Unfair Treatment of Steeplechase Racing

[Observer]

Can fans of flat racing fairly bash steeplechase racing for being a brutal sport?

Especially when we have things like this happening in flat racing...

Deadly Del Mar Disaster (http://news.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=17438)

It's one thing to simply not like the sport .. like some prefer flats or harness over the other .. but to call steeplechase brutal, I find that going too far. Many horses are given second careers through steeplechase racing .. and in steeplechase racing .. they get winters off .. and they only start a handful of times in a year .. if they even start at all .. some runners get an entire season off .. and are still competing at age 10. In addition, you have steeplechase racing driven by the passion of those involved .. not driven by betting .. as many steeplechase events are non-betting. It's one thing to not like something, but a completely different story when the bashing of an industry is done without thought or comparison to one's preferred industry.

[Show Me the Wire]

Did I miss something? Have PA posters been bashing steeplechase racing as a brutal sport? I know once in awhile we bash each other, but I have not read any posts bashing steeplechase racing as inhumane or brutal?

Unfortunately, flat racing has its inhumane side as proven by Del Mar's tragedy, however, why use yesterday's tragedy to protect steeplechase racing from imaginary attacks?

Regards,
Show Me the Wire

Perception is reality

[Valuist]

If someone referred to it as brutal, maybe they meant that in the context of being "brutal to watch, or brutal to wager on". I don't think anyone will ever mistake the 'chasers for the NFL.

[GameTheory]

I've never heard any bashing. In fact, I've never heard any discussion of steeplechase racing at all from thoroughbred players...

[Observer]

First, my post regarding this topic was not provoked by anything said here. There is life outside of this message board. It was in fact provoked from hearing people indeed calling the sport brutal, with respect to the horses.

Second, I was not trying to unfairly use the Del Mar accident to protect steeplechase racing, but rather to show how it boggles my mind that anyone could think steeplechase racing is brutal, yet flat racing is void of such brutality. In both sports, the horses are being put out there by the people, for the people. And both sports have spills.

I am a horse lover, and I am a fan of horse racing who also enjoys steeplechase racing. However, I also understand that spills are an unfortunate part of both flat racing and steeplechase racing. But to hear people who follow flat racing say steeplechase is a horrible game .. the poor horses .. well, I say those people need to stop and take a look around at what does happen in flat racing as well. And those people, who are seemingly thinking of the horse's best interests, need to understand that many of the horses competing in steeplechases have been transformed from flat racers and given a second career. Without that opportunity, there is a huge uncertainty as to where those horses may have instead ended up. For those who would rather not believe it, there are still far too many thoroughbreds ending up in slaughterhouses.

[sq764]

You say they are getting put out there by the people for the people.. But don't horses love to run anyway?

I know you are referring to the darker side of ownership, purely money. But You also lump in the concientious owners who take good care of their horses and let them do what they love to do, run..

[Observer]

I guess I need to remind everyone again, that I am a fan of racing .. I am not here to bash either flats or steeplechasers.

Okay, so I said horses are put out there by the people, for the people ...

I guess I need to clarify this too ...

Yes, horses do run naturally .. but I seriously doubt, if given the choice, horses would confine themselves for so many hours a day .. or that they would be slapping numbers on their backs, climbing into a contraption many of them find intimidating and running around an oval with a person beating them with a stick.

My point was simply that in both sports, people are sending them out to do it, so neither sport can be free of blame when these accidents occur. I am not lumping everyone into a dark side .. breakdowns happen to even the best cared for horses, I know that. When I said horses were out there by the people, for the people .. it's because horses wouldn't be out there without people putting them there, plain and simple. That is not lumping good and bad .. that's just the facts .. for both flats and steeplechase.

Once again, I was just venting that I find it strange how people can call steeplechasing brutal, but yet make it as though flat racing is perfectly fine and without incident.

There is no need for anyone to feel the need to defend flat racing here .. I am not taking shots at it .. all I was trying to do was say how a statement I heard seemed unfair to me .. and I guess I was looking for someone to agree that when it comes to the horses, it can not be viewed one way for steeplechasing and the opposite way for flats. Now, instead, I feel I need to keep finding new ways to explain what I initially meant .. which was not at all an attack on flat racing .. it was an attack on a thought that I felt was unbalanced.

[Show Me the Wire]

Originally posted by Observer
. Now, instead, I feel I need to keep finding new ways to explain what I initially meant .. which was not at all an attack on flat racing .. it was an attack on a thought that I felt was unbalanced.

Fair enough, your expression is exactly what I thought you meant. It seems odd to attack a thought that was not expressed on this board and that is why I asked if I missed something. I agree any group using horses to race for monetary gain cannot disparage another.

In my perception your comment came out of left field as it relates to this board and I did not understand its genesis.

Regards,
Show Me the Wire

Perception is reality

[Observer]

It was a racing related comment that I wanted to share on a racing forum. Many of the posts that start off new threads here on this site are thoughts someone somewhere has that were unprovoked from this board .. this is a place for exchanging thoughts and ideas. That is the reason why I started this thread with my simple question .. then proceeded to make my case with what was bothering me.

[Tom]

I'll bet slow thoroghbreds, jugheads pulling milkwagons, Arabians even though they look like deer, and mules because they can win by an ear <G>
But spare me jumpers. I don' t bash it, I hate it. Seems everytime I see one, some poor horse is falling , hitting the logs,or whatever it is they pile up.
I hate to see a horse go down, so I avoid jump races. My personal opinion. No bashing, just no desire to be a part of it.
Ever time they hit a jump I feel a knot in my stomach. I don't like that feeling.
My Friends race horse retired after a less than steller career as a runner and they made a jumper out of her-treated her like a princess, all for a some ribbons. The horse got a break being a jumper-lived out her life happy. My hat's off to the jumper connections. But seeing and hearing the horse hit the jump and go down, that is the part I remember.

[kenwoodallpromos]

It is all relative. Without the racing industry the majority of thoroughbreds would not have had the chance to be born.
Speaking of racing without a choice- what about those poor fair racing pigs?!LOL!