… as the Brady Campaign knows about guns. Fortunately, Jay is a horse racing aficionado, and has debunked the PETA claims.
UPDATE: Jay has more here.
UPDATE: More from Marshall Manson.
5 thoughts on “PETA Knows As Much About Horse Racing …”
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Since PETA knows nothing about horse racing and Mr. Sebastian does…then I suppose he knows the fate of “Ferdinand” who died in a Japanese slaughterhouse.
(April 8, 2008
House of the Illinois General Assembly Moves to Ban Double Deck Horse Transport
Springfield, IL (April 8, 2008) – Following last year’s passage of an Illinois state law banning horse slaughter, the House of the Illinois General Assembly today adopted HB 4162, a bill to ban the use of double-deck cattle trailers to transport horses inside the state. Sponsored in the House by Representatives JoAnn Osmond (R-61st) and Bob Molaro (D-21st), the bill easily passed by a vote of 80-29 and will now move to the Senate for consideration. Although the state’s sole horse slaughter plant closed in 2007, these trailers are still used to move horses through Illinois to be slaughtered elsewhere.)
“Alydar” who was beaten to death in his own stall on the ground of “Calumet Farm” in Kentucky……….
“Barbarro” was euthanized.
and what about all the other horses who race, win and die in the name of this Blood Sport….
(Keeping others from Ferdinand’s fate
——————————————————————————–
LEXINGTON, Ky. – When a thoroughbred stallion abroad has outlived his breeding usefulness, anything can happen to him — even if he’s a Kentucky Derby winner.
That, in a nutshell, is the sad story of Ferdinand.
A report in The Blood-Horse, an industry publication based in Lexington, recounts the final years in the life of Ferdinand, the 1986 Kentucky Derby winner. Sold to breeders in Japan in 1994, Ferdinand’s life ended sometime last year.
The manner of Ferdinand’s death remains a mystery, although The Blood-Horse report said there are indications the horse may have met his death in a slaughterhouse.
“Ferdinand was disposed of during the last year,” said his former owner, Yoshikazu Watanabe. “He was getting old and was in some discomfort.”)
Blood sport? Give me a break. It’s one thing to suggest that maybe horse racing is a bit hard on horses to suggest that the allure of the sport has to do with blood and death. BTW, I have no problem with people slaughtering and eating horses either, so your case in point doesn’t move me.
Alydar’s death was suspicious but even if the claim he was beaten to death is true, it has nothing to do with the ‘blood sport’ but rather the criminal actions of those who were running Calumet Farms, trying to keep it afloat.
Barbaro was euthanized after complications arose from the surgery he had to fix his broken leg.
As for Ferdinand, as a horse racing fan, I do find it disturbing that a Kentucky Derby and Breeders Cup Classic winning horse met his fate as dog food, but Ferdinand was also 19 years old and the average life span for a thoroughbred horse is around 20 years. Besides, Claiborne farms shouldn’t have sold him to the Japanese as they were probably well aware of what happens to horses in that country.
Ain’t “Eight Belles” the horse Hillary was betting on? Then the horse came in second and was killed.
Just wondering.
PETA knows nothing about animals. They have killed dogs in VA and thrown them in the trash. They have wanted to eliminate the entire range of equestrian sports. Not just racing.
The Thouroughbred is probably the best horse breed ever bred. Just about every warmblood breed is 1/2 to 7/8 TB. These are the horses used in Dressage and Jumping. Most TBs that are rejects from the track become the supply of sport horses, hunters, trail horses, jumpers, x country horses. Without the racetracks this supply would dry up. These TB’s are bred for speed, conformation and stamina. The rejects become champions in other sports. I have ridden colts and fillies of notable sires as Seattle Slew and Afleet Alex, these horse were sound but not quick enough to make money, so sold at a pittance compared to their breeding fees for pleasure and sport use.
Lipazzaners were saved by General Patton. The german breeds have disappeared except with infusions of TB. These were the military cart and artillery horses. Once horse were no longer needed for transport, and military, the only reason that they are bred is to make money. Horses take a lot of land and money to keep.
Accidents happen in any sport and horse racing has always been dangerous. It is just a shame it happened in 2 of the only 4 champion races that are televised.
Actually I am against the polytracks. It does not improve the breed to baby the footing too much. A lot of training is done on farms and the legs have to be strengthened when they are young.
I have ridden in hunt races and in order to train I did woods trails and fields that had uneven ground, frozen, and muddy and had to twist and duck trees. This is a much more unforgiving surface that the groomed track.