Owners, jockeys and the horses they rode in on are in the midst of the latest grab for the Triple Crown. May 7 saw Nyquist win the Kentucky Derby, the first leg of said crown, to the delight of thousands watching at Churchill Downs and at home. Then Preakness will soon follow before the sport lands on Long Island at the Belmont Stakes.
No word on how the horses feel about it, although, one might venture a guess that the equines are not all that fond of the little men cracking whips into their side or of the proud owners counting money and laying garland in the winner’s circle. The ugly truth about horse racing is that it is not a glamorous, so-called “sport of kings,” but rather, it is ripe with exploitation, cruelty and premature horse deaths.
Once a thoroughbred loses a handful of races, where does it go? Does it go to a farm paradise where it spends the remainder of its days studding it up with a broodmare in idyllic serenity? Not exactly. While some end up in sanctuaries, others are sent to auction and transported into Mexico and Canada where they end up in a slaughterhouse.
In some cultures, there is nothing taboo about eating horse meat. Just like in America, for some reason, there is nothing taboo about riding a horse to death. The people who abhor the idea of restaurants serving horse meat are the same people who don sun hats and sip mint juleps as these animals are forced to race around a track, willed on by a whip.
Most horse racing fans are not heartless animal haters. They are naive spectators, excited by the thrill of the race and the fanciness of the entire affair. The horses, however, are unwilling participants who would probably prefer to engage in their natural urge to run for themselves, not for some pulsating crowd.
Why is it that people who know absolutely nothing about horses automatically asssume that horses hate whatever they are doing? What are they basing this assumption on? They know nothing about horses’ physical needs. Nothing about their mental or psycological needs. Nothing about the mutual bond between humans and horses. They know absolutely zero about a living, breathing horse and yet they pontificate as an authority on what horses think and feel. Again, what are they basing this on? Only on their personal feelings. THEY wouldn’t like it, so of course the horse can’t. Ignorance and anthromophorism at its worst.
Wait Sandy Wallis, this little pecker doth protest too much. His envy & jealousy ooze from him like so much rancid bile…coward as well, hiding behind his keyboard. Hey! Hot Shot! You are invited to give voice to the article you posted. Get your ass up to the nearest race course, stable, heck even an ordinary barn & read this crap aloud to those who work hard to keep these animals comfortable, well muscled, well nourished & most of all, well loved. Then travel out West, or better, out to Texas. Read it aloud there, too. When they discharge you from the hospital, come back here with a fresh article relating all that you had learned from your venture into the real Horse World, in which I hope you have learned there’s absolutely no room for the likes of you or any other flaming idiot of your ilk. Oh! ah fung gool…..look it up.
Some people, like Steve Mosco, will say anything just to get attention, no matter how idiotic. Bo-ring!
You have no idea what you are talking about Even Google could have written a better article
This really looks like a horse who hates his life & owner BTW He won the Jim McKay…https://www.facebook.com/WatchXBTV/videos/1535169706790050/
paste it into your own url.
Steve…I looked up IDIOT and your photo appeared.
his is complete and udder bullshit. I am a groom and an assistant trainer. I love my horses and they are spoiled rotten. My horses actually nicker when they see the tack coming. They love their job!! You really should go to a backside of a race track and see for yourself just how much these horses are loved and treated.
MOSCO 2016