The ugly underside of our favorite sport...

[Fager Fan]

Originally Posted by Mulerider

That's pretty much being done already with Equibase screenshots, Jay. One Delta horse was at Dominique's meat auction in Opelousas three days after her last race. I emailed Delta with the horse's name, along with the names of its owner and trainer. Didn't even receive the courtesy of an acknowledgement. So I posted the same information on Delta's Twitter page. Got a bunch of likes - BFD - but no reply from Delta.

It may look bad, but there still needs to be proof before the track takes away their livelihood.

[cutchemist42]

Originally Posted by Denny

Horses have no choice.

NASCAR drivers do. They know the risks.

Have you witnessed fatal breakdowns, right in front of you?
It's horrible. Absolutely sickening.

It's one thing I think can turn public sentiment against the sport entirely.

Imagine another one happening in a high profile race like the Kentucky Derby.
Right where everybody sees it.
Captured on camera for for the world to see.

Goodbye Thoroughbred racing.

(Unless people are actually sick enough to be attracted by such a morbid event.)

I think I'm one away from quitting myself.

The thing is, breakdowns will always exist. The science of understanding them can hopefully improve.

I actually too for the most part think the public knows horses and jockeys can be injured or die from the sport.

I do wonder though how bad a modern day Kentucky Derby stretch breakdown would be? How bad was the press for Eight Belles (i hope thats the right name) after the finish line?

[Mulerider]

Last week a rescue group (not Dina Alborano) bailed 13 horses from Thompson's Kill Lot. Apparently Thompson agreed to deliver the horses. In the process, two horses fell through the trailer and were dragged; the injuries were too severe for them to be saved, euthanasia was the only option.

One of the horses was Cimarron Rose. She was 5 years old, and she last raced at Evangeline on April 4, Race 3.

This same rescue group bought four thoroughbreds at Dominique's auction in Baton Rouge on February 27. One of those was Red Hot Sensation, who had last raced at Delta Downs on Feb. 8. Here is a short clip of her treatment at Dominique's. You see her fall as she is being winched out of the pen toward the ring. I believe Rosie Napravnik caught this on video.

https://soulhorsetx.com/2018/04/09/the-dominique-four/

As we say in Texas, some people just need killing.

[cutchemist42]

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/20...-least-for-now

Racing's efforts to grapple with horse slaughter not enough, at least for now

“It’s a food safety issue,” said Brown. Drugs like the painkiller phenylbutazone are ubiquitous in racehorse training, but they’re prohibited for use in animals intended for human consumption. “Livestock like cows and chickens, those animals are highly regulated in terms of their drug intake if they’re going into the human food chain. But the horse seems to slip through the cracks,” he said.

So, why do racehorses “slip through the cracks” as Brown says? “It’s almost a running joke at the auctions: ‘Will somebody sign this paper or that paper?’” Brown said, explaining the holes in the documentation system for horses bound for slaughter in Canada. This is compounded by the lack of a comprehensive national “passport” system that charts each horse’s medical history, he said. “It’s absolutely ridiculous.”

No one should be eating this contaminated meat. Its unethical of us to feed this meat to humans in other countries who are oblivious to the horrible Mexican standards.

In New York, for example, a retirement program called Take the Lead has, over the past three years, facilitated the rehoming of around 375 ex-racehorses. New York racetracks, however, sit among the “elite” echelons of the sport, and owners there tend to be wealthier and more able to fulfill the “ethical responsibilities” to their horses, said trainer Rick Schosberg, Take the Lead’s administrator.

I know Brown has said this, that simply some tracks shouldnt exist if the margins are that thin for some.

“There is a segment of people who make a living humiliating or embarrassing people into buying back a horse that they at one point in their lives owned,” said the TAA’s president, John Phillips, who added that rescuing horses from kill lots isn’t a total deal-breaker when they’re doling out funds. “What we don’t want to get into is with individuals or groups who use the threat of kill buyers to basically hustle business.”

Others also argue that kill buyers have turned this threat into a cottage industry, artificially inflating the prices of the ex-racehorses in their care knowing that they have a ready market in the rescue groups. But by cutting out the kill lots in this way, Dina Alborano said, a large pool of slaughter-bound ex-racehorses are being ignored.

