They Love to Run (Part 2)

my thought's exactly. just because a horse won't go into the gate doesn't mean he hates racing. what about the horses who freak out when a bird flies up in front of them? looks awfully similar to me.

Number one. You say this horse didn't want to run just because he was afraid of the gate correct? Well look at it this way. We have our eyes on the front of our face. We see it we don't care. No big deal. But a horses eyes are on the SIDE of their head therefore they see things differently. What looks like just a normal gate to us looks like a giant hungry armwaving monster to the horse. It's no wonder Nite Light didn't want to go in. So you really can't use it as an excuse for 'he hates running'. No horse hates running. It's in their nature something called fight or flight. The thoroughbred breed has taken this and focused on flight but the horses are trained not beated and abused to run. We've all seen what happens to horses who are abused. They absolutely REFUSE to do anything often becoming depressed and many die simply because they've given up on life. If these racehorses were 'abused' and forced to run most would probably just up and quit eating playing and living in general. Horses are very intelligent animals more so than we give them credit for. We tiny little 200 pound humans have pretty much no chance to make a 1000 lb animal with hard hard feet do something they really don't want to do. On the issue of the drugs and riding crops most drugs are indeed illegal and guess what happens to stupid stupid people who use them? They are permamently banned from the sport and the horses who were overdosed are barred from racing until they're under a trainer who has the ethical moral to train them legally. And for the whips if you will notice go ahead. watch a race. MOST JOCKEYS DON'T EVEN TOUCH THE HORSE. It's true. All they do is swing the whip to the side of the horse. There are jockeys who do use them but it doesn't hurt the horse. It's kinda like getting whacked with a wiffle bat. The horse is trained that seeing the whip move means go faster. It's used only on the top of the stretch the last part of the corner before the finish line. According to the regulations it can only be used lightly and if abuse is suspected the jockey is suspended. All this being said there's still the issue of slaughter. Yes racehorses get slaughtered. Yes champion racehorses get slaughtered. No no horses are safe from it. Fortunately the majority of the US slaughterhouses have been closed down due to heavy regulations on shipping and treatment of the animals. Those that are still open are now forced to treat the animals that come there racehorse or not humanely. But not every racehorse is slaughtered though PETA seems to want us to believe this. State penitentiaries have begun to take in exracehorses to rehabilitate the horses as well as the inmates. Many horses go through racehorse owner funded training and rehabilitation programs and are then sold as trail horses show horses jumpers dressage and just pleasure horses. To go even further many trainers jockeys etc. fall in love with the horses they work with and buy them off the owner IF the owner decides to sell. Many owners will never give up their racehorses simply because they love them too much. In conclusion I am going to admit that the horseracing industry has some HUGE faults in it. Drugs should be made completely illegal not just controlled. Training methods should be monitored by officials instead of just being left up to the ownertrainerjockey mix. Horses shouldn't be run until they are three years old and their legs are up to the mile. Yes there are owners jockeys and trainers out there who only want money and could care less about the horses welfare but they normally don't do well in races and are often shut down before they can do any major harm. There is nothing wrong with racing horses and when the horse is treated right he will love doing it just as much as people love watching them. Most racehorses are treated incredibly well with huge amounts of pasture large clean stalls plenty of horse mates and excellent care and treatment. I'm not trying to 'paint a pretty picture' mostly because it's true that racing has its ugly side. But instead of focusing on destroying a sport that has been around for centuries why not just focus on cleaning it up?

No Shame here belle I was never the lead person. My parents thought we should earn our riding lessons and we did as did my children. We had pleasure horses on our farm. We did not show or race our horses. I showed horses and ponies for other farms. I was a member of the Pony Club in my youth. Our farm was a dairy farm which is why of 7 children 6 of us are vegetarianvegan today. For my riding lessons I cleaned tack. Washed and groomed the horses for shows and cleaned stalls and when I had learned enough and rode well enough I showed ponys and horses for other farms in my youth. I did not give meds. On our farm we had vet that came to the farm and our hired hand gave meds as did my father not me and on the other farms they had their own system for med giving I was never involved in that. I knew race horse people cus we lived on a farm and in Maryland there are lots of horse farms. So thats who we hung out with. My best friends father was an ownertrainer of one of the larger horse farms and I would go to the track with them and hang around. I learned a lot there for sure. Got to hear all the talk... I have seen the most happiness a person can see in those people over the years and I have seen the saddest of days too. But we are not talking about the happy days here today and there are many for sure we are talking about the great sadness also that happens as a result of horse raceing. I have heard all of them talk about the glue factory when a horse did not race well it was open conversation at in those barns and on the porch after dinner with many of the owners trainers and jockeys and not just the ones I knew. I saw trainers who were sad to tears when a horse they had spent so much time with had to move on and they all knew it would mean the slaughter house. I spent years and years of summers and weekends at the track in the barns just hanging out listening and learning from the owners trainers and jockeys. It was a great education I got from them all. I learned that death was a very real part of the dairy farm I lived on one. and death was a very real part of the horse farms as well... If you read all of my posts about Horses you will find that my problem is not as much with the race track although I do think there are problems there and I do think these horses are used and some abused for the greed of humans as it is with the over population of horses and the end result being the slaughter house. Because race horse owners over populate to get that one Great horse that shines on the race track. Because of this very large overpopulation of horses as it is with cats and dogs more horses must die and most of these great horses end their lives in the slaughter houses. Because some end up at auction and are bought by good intending people who really cant afford to keep them and the horses dont get good vet care or food and some go back to auction and then slaughter. most race horses go from home to home after the race track yet some go right to the slaughter house Also horses are slaughtered because the last owner of the horse often do not know how to care for an old used up horse or cant afford the vet bills and cant afford to dispose of the body of a horse that dies so the horse is sent to auction and off to slaughter. It is convenient way of disposal. and as stated in past posts people loose their property in this bad economy and free their horses cus they dont want the horses to be sent to slaughter and they love them and those horses starve to death. The way I see it this is the worst possible thing that could happen to these great horses. Death in the slaughter house. I dont think horse people are bad or uncaring there are many good people who own horses but it is rare to find one who truly lets their horses live out their natural lives in the pasture. And those who do have money and large hearts. We both know thats not the norm though. Another thing I have noticed about horse owners and trainers who come to this blog they do shut their eyes as tight as they can on the subject of slaughter house at least in the old days horse owners trainers and jockeys talked about it even through tears they did not deny it as a reality as the end result of not just race horses but all horses and pony's in most cases... go vegan...

