letters

Regarding the two letters about horse racing and the recent death of the one horse in particular - I agree, horses love to run and probably are born with this trait. What I do not believe they are born with is the need to run with some idiot on their backs! All these horse enthusiasts who defend horses running and playing amonst themselves in the open fields conveniently do not mention that there are not stupid idiots on their backs forcing and directing the horse in various directions and speeds. When I see a Ripley's Believe It or Not episode of a newborn horse coming out with a newborn human attached to them, THEN I will believe these horse enthusiasts. Until then, it is nothing but nonsense rhethoric BS.

Regarding the two letters about horse racing and the recent death of the one horse in particular - I agree, horses love to run and probably are born with this trait. What I do not believe they are born with is the need to run with some idiot on their backs! All these horse enthusiasts who defend horses running and playing amonst themselves in the open fields conveniently do not mention that there are not stupid idiots on their backs forcing and directing the horse in various directions and speeds. When I see a Ripley's Believe It or Not episode of a newborn horse coming out with a newborn human attached to them, THEN I will believe these horse enthusiasts. Until then, it is nothing but nonsense rhethoric BS.
Your logic leads to the extinction of the horse. Cows give milk and are eaten by man. They must be attended by man at consideral expense. The horse, on the other hand, while also needing man to exist, has no use except to exist. In the past it was used as a beast of burden, pulling wagons, carrying soldiers, etc. Are race horses treated better today than those of yesteryear? Of course. If people did not ride upon them, a weight, by the way, that is negligable to the horse, what would become of them? How would they pay thier way? Perhaps you would like them to become steaks

B M Ryan wrote:

Regarding the two letters about horse racing and the recent death of the one horse in particular - I agree, horses love to run and probably are born with this trait. What I do not believe they are born with is the need to run with some idiot on their backs! All these horse enthusiasts who defend horses running and playing amonst themselves in the open fields conveniently do not mention that there are not stupid idiots on their backs forcing and directing the horse in various directions and speeds. When I see a Ripley's Believe It or Not episode of a newborn horse coming out with a newborn human attached to them, THEN I will believe these horse enthusiasts. Until then, it is nothing but nonsense rhethoric BS.
Your logic leads to the extinction of the horse. Cows give milk and are eaten by man. They must be attended by man at consideral expense. The horse, on the other hand, while also needing man to exist, has no use except to exist. In the past it was used as a beast of burden, pulling wagons, carrying soldiers, etc. Are race horses treated better today than those of yesteryear? Of course. If people did not ride upon them, a weight, by the way, that is negligable to the horse, what would become of them? How would they pay thier way? Perhaps you would like them to become steaks

Your reply is idiotic, without logic and meaningless, You are nothing but a loser (and given your spelling capabilities, loser should be in upper case).

Robert wrote:

<quoted text>
Your reply is idiotic, without logic and meaningless, You are nothing but a loser (and given your spelling capabilities, loser should be in upper case).

Would you care to expand upon your generalities, or just return to your mole hole?

B M Ryan wrote:

<quoted text>
Would you care to expand upon your generalities, or just return to your mole hole?

I would, but I do not think you are capable of undersanding big words.

Robert wrote:

<quoted text>
I would, but I do not think you are capable of undersanding big words.

Prove it.

Robert wrote:

Regarding the two letters about horse racing and the recent death of the one horse in particular - I agree, horses love to run and probably are born with this trait. What I do not believe they are born with is the need to run with some idiot on their backs! All these horse enthusiasts who defend horses running and playing amonst themselves in the open fields conveniently do not mention that there are not stupid idiots on their backs forcing and directing the horse in various directions and speeds. When I see a Ripley's Believe It or Not episode of a newborn horse coming out with a newborn human attached to them, THEN I will believe these horse enthusiasts. Until then, it is nothing but nonsense rhethoric BS.

somewhere there is a village that does not have a village idiot........ you should apply for the job immediately !! you are a shoo-in for the job !!

