Question about horse racing...?

Question

At the Breeder's Cup today they had to put down a horse which was injured during the race. Does anyone have any experience with what's done to protect horses from these injuries? The story of Barbaro is encouraging because it looks like he's going to recover, but all the stories about horses that have to be euthanized because of injuries during a race just break my heart, because it's just a sport, and the destruction of a magnificent animal seems so avoidable... can anyone help me understand??

Answer 1

There is insufficient governance on the race track to prevent these issues.
We run horses WAY too young.

#1 a three year old is still a baby and not fully grown.
They push them to limits thier bones and tendons cannot stand.
#2 We are breaking them and putting loads on theri backs as yearlings to get them ready. Have you ver seen a yearling? they are tiny...
#3 They stand in a stall most of their life and if they are lucky the get sprints once a day.
How can they stand up to heavy load.
Trainers fault!
I love horses and race horses with all my heart.
It is a fine sport when they are trained well.
Barbaro was extremely well trained. But he was still young.
Imagine how many there are that don't get such excellent training.

They simply can't take it and the owners are too impatiant to get a profit.
It would at least help If all our big races weren't 3 yr olds.

Answer 2

I'd say that many, many more horses are ethanized due to leg injuries in the pasture and such. Most racehorses are extremely well cared for, and are given first-class medical, nutritional and fitness care - well, the ones you are watching on TV are in this category anyway. The horses are euthanized when they have these serious leg injuries because the recovery process is anything but certain, and they are certain to undergo much suffering if their owners attempt to heal them. While it seems nice on the surface that Barbaro has been given the chance to recover, I'm of the opinion that the owners are seeing $$$ in potential stud fees, and that's why they have continued to keep him alive. Most horses would have been put out of their misery at the scene.
In the grand scheme of things, race horses love to run and would be unhappy being anything but an athlete. Their desire to run is genetic. Keeping them from this destiny, just to prevent a possible injury, is unfair IMO. Naturally, it is sad and upsetting when a horse is put down due to a race injury, but trying to save them can often be more cruel. People need to understand that these animals love what they do, and they get excited and nervous on race day, just like human athletes do.
Any sport, human or animal-related, bears the risk of great injury, particularly at the elite levels where competition is fierce and the athletes are leaving it all on the field. It's just that humans, when injured, have the choice as to whether or not they undergo extended suffering to try and heal themselves, whereas animals do not. We end up then making the decision for them, on the assumption that they would not want to suffer endlessly without the ability to understand if, and when, the pain will ever end.

Answer 3

You probably heard that two incidents happened at the Distaff. The jockey on Fleet Island, Santos, heard a pop and pulled up in time to save his horse from an actual bone fracture, she is suffering a lateral condylar fracture which is repairable.
Pine Island suffered the dislocation and the break while switching her lead, that was so quick that Castellano didn't have a chance to pull up because my adorable Pine Island was already falling over. Her multiple fractures damaged the soft tissue, and adding to the blood supply being lowered to the danger side, she sustained an open wound which is almost a death sentence for a horse. Today's veterinary medicine still can't do miracles, even though we wish they could.
She was my favorite for the race not just because she was a proven horse but because she was even a good barn pet, and people made fun of her looks and laughed at her toed-in feet.
I hope that Churchill Downs will introduce the Poly or Cushioned track in time before something like this happens again at their track.

Answer 4

I handiest have what different humans have informed me to head on. But i believe so much racing animals experience it, greyhounds are certainly designed to run, and racing is a well strategy to do it, and if they did not desire to chase the bait they would not. Horses also are supposed to benefit from the race, the whips don't seem to be rough adequate to truthfully harm (i've a pal who is into racing, she loves horses and could not suppose diliberatly harming it) HOWEVER; the enterprise aspect of it's fully distinctive. Grey hounds are hardly ever despatched to new properties (even though as attention increases the extra natural it turns into), they have a tendency to be shot if they do not preform to prime adequate requisites, or are injured. There is constantly the obstacle of breeding with puppies. Selective breeding to get you perfect hounds, by and large entails imbreding, growing unnatural frame type, legs to lengthy and spindly to deliver the frame weight, brains to colossal for the cranium (and many others). Racing might be performed ethically however many decide upon to not, effectively for finacle attain.

Answer 5

Track conditions were great. Any horse can take a misstep. Unfortunately, this one broke the skin. This has happened to horses on the track and in the field. It just happened. The actual surface does not matter. I have seen it happen on dirt and grass. The majority of horses I have seen break down raced again.

Answer 6

They generally put race horses down when they break a leg badly or shatter a bone. They do it to put the horse out of what would be long term pain. Its a sad thing because i agree they are magnificent animals.

Answer 7

Her injury's might not have happened if she was not 3 years old. thoroughbreds are raced way too young but you'll never get the racing association to raise the age.

Answer 8

Things did happen Breeders cup day around 10years ago at Belmont Park 3horses 2races back to back got the needle one bad day i always say the horse gets the needle the jockey gets the needle

Answer 9

I used to work at a racetrack when I was a kid... And I used to see dead horses piled up in a corner... And a bulldozer would come by and load them into a truck and haul them away... I never understood why they did that but I'm guessing that if a hurt horse cannot be saved then it must be put to sleep... what a shame...

Answer 10

I think it's totally unfair putting horses down just because they've had a nasty fall, I mean I once saw a jockey have a bad fall but they never put him down