On Barbaro and Eight Belles

This is Eight Belles, a filly who fractured both of her front ankles, moments before she was killed on the track at yesterday's Kentucky Derby. My first Animal Person post, on May 22, 2006, was called "Barbaro Made Me Do It." Six months later I wrote "Barbaro, The Final Chapter," which garnered the obligatory "horses love to run" comment.

As I mentioned yesterday, I didn't care if the race when swimmingly. I don't care if the horses live at the Taj Mahal. Horses shouldn't be made (as in both bred and forced) to race for humans--for profit or otherwise. The New York Times' "Filly's Death Casts Shadow Over Big Brown's Derby Victory," by Joe Drape, is remarkable in its lack of emotion (but second to "Triumph, Tragedy at Derby," by Mark Blaudschun, who mentions Eight Belles exactly once, saying she "broke down after finishing second, breaking both front ankles, which necessitated her being euthanized."). Drape writes:

Big Brown hit the wire nearly five lengths ahead of Eight Belles, but moments later, there was heartbreak. While Kent Desormeaux was galloping out Big Brown, Eight Belles fell.

She had fractured both of her front ankles, said the Derby’s on-call veterinarian, Dr. Larry Bramlage, and was euthanized on the racetrack.

Later he writes:

It was a sorrowful end note to what had been 2 minutes 1.82 seconds of scintillating horse racing, punctuated by the bravura performance of Big Brown.

And here's what Big Brown's jockey had to say about Big Brown:

He’s intelligent. That’s the difference. He’ll stand like a statue if I ask him to.

Oh, you do what I want you to do = you're intelligent. That's a new definition for me.

As expected, Drape presents questions about track surfaces, racing fillies against colts, and breeding. As if all of that will solve the problem. As if any of that is the problem.

Eight Belles was driven to her death--literally--in 2.182 seconds. Drape writes:

For Jones [her trainer] and the grooms and exercise riders who had cared for Eight Belles, it was a devastating end to what had been a wonderful weekend. . . . “She went out in glory,” he said, his voice breaking. “She went out a champion to us.”

She didn't go out in glory. She went out in vain.

A better article in the NYT is "Race Illustrates Brutal Side of Sport," by William C. Rhoden, who writes:

Why do we keep giving thoroughbred horse racing a pass? Is it the tradition? The millions upon millions invested in the betting?

Why isn’t there more pressure to put the sport of kings under the umbrella of animal cruelty?

The sport is at least as inhumane as greyhound racing and only a couple of steps removed from animal fighting. . . .

But this isn’t about one death. This is about the nature of a sport that routinely grinds up young horses.

Rhoden gives us a different lens to watch trainer Larry Jones through:

But even through the grief, Jones instinctively toed the industry line about racing. . . . He also refused to concede the point that horse racing is an extremely dangerous sport, saying that these types of injuries occur in any sport.

Rhoden is no animal rights advocate, but what I do like about him is that he appears to believe that horse racing should end because it is as brutal as, well, let him tell you:

Why do we refuse to put the brutal game of racing in the realm of mistreatment of animals? At what point do we at least raise the question about the efficacy of thousand-pound horses racing at full throttle on spindly legs?

This is bullfighting.

Eight Belles was another victim of a brutal sport that is carried, literally, on the backs of horses. Horsemen like to talk about their thoroughbreds and how they were born to run and live to run. The reality is that they are made to run, forced to run for profits they never see.

Finally, "Is Horse Racing Breeding Itself to Death?" by Sally Jenkins in the Washington Post, makes me want to scream, "No, horse racing is racing horses to death!" Jenkins begins with:

The camera cut away from her, but it should have stayed on her. Eight Belles had run herself half to death yesterday, and now the vets were finishing the job as she lay on her side, her beautiful figure a black hump on the track.

What Jenkins wants I agree with: Everyone should have been required to watch as Eight Belles was killed (NBC cut away from her after she fell). If Jenkins were calling for an end to horse racing, she would have said so. But she's concerned with the "moral crisis" that thoroughbred racing is in and how to remedy it. The surfaces need to be changed and the way the horses are bred and trained must be changed ("A Kentucky Derby horse has to run a mile and a quarter on a dirt track around two turns by the age of 3. It is the horse equivalent of asking a college kid to play in the Super Bowl.")

