Horseracing is Cruelty

the little guy

genie wrote:

your question above is silly. and yes i know nothing about horse racing, but i'm not actually pretending to be an expert where did i say that i claim to have the knowledge?

i'm glad you donated few dollars to them, well done to you. but you know if there were no thoroughbreds then there wouldn't have to be any retirement places........

Whether or not you are claiming to be an expert, you are spewing freely about what you know openly claim to know nothing about ( it is obvious from all of your posts as well ). It is unfortunate, however, that you think it is OK to be highly critical of something you claim to also know nothing about.

I am glad to hear that five thousand dollars is a " few dollars " to you, and thus look forward to hearing about your even more substantial donations towards the care for these animals you profess to care about so dearly.

genie

Fortunate Son1 wrote:

That could be some small time local circus. I'm sure the big name circuses that tour the country, Garden Bros. or Barnum & Bailey to name a couple, use saner methods to train their animals...its up to the individual promoters really.

Yes, aussie guy is sick, but please don't try and compare him to a circus...please don't.

you are "sure"......meaning you assume that big name circuses don't train like this. ah, i'm not even going to waste my time writing why it's not ok to make a lion run around the circle and jump through fire hoops............

Fortunate Son1

genie wrote:

you are "sure"......meaning you assume that big name circuses don't train like this. ah, i'm not even going to waste my time writing why it's not ok to make a lion run around the circle and jump through fire hoops............

Then don't.....it's not the point of this thread anyways...

HermanBloom

long red wrote:

any time you take advantage of an animal's natural instincts, it's just plain wrong. i dont care how long its been going on or how "well" these animals are treated.

i'd love to jump on the back of one of these horse-racing enthusiasts and ride him around town, whipping him in the ass until his leg break, giving me cause to shoot him in the head.

agreed

aspoonfulweighsaton

I do have some questions for "the little guy" (are you a jockey? ), but I will start with this.

You seem to know more than all of us combined, so let me ask you this:

Of all the "great things" that you claim come from horse racing, it seems that the ones you've mentioned the most come after they are done racing. So why not cut down on the amount of these thoroughbreds in the first place and just raise horses for good homes and programs? I mean are the industries greatest contributions really not until the horses are out of the industry? You know good and well that the entire industry is driven by gambling, yet you claim it's an intellectual game. Are you referring to the gambling aspect of determining who to bet on as the "intellectual" part?

I'm not necessarily on the side of those claiming it is absolute cruelty, but saying that the fact they are bred for that reason doesn't justify putting them out of their natural element.

Riverrunner

This is a PETA email, which I think summarizes some of the controversial issues of the horse racing industry.

"As I am sure you have heard, after crossing the finish line in last Saturday's Kentucky Derby, a young filly named Eight Belles collapsed when both her front ankles snapped. She was euthanized in the dirt where she lay, the latest victim of the dirty business of thoroughbred racing.

Help PETA prevent further suffering in the racing industry by taking action today.

Eight Belles' death is yet another reminder that horses are raced when they are so young that their bones have not properly formed, and they are often raced on surfaces that are too hard for their bones—like the hard track at Churchill Downs. Eight Belles' jockey whipped her mercilessly as she came down the final stretch. Trainers, owners, and jockeys are driven by the desire to make money, and the horses suffer terribly for it.

PETA is calling on the racing industry to suspend the jockey and trainer; bar the owner from racing at the track; stop racing horses on hard tracks and switch to softer, synthetic surfaces to spare horses' bones and joints; permanently ban the use of whips; and, at the very least, stop using young horses who are so susceptible to these types of horrific injuries. Help PETA call for an end to cruelty that masquerades as sport.

Although Eight Belles' death—like Barbaro's death before hers—made headlines, countless lesser-known horses suffer similar fates away from the public eye. These horses' broken legs and battered bodies are hidden from public view. Most racehorses end up broken down or cast off or are sent to Europe for slaughter.

Please take action today to help prevent cruelty in the racing industry by asking the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority to institute sweeping reforms that would stop needless, preventable suffering.

Thank you for your action and compassion for animals.