Speaks to the inflated prices killbuyers make people pay. This once again speaks to the need to have better access to the horses off the track before they get to the killots.

[cutchemist42]

http://www.drf.com/news/asian-racing...elations-issue

Asian Racing Conference: Aftercare both an equine and public-relations issue

Money is not generally a problem for the Hong Kong Jockey Club, one of the richest racing authorities in the world. Amanda Bond, the executive manager for equestrian affairs for the HKJC, outlined the association’s own aftercare program, which starts with a simple choice for the owner who decides to retire a horse: either provide for the horse’s export from the tiny territory, or donate the horse to the HKJC, which will then take care of the rest, at association expense.

Bond said that the HKJC has a number of options for donated retired horses, including retraining for use in local riding programs, apprentice jockey schools, or other equestrian events; conversion into either a racetrack or stable lead; or designation for overseas export, often as breeding stock. Bond also acknowledged that “in rare cases” veterinarians will recommend that a retired horse be euthanized, an option she said that the industry should continue to consider even in the face of criticism over the choice, as long as it is based on a thorough evaluation of the horse’s post-racing quality of life.

n an interview after her presentation, Bond said that approximately 400 horses are retired from the Hong Kong resident population of 1,200 horses each year, and approximately 150 of those retired horses are donated to the HKJC. Expenses for the aftercare program are $4.6 million, but revenues to the program, which include fees that owners must pay as a condition of importing horses to Hong Kong, reduce the total cost to $1.4 million, Bond said during her presentation.

Twitter

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[Mulerider]

Originally Posted by cutchemist42

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/20...-least-for-now





No one should be eating this contaminated meat. Its unethical of us to feed this meat to humans in other countries who are oblivious to the horrible Mexican standards.



I know Brown has said this, that simply some tracks shouldnt exist if the margins are that thin for some.



Speaks to the inflated prices killbuyers make people pay. This once again speaks to the need to have better access to the horses off the track before they get to the killots.

Daniel Ross called me about a month ago. I think he had as much trouble with my Texas accent as I did with his British one. Or Australian. Whatever. He's a good guy, at any rate.

[Mulerider]

Thompson's now has 11 more scheduled to ship to Mexico today.

[clicknow]

Mulerider,
thank you for posting this.

There's a lot to talk about, but what upsets me the most is that we have the veterinary technology to humanely euthanize horses...

..that trip by trailer that takes them to some miserable place in Mexico, where, once they get there, is utterly horrifying, is certainly NOT the way any horse who has carried a rider, should be treated.

I can't even imagine how terrified they must be, going on that long journey and then ending up in *ell, where they may have been bitten, kicked, starved, and also harboring previous racing injuries, and not receive ANY veterinary care while there......

I can't even IMAGINE a more torturous suffering, or inhumane experience. All so that somebody can get the "last $200" or so $$ from a horse?

It boggles the mind!

Just pay to have your horse put down, and buried if this is what needs to be done.

I can't talk about this further, and probably can't read most of the posts, this stuff keeps me up at night!


We see those ancient paintings from the medieval era where people are wailing and suffering in Hades.....or chained to walls in dungeons......crying out......but this is exactly what the picture is for these horses!!! IN an industry where people are making some serious coin.

The ugly truth is that there really is nowhere for these horses to go, even the rescued ones may live a long time and horse upkeep is expensive. Most people don't live on farms or have farms, you need a lot of acreage to have horses.

WHY aren't there vets at the tracks to just euthanize horses BEFORE they are sent to kill lots? Why would any owner "disappear" a horse like that?

[clicknow]

Originally Posted by onefast99

Maybe ban NASCAR and NHRA while you are at it! You are good on the kill pens but that one makes no sense at all.

oh please. Human beings can think and problem-solve. They have choices. Options. They can make decisions.

Horse don't have any of these luxuries. Do you actually not see this?

Originally Posted by Mulerider

A short excerpt, and thumbs up to trainer Graham Motion:

"People inside the industry have added to the funds collected via Alborano’s social-media appeals. Some who have contributed are owners Amad Zayat, Rich Papeise, Michael Cannon and Mike Schera, and trainer Graham Motion, who places neon green stickers on the racing papers of his horses that read:

“HERINGSWELL STABLES LTD. If this horse ever needs a home, call 410.398.0090. This horse was not bred for slaughter.”

