cordep17
05-22-2016, 03:23 PM
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2016/05/21/horse-dies-after-winning-first-race-of-preakness-saturday/
Wanted to know thoughts on this. Reading what I read, I know good and decent people are here, and with the depth of racing knowledge I think there's a good discussion to be had about it. To not have one would seem wrong.
Pro: I've been around a few horses when I was young, but my only memory of contact with a horse came at midnight at Grant's farm, where a young Clydesdale ate from my hand over an electric fence and I had a clear understanding that we were equals more than we weren't. My familiarity with horses stops there, but I know the determination and present nature of dogs, and it seems horses may have even more of those qualities. I don't doubt that for a lot, being challenged physically and mentally to be a racehorse is incredibly fulfilling. Life comes and goes, and just because life is in some cases lost doesn't speak to the entirety of the institution it's a part of. The clique that rings true goes something along the lines, "everything dies, but not everything lives," so there is always, and especially in this case, more to the story and the discussion on what that story is for us and them.
Con: I get aggravated with people who get their thrills from these animals as they run their mouths about the respect they have for these smart, complicated animals while they also opt for the generic training method, the kind that keeps them either in a box or lugging your gear out on the track, turning left and turning left a few more times while never seeing the outside of our theatre we've built for them. I'm not certain of the reality of the glue factory joke, but I know it doesn't come from nowhere. Out of sight out of mind for too many I suppose.
I do know that those who take on past racers have quite the challenge on their hands more often than not with horses who know little of being a horse and more about being a running machine. The people who do such work are the ones who have to have the charity in their hearts to bring these horses back from despair of the mind when they reap nothing from the work the horses are born into on the track.
Look back to the high profile Drugging Dutrow and the countless slaps on the wrists, as I imagine is to not alienate the diminishing number committed to the sport. What do we do about those who are willing to mask unsound horses into the ground to make a quick buck who get to say "bad step" and carry on doing more of the same in a game all about winning.
Professional sports have a hard enough time figuring out who's cheating; it seems it would be impossible in horse racing without even considering the conventional wisdom that it's a matter of when it'll only be in history books. There's clearly a don't rock the boat while we get what we can before we accept that we need to update our resumes attitude. Considering professionals have a voice in what they put in their bodies, the current situation goes a lot further than whether the bettor is getting a fair product.
I don't want horses running in pain they don't know they have.
I'll keep it short to start.
Wanted to know thoughts on this. Reading what I read, I know good and decent people are here, and with the depth of racing knowledge I think there's a good discussion to be had about it. To not have one would seem wrong.
Pro: I've been around a few horses when I was young, but my only memory of contact with a horse came at midnight at Grant's farm, where a young Clydesdale ate from my hand over an electric fence and I had a clear understanding that we were equals more than we weren't. My familiarity with horses stops there, but I know the determination and present nature of dogs, and it seems horses may have even more of those qualities. I don't doubt that for a lot, being challenged physically and mentally to be a racehorse is incredibly fulfilling. Life comes and goes, and just because life is in some cases lost doesn't speak to the entirety of the institution it's a part of. The clique that rings true goes something along the lines, "everything dies, but not everything lives," so there is always, and especially in this case, more to the story and the discussion on what that story is for us and them.
Con: I get aggravated with people who get their thrills from these animals as they run their mouths about the respect they have for these smart, complicated animals while they also opt for the generic training method, the kind that keeps them either in a box or lugging your gear out on the track, turning left and turning left a few more times while never seeing the outside of our theatre we've built for them. I'm not certain of the reality of the glue factory joke, but I know it doesn't come from nowhere. Out of sight out of mind for too many I suppose.
I do know that those who take on past racers have quite the challenge on their hands more often than not with horses who know little of being a horse and more about being a running machine. The people who do such work are the ones who have to have the charity in their hearts to bring these horses back from despair of the mind when they reap nothing from the work the horses are born into on the track.
Look back to the high profile Drugging Dutrow and the countless slaps on the wrists, as I imagine is to not alienate the diminishing number committed to the sport. What do we do about those who are willing to mask unsound horses into the ground to make a quick buck who get to say "bad step" and carry on doing more of the same in a game all about winning.
Professional sports have a hard enough time figuring out who's cheating; it seems it would be impossible in horse racing without even considering the conventional wisdom that it's a matter of when it'll only be in history books. There's clearly a don't rock the boat while we get what we can before we accept that we need to update our resumes attitude. Considering professionals have a voice in what they put in their bodies, the current situation goes a lot further than whether the bettor is getting a fair product.
I don't want horses running in pain they don't know they have.
I'll keep it short to start.