Yes Dave Knowledge is power. You seem to think that none of us know anything about horses and we learned what we know from HBO. Well I can tell you that for me and others here is totally untrue. I was raised on a farm in Maryland we had horses. I showed horses in Maryland for many years. Was a member of the Maryland Pony Club. I have worked in the barns of race horse owners breeders trainers etc. I have spent lots of time in the stables at the track in both Delaware and Maryland during races. Spent lost of time with the jockeys too. I do know horses and horse people. So Dave when I speak I do know what I am talking about. Have a great day Go Vegan. and save the horses... Thanks to all of you good people for planting seeds of knowledge and caring for our animal friends. Keep up the good work and keep talking about it... awareness is power too...

There is a horse I ride frequently at my barn. She's a 27 year old mare but acts like a four year old! Her favorite thing to do is to gallop fastto run and give her legs a nice long stretch. At a walk she tries to go into a trot. At a trot she gets sneaky and tries to canter..and so on. My instructor and I believe she used to be a racing horse. She now does barrels and wins in other western events on top of being a lesson horse for advanced riders. I never have trouble encouraging her to take it up a notch or pick up the pace. This is an example of a horse that enjoys working in partnership with humans that is beneficial to both. While many practices of the racing and even the showing world are questionable we must understand that horses are animals that are built to run and endure work. Everything from their physical makeup to their ancient instincts lean towards running. Horses are also very playful and competitive creatures so it is only natural that they have a love of running as well as the desire to win. But just like any athlete horses have their "off" days too. Saying that a horse does not like to run because it was feeling grumpy one afternoon race is like saying a worldclass track athlete does not like to sprint because heshe got into an argument with their coach prior to a race. It would be more accurate to say that there are certain terms or conditions that have not been met to satisfy the desires of the horseathlete which would probably be behind the reason of their poor performance. In other words if something is bothering a horse it will let you know by not behaving normally. Now I'm not trying to smack down anyone's arguments that horse racing is a cruel sport. Honestly there are sports that people like and sports people hate for some reason or another. But when you say you think horse racing is cruel because of whips and drugs and dirty tricks you are refusing to accept the fact that there have been several great winners in history that have won huge races without using the whip once. And euthanizing a downed horse in pain is far more humane than keeping them alive to endure their pain if the injury is too great. Thanks to research done in efforts to save Barbaro horse medicine has taken a significant leap so that horses that do have bad injuries can be comfortable and hopefully heal more successfully. However if a horse breaks its legs people must realize that it is NOTHING compared to if a human falls and breaks hisher leg. Horses are extremely balanced animalsthey are top heavy and rely on all four of their legs to distribute the weight but after one of them breaks then all that weight is then transferred to the remaining three. After a long period of time these legs and hooves break down from the added stress therefore making it extremely painful if the procedure is not successful in the end. Treatment is also very costly so for both financial and humane reasons putting a horse down is usually the most sensible. And for those horses that turn out to be hopeful prospects in the beginning but fall short of the mark there are plenty of opportunities that offer exracing horses a life as a jumper or barrel horse. The slaughterhouse is no longer an option for owners anymore Horse Racing can be an enjoyable sport both for spectators owners and horses however people are doing the right thing by cracking down on drugphysical abuse to the animals in efforts to encourage more fair plays and better sportsmanship in the industry. I've noticed this in the above posts but if people have comments about my post I would so kindly ask that you not attack myself or my character but refer directly to the statements I support. Please remember I'm a horse lover too!