She writes, "They need to be given the bodies to accommodate their hearts." After all, we "give" them bodies; we create them for our use. And that, Ms. Jenkins, is the real problem.

I'm sure that every publication will be flooded with letters. Remember to keep it short (under 150 words), include your full name, address and phone number, and don't rant. You can send letters regarding the referenced articles to: letters@nytimes.com, opinions@washingtonpost.com and the Boston Globe has a form for your e-mail message at the end of the article.

Here's the NBC footage, on the Huffington Post, which already has eight pages of comments. Watching the owners of the winner in ecstasy over "their" win, is, I warn you, not a pretty sight.

Comments

[Terry Cumming]

Mary - When I was watching the TV news about yesterday's Kentucky Derby, I did not know about Eight Belles's pitiful death (or whether the death was reported at all) because I instantly changed the channel upon seeing the smiling faces of the various news presenters when they were talking about this barbaric event.

The Yukon Quest and Idiotarod receive similar treatment by the major news organizations, and local news organizations in the north. The idiots who support and speak on behalf of dogs who suffer and die in these races repeat the same mantras - that these animals suffer and die for something they love doing.

Thank you for these powerful blog posts on behalf of the horses forced to run in this race.

[Jen]

Don't forget about other horse 'sports' - less than a week ago, two horses (Frodo Baggins and The Quiet Man) were 'euthanized' after the Rolex three day event where they were injured jumping over fences they simply weren't meant to be leaping. Like what happened to Eight Belles, the deaths were categorized as 'tragic accidents' despite the fact that one rider has had the same thing happen before, when a horse she was riding 'broke down' and was made to finish the course, only to be killed later. She wasn't sanctioned or punished, and here she is, doing it again. Like Belles, these two deaths are only a brief blip in most articles about the competition.

Deaths in both horse racing and other sports are steadily climbing as they become more and more risky to suit the desires of the fans. Despite the fact that most 'equestrians' agree that these deaths are senseless and tragic, no one seems willing to do anything about it.

I refused to watch the Derby this year or ever again. As the proud person of a horse whose Granddaddy was one of the greatest race horses of all time, the horses don't care about running the race. They're just as happy to run around a paddock. One of the most criminal aspects of horse sports is the fact that the horses are generally considered too valuable to be allowed to live outside with other horses. Instead, they spend the majority of their time cooped up in a stall, alone. To me, that's as criminal as running them to death for 'glory' and dollars. Maybe they're not forced, but they certainly don't have a choice in the matter.

[Terry Cumming]

[Message board posting 'Tragic omen for Hillary' by 'ExpatInEU' on Air America Radio web site]

Eight Belles Dies on Track

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/03/kentucky-derby-horse-eigh_n_999...

Hillary Clinton last week put her money on Eight Belles to win the race:

"I hope that everybody will go to the derby on Saturday and place just a little money on the filly for me," Sen. Clinton told supporters in Jeffersonville, Ind., ABC News reports. "I won't be able to be there this year - my daughter is going to be there and so she has strict instructions to bet on Eight Belles."

Eight Belles actually ended up finishing second in the race, just behind Big Brown. But, in a shocking and tragic development, just as Eight Belles crossed the finish line, jockey Gabriel Saez "heard the worst sound possible - a pop."

Saez said the filly did not take a bad step, but he heard the pop and tried to pull her up.

"I tried to get her to stop," he said. "I tried to get her to stop, but she wouldn't stop."

Dr. Larry Bramlege, the on-call veterinarian from the American Association of Equine Practitioners, said on NBC that the the horse broke both front ankles. She was euthanized on the track.

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[Closing remark by ExpatInEU]

"Did anyone see Chelsea's big hat? Absolutely fabulous!
That said, I have no comment for such an "elitist" and cruel sport..."

Ref: http://airamerica.com/blog/2008/may/03/unofficial-guam-results-obama-wins-seven-votes

[Bea Elliott]

Though not "blood" thirsty, but rather "win" thirsty - The owners of the first place horse, the tens of thousands in the cheering crowd, the hype of the commentators - the casual dismissal of Eight Bells and all before her who have fallen in this cruel sport.... all of it... reminds me of the Roman Empire. Shamelessly arrogant, greedy and decadent.