Statement from Wayne Pacelle, President and CEO of The HSUS, on

Kentucky Derby Death


May 5, 2008

Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States, issued the following statement on the horse racing industry
following the tragic death of Kentucky Derby finisher Eight Belles:

“This industry has not had a rigorous critic to set it in the straight and narrow, and major problems have grown and festered. It's time for the thoroughbred industry to deal with its problems, and if it does not, animal advocates may well decide they can no longer continue to

give the industry a free pass. Here are some of the historic problems. Drugging of injured horses to keep them running, which makes vulnerable horses more susceptible to breakdowns. Racing horses too young. Because the marquee events

feature three-year-olds, these horses must start racing at the tender age of two years, and that's well before their skeletal systems are sturdy
enough to endure the pounding from the rigors of the race track. And third, racing horses on track surfaces that are not forgiving – with American tracks favoring dirt surfaces over grass or synthetics.

And then there are the problems coming to light more than ever –

problems related to breeding. Breeding too many horses, and waiting for someone else to clean up the problem. And breeding them for body

characteristics that make these animals vulnerable to breakdowns, especially those spindly legs underneath these stout torsos.”

For more, read Pacelle’s blog on this topic: Alarm Bells over Eight Belles.



-30-

The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest animal protection organization – backed by 10.5 million Americans, or one of
every 30. For more than a half-century, The HSUS has been fighting for

the protection of all animals through advocacy, education and hands-on programs. Celebrating animals and confronting cruelty – On the web at humanesociety.org .

http://www.hsus.org/press_and_publications/pr...

Racing Industry Is Stuck in Perpetual Post Time

William C Rhoden

Thoroughbred racing has been too slow to change.

An insular industry built on horses and gambling is out of step, out of touch and out of sync with contemporary American culture.

Even the industry’s reaction to the death of Eight Belles was typically defensive, a massive circling of the wagons. Critics were accused of not knowing the game, not knowing the sport.

Casual fans know what they see. They peek in on this world three times a year — in Louisville, this week in Baltimore and next month in New York.

The fatal misstep of Barbaro during the 2006 Preakness Stakes and now the death of Eight Belles after the 2008 Kentucky Derby compels casual viewers to look at racing as some sort of barbaric enterprise. They have seen heartbreaking accidents in two of the last three Triple Crown seasons and can draw their own conclusions.

“There is going to be a part of society that will never understand,” said Doug Reed, the director of the University of Arizona’s Race Track Industry Program.“Racing will always be a niche product.”

Reed, 52, joined Arizona’s 34-year-old program in 1994 after an extensive run in the thoroughbred industry. He has worked at nearly every level of the industry — from maintenance crew to racing official — and at tracks in a number of states, including Maryland, Florida, New Jersey, Illinois and New Mexico.

The industry has a much greater problem than convincing the public that it does not abuse animals. It needs to become a player in a booming gaming industry once again. While the gaming industry was gaining by leaps and bounds in the 1990s, racing, fat from its profits, fell behind.

"Things that were not issues 20 years ago are more on people’s minds these days,” he said.“Animal rights, animal safety. Anything to do with animals. I notice it in our students.

Racehorse Rescuer-Saved Tchaikovsky, grandson of Secretariat-
"Slaughters Haunt Overwhelm Me"

By JOHN BRANCH
Published: May 17, 2008
COOKSTOWN, N.J.— A thoroughbred named Tchaikovsky, a grandson of Secretariat, was having a tooth pulled in one stall. A horse in another was given a sponge bath. Out the stable door, about a dozen horses shared a sun-lit field.

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Life After Racing Somewhere, far out of sight if not entirely out of mind, countless other former racehorses were on their way to being slaughtered.

“I struggle with it,” Diana Koebel said. She is the owner and trainer here at LumberJack Farm, one of hundreds of horse farms around the country helping rescue and rehabilitate thoroughbreds considered too slow or damaged to be worth anything more than horse meat. The rescuers cannot keep up.

“Are we really helping?” Koebel asked as she stood in a stable stall.“I know we are, and every one counts, but it’s overwhelming at points. Can we really fix this industry?”

LumberJack Farm works with a nonprofit organization called ReRun, which prepares discarded racehorses for a second career — as jumping show horses, maybe, or just as pets — and then makes them available for adoption. ReRun annually places about 40 thoroughbreds once destined for the slaughterhouse.

Read Full Story:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/17/sports/othe...

keep her memory alive