injury, which is a racing career ending injury, is sound. That’s total bullshit and anyone who falls for it has no business saying that racing is safer.
J Arb, We prefer to see our Thoroughbreds running for joy in our 1/2 mile long main field in a natural herd when the cooler weather returns. In our many years of experience the break downs of race horses will never go away. At times it will decline & then return to set % of injuries. That`s the nature of horses being raced way too soon before maturity. The $$ made is the name of the game of the industry at all levels.
Thank you for your feedback. I do, of course, vehemently disagree with much of what you wrote. Existence in and of itself does not constitute a good; it’s the quality of said life that matters. If you were told ahead of being born that you would spend the vast majority of your days standing – alone – in a tiny room, would you do it? Or, simply, that you would have zero autonomy, that you would effectively be someone’s slave? Is that a life? I think not, but that’s the life of a racehorse – 23 hours a day in a 12×12 stall; drugged and doped without (obviously) consent; led around by nose chains and lip chains; tongue tied down; a chunk of metal wedged into the soft palate; whipped for motivation. So you see, death at the track is only part of it – and, by the way, it’s not getting appreciably safer. What’s more, slaughter is still very much a part of racing’s retirement system.
I am always available to talk should you want to discuss further. Email me at patrickjbattuello@gmail.com. Thank you.
Watching a horse go down, especially when you can see how catastrophic the injury(s) are is one of the most unsettling scenes one can witness. I used to bet the horses a lot and believe it or not, even the most hardened horse bettors, feel empathy. A silence comes over the area, which usually lasts until the track is done for the day. I think it’s great that you guys and some other organizations fight for the horses. There are many bad owners, trainers, and jockeys, but there is more good than bad. Horse racing has seemed to try to make it safer for the horses and I believe now, that 10% of horses earnings are put back for them once retired, I’m probably wrong on that but I do believe there has been added urgency to taking care of them in retirement and that’s thanks to organizations like this. I guess my thoughts are this, the vast majority of people involved in racing from the owners to the bettors, down to the snack bar employees at the track don’t want to see horses injured, neglected, abused, and not taken care of after retirement. But without racing these horses would not exist, period, I myself would want to exist and to do what I was born to do, and take my chances on being one of the better ones who goes on to have a nice retirement. Too me it beats not existing or dragging a plow in Oklahoma for 20 years till I drop dead. I do appreciate and thank all of you for your commitment, because you have made racing safer for the horses with your tenacity and commitment for it to be safer. But virtually every horse on this lists of death would of never existed if not for racing. It’s a tough situation, and you guys bring needed balance to the equation. Anyways here is to hoping a day comes when thoroughbreds can still exist in a world where injuries become minor and very few and far in between. I love watching horses run, I watch replays all the time just to enjoy the beauty of them running. Don’t have a penny on them, just enjoy watching a gift from God doing what it was born to do. I know you guys don’t want them racing, but that’s what they are born to do, we just need it to be much much safer and better for them when racing career is over.
They are still putting the pieces of the puzzle together.
May I suggest some studies to see what happens to young brittle bones when they are pounded between 1,100 pounds and a hard surface?
Hint: you might solve the puzzle.
Steve the unseen injuries also apply to mental & psychological trauma suffered by these horses as well. A very long time ago we handled a Seattle Slew line mare who took many years living in a natural herd environment to recover from her short 2 years racing experience. At times with certain people or happenings her anger would reemerge. We always had to ride her bit-less with just a halter & lead. You are correct no horse ever leaves racing unscathed from the trauma of excessive force, lip chains, tongue ties etc. Our Seattle Slew line mare lived until 26. The last 24 years with us living as much as possible in a natural herd environment. For the racing industry people saying all deaths can eventually be eliminated is balderdash! Thanks Patrick for sharing the video of the reactions of witnesses to the Kinetic Control.
*Notice* Donald trump is not deporting the Illegal slave labor of horseracing …wealthy owners of the top operations have gotten to him..hence,trump won’t deport all the illegal stall hands in racing. Money talks and bullshit walks.
People against this EVIL of murder of horses can wax poetic til the cows come home… racing depends COMPLETELY on non documented non paid(barely)workers who live in Pathetic conditions exploited by the “No Chin todd pletcher’s” and his ilk of the world. Remove racing’s slave labor…..this scumshit evil industry is GONE …. “Poof”😏
Unfortunately there is much more to cry about. Our eyes witness the so called catastrophic, dramatic “breakdowns”, and we are rightly appalled. But our eyes do not see the multitude of physical traumas that occur under the skin every time a horse is raced or trained. All appears well to the uninformed. No ambulance? No problem, right? But eyes don’t see the osteoarthritis happening in horses. Eyes don’t see the ulcers happening. Eyes don’t see the skeletal abuse and degradation from riding juvenile horses hard. Eyes don’t see the drugs coursing in the veins to mask the horse’s pain. We here at HW know that every race, every training session, takes it’s toll. Even horses lucky enough avoid the ambulance or the slaughterhouse are usually destined to a life of chronic discomfort from their racing days. So, thank you Patrick for periodically reminding us through your research that what we see is not the whole story. The complete story never makes the news. The reality is that no horse ever comes out unscathed.
Thank you Kayla.
The racing business exploits humans and animals alike. These people don’t seem to have a conscience or at least one that functions within the norm. We see evidence of this every day and I would bet there is more we never hear about.
The Equine Medical Director, William Farmer, at Churchill Downs, Inc. can be real proud of himself for taking a paycheck while throwing the horses under the bus and defending the racetrack and the daily routine mistreatment of the horses.
Many thanks to Kayla for speaking up and in effect being a voice for the horses.
The people of this industry who defend it make up the most vomit worthy and outrageous justifications.
More people need to know just how morally depraved and disgusting these die-hard horse abusing thugs are! For this creep to say it wasn’t the fault of the track or the equine residents of Churchill Downs, it was the “cycle of the horses’ life” that travel from track to track. How can a person get more morally depraved and disgusting than that!?
One day this horse-abusing thug who dismisses the callous exploitation of horses for racing will meet with the end of his cycle of life.
You know what would kill horseracing instantly? ….deporting all the illegal menial labor …would be the END of this EVIL scumbag industry.