Kind regards,

Ingrid E. Newkirk
President"

the little guy

I didn't mean to imply that much of the good associated with horse racing comes after horses are done racing. However, I will say that without the contributions of those involved in horse racing there would be little to no money to care for the horses following their racing careers ( the reactionaries like some in this thread don't care enough about thoroughbreds to actually do anything to help them ). However, I certainly understand that one could say that is in, in fact, the responsibility of those of us in the industry to also care for these horses beyond their racing careers. I wish overall people would do more but it would be incorrect to suggest that most in racing don't have great concern for the welfare of the horses beyond their racing careers.

Without spending a lot of time around racetracks, and probably moreso on the backstretch, I don't think people can appreciate how much love exists between man ( and woman ) and the horses. In order to work in horse racing, you pretty much have to be all consumed, as the time necessary is never ending, and those that do it simply could not if they didn't have a passionate love for what they are doing. They certainly aren't doing it for the money. There are precious few things in this world, unfortunately, that give people the sense of personal satisfaction that they can gain from the horses, in a very positive way, and more than a few lives have been saved, or resurrected, by horseracing.

Believe me, I don't pretend that it's all good, because it's not, but there are so many positives for all involved, including the horses, that it is unfair when people use an unfortunate incident such as the one involving Eight Belles to make a blanket statement about horse racing. As always...blanket statements are generally ones of ignorance and without at least trying to touch on the entire picture we cannot do justice to any situation regardless of what side we are on.

the little guy

aspoonfulweighsaton wrote:

Are you referring to the gambling aspect of determining who to bet on as the "intellectual" part?

I forgot this part.....


....yes.

Derrick

I equate horseracing to dogfighting. I wish anyone involved would suffer the same punishment as Michael Vick. I also believe boxing to be illegal, but I'll save that for another thread.

Fortunate Son1

Derrick wrote:

I equate horseracing to dogfighting. I wish anyone involved would suffer the same punishment as Michael Vick. I also believe boxing to be illegal, but I'll save that for another thread.

Then you probably also equate 1+1 to 5.

eyedclaar

I am no expert on horses but I've always found the racing of animals to be fairly barbaric. Now, my wife on the other hand, is a horse expert/rider/trainer and she also thinks horse racing is a terrible tragedy. So, there's at least two more who oppose the idea and at least one of them is an expert...

elmer

Disapproving of horse racing does seem a bit rich coming from carnivores, guess not all of you are though.

Maybe it is cruel, not something I've thought about till now. My grandfather was into the racing, never a betting man, think he just liked the horses and the competition aspect of it all.

sennin

elmer wrote:

Disapproving of horse racing does seem a bit rich coming from carnivores, guess not all of you are though.

Maybe it is cruel, not something I've thought about till now. My grandfather was into the racing, never a betting man, think he just liked the horses and the competition aspect of it all.

ok offense....but I think it's funny your board name is 'Elmer'.



Ok....was that joke in bad taste?

Strangest Tribe

The bleeding is called EIPH Excercise Induced Pulmonary Hemmoraging. Almost all race horses experience it. Lasix is used to control it.

Isn't that enough to consider the "sport" cruel?

I don't care how much they love their fucking horses, they love the payoff so so so much more.

Fucking morons

gregkitefan

Am I only the person who keeps humming a particular song from Guns And Roses Use Your Illusion 1????

EvilMerlin

An article touching on this subject now...

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=3382235&sportCat=horse

Derrick

Fortunate Son1 wrote:

Then you probably also equate 1+1 to 5.

Both are stupid and prove nothing. Who cares what horse is faster or what dog can kill another dog? Only the gamblers.

And excellent job using faux math to try to refute a point. Classy.

Jeremy1012

Derrick wrote:

I equate horseracing to dogfighting. I wish anyone involved would suffer the same punishment as Michael Vick. I also believe boxing to be illegal, but I'll save that for another thread.

Presumably you mean boxing should be illegal, not that it IS? Either way, you're wrong. Boxing isn't about assaulting someone. It's assholes like Mike Tyson who get the wrong idea about it.

eyedclaar

Jeremy1012 wrote:

Presumably you mean boxing should be illegal, not that it IS? Either way, you're wrong. Boxing isn't about assaulting someone. It's assholes like Mike Tyson who get the wrong idea about it.

Not to mention that the humans involved in boxing make a conscious decision to do so. They aren't whipped into the ring against their will.

Riverrunner

EvilMerlin wrote:

An article touching on this subject now...

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=3382235&sportCat=horse

Excellent article. Is he now an "animal rights nut?"