Motion has been doing that for decades . The problem is, the problem isn't with people like Graham Motion. it's the usual "responsible people act responsibly". Its all the dishonerables who are the problem and they must be rooted out.

[Mulerider]

...another 16 thoroughbreds pulled from Thompson's Kill Lot.

One is JUST TOO SMART (by Smarty Jones). Eight years old, he earned $178,830 for his owners. Owner and trainer: Elliot Arceneaux. Last race: 10 days ago, Evangeline Race 7, 4/14/18.

Another is MR GREEN GIRL, last race Fairgrounds 12/23/17. Career record 31: 7-2-5, earnings $91,009. Last recorded connections: Norris Greene, owner; Denise Schmidt, trainer. Rescued in emaciated condition.

[Mulerider]

From the latest sixteen:

SUPER CHASE last raced at Evangeline Downs on 5/3. Owner: Jairus Milton. Trainer: Shelton Zenon.

Another is SKIN DEEP, a four-year-old mare that last raced at Evangeline on 5/5 and found herself standing in Thompson's lot on 5/10. Trainer: Benjamin Zeno. Owner: Shelton Zenon and Marquel Zenon.

(The spelling of the last names of SKIN DEEP's owner and trainer are too similar to not be the same. It has to be a typo by Equibase. What a family of losers.)

At any rate, rest assured that Boyd Gaming will ignore this latest violation of its no-slaughter policy without even questioning Mr. Zenon.

[cj]

Originally Posted by Mulerider

From the latest sixteen:

SUPER CHASE last raced at Evangeline Downs on 5/3. Owner: Jairus Milton. Trainer: Shelton Zenon.

Another is SKIN DEEP, a four-year-old mare that last raced at Evangeline on 5/5 and found herself standing in Thompson's lot on 5/10. Trainer: Benjamin Zeno. Owner: Shelton Zenon and Marquel Zenon.

(The spelling of the last names of SKIN DEEP's owner and trainer are too similar to not be the same. It has to be a typo by Equibase. What a family of losers.)

At any rate, rest assured that Boyd Gaming will ignore this latest violation of its no-slaughter policy without even questioning Mr. Zenon.

Man, I cringe every time I see a new post in this thread.

[Mulerider]

Originally Posted by cj

Man, I cringe every time I see a new post in this thread.

I share your discomfort, CJ.

I'd post another one from the 16 if I could. He arrived underweight, with a fever, and a severe gum infection: someone had mutilated his lip tattoo to prevent identification. (I'm sure there's a lower form of life somewhere...I just don't know what it would be.)

[thaskalos]

Originally Posted by Mulerider

I share your discomfort, CJ.

I'd post another one from the 16 if I could. He arrived underweight, with a fever, and a severe gum infection: someone had mutilated his lip tattoo to prevent identification. (I'm sure there's a lower form of life somewhere...I just don't know what it would be.)

I'd like to apply for the job of mutilating the lowlifes who engage in this heinous practice.

[Mulerider]

Originally Posted by cj

Man, I cringe every time I see a new post in this thread.

A list of the known horses pulled from kill lots, courtesy of Maggi Moss:

2/10/15 Jaylofromthegetgo Shelton Zenon
5/10/15 Pastor P's Pulpit Shelton Zenon
11/10/16 Imstillkickin Charles Zenon
11/20/16 HerecomesJohnny Benjamin Zeno ( found dead w maggots and being beaten by kids w bricks)
11/29/16 Mr Rail Charles Zenon
3/13//17 Lees Soldier Benjamin Zeno
5/1/17 Flower Angel Charles Zenon
6/23/17 Tee Top Cat Benjamin Zeno
6/24/17 Lunar Pals Mission Charles Zenon
6/26/17 Know you Now Charles Zenon
7/16/17 Cajun Curahee Charles Zenon
10/1/17 Big Top Speed Shelton Zenon
5/23/18 Super Chase Shelton Zenon (ran 5/3/18 evangeline)
5/23/18 Skin Deep Benjamin Zeno ( ran 5/5/18 evangeline)

And the Louisiana State Racing Commission has no problem with licensing these people.