[Mary Martin]

I just heard Larry Jones say, "We put everything on the line for that damn horse and she gave us everything she had. She put her life on the line and she was glad to do it."

She was glad to put her life on the line for you, Mr. Jones? Really?

[MIA]

The focus should be on starting the horses when their bodies are mature, not how "evil" the sport is, if you really think racing is evil check out the Tennessee walking horse circuit, eventing, jumping etc. I have seen many sides of the industry and I think racing gets the brunt of it, there is so much torture in the other horse industries that don't even come close to the racing industry!!!

[carol hine]

animals want to be exploited by humans...that is their whole entire reason for existence...isn't it?

[Mary Martin]

MIA,
I completely disagree. The focus should be on abolishing ALL uses of horses, including pulling carriages, "playing" polo, eventing and racing. If we stop treating horses as commodities, all of the cruelty inflicted by us on them will end.

[Nathan Schneider]

Mary is correct. Humans can (and should) refocus on other means to entertainment/leisure and sport/competition. Horses, or any other nonhuman species, are simply not required for those ends. We don't need nonhumans to have fun, be healthy, wear clothing, feel companionship, and so on. We don't need to have any direct relationship with nonhumans whatsoever. So why should we? The human/nonhuman relationship cannot possibly be consensual, and invariably leads to horrendous suffering.

[Nathan Schneider]

P-TA pushes the limits of the word hypocrisy...
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/more/05/04/bc.rac.peta.eightbelles.ap/index.html

[Mary Martin]

Nathan,

I first saw that story on AOL and they were doing a survey. The majority of people who voted said horse racing wasn't cruel when I voted (although now it's a tie): http://sports.aol.com/story/_a/peta-wants-jockey-suspended/20080504184809990001?icid=100214839x1201492955x1200060563

Why PeTa is focusing on the jockey is beyond me. I actually had to read the whole article because it made no sense to me, and when I did, it STILL made no sense. I just wish there was some way to let the world know that PeTA is not at all representative of animal rights, and in fact hurts our cause. If they're going to address horses, they should demand an end to horse racing, and all other uses of horses. Period.

[Allison Hiott]

I was devastated by Barbaro's ultimate dimise and I am devastated by Eight Belles. I don't understand why we continue this horrible tradition. All for the sake of money. It truly breaks my heart. We need to end this. Horse's should be allowed to run free. In pastures and in the wild. What a horrible way to die.

[Bea Elliott]

I'm a new kid on the block with realitively new knowledge of animal concerns- yet everyday, no matter how much I "think" I know, there's always another brutality or absurdity to discover: I didn't know that The Farm Bill also included funds for racehorses! This is totally out of outrageous!

"WASHINGTON - Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., netted tax breaks for the thoroughbred horse racing industry in the farm bill worth $126 million over the next 10 years, a provision that helped guarantee his support for the hotly debated bill."

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/05/10/8855/

It's just insane!

[mary martin]

Bea,
I didn't know that about the farm bill--which was finally passed by the way. How come we don't get tax breaks for being fit and healthy and treading lightly on the Earth? Actually, I can answer that: because doing so doesn't help the economy as much as buying subsidized food, getting sick frequently, and buying a lot of stuff we don't need.

[Bea Elliott]

Buying $tuff we don't need, with money we don't have while exploiting illegals that are killing beings whose lives do not belong to us - Have I got that right? Oh yeah, and trashing the planet at the same time - forgot about that part. Yikes! what a mess!

[Terry Cumming]

Hi Mary and all - just wanted to inform you that Ron Reagan Jr. will be featuring Eight Belles death and cruelty of horse racing on his radio show on Air America Radio on Friday afternoon (12 to 3PM Pacific time). Being a leftie/liberal-type I listen to Air America quite a lot. Opportunity to call in with comments also. Air America Radio 'American Afternoon' with Ron Reagan is available online at http://airamerica.com/American+Afternoon

I believe Air America is also available on 'Clear Channel' FM stations (?)