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Originally Posted by AOIIalum
Well, I grew up on a small horse farm in Kentucky. I don't recall ever doping up horses or racing them injured.
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You may not recall doped up horses, but it happens. Here are some recent stories:
The guilty plea stemmed from an 18-month investigation by the New Jersey State Police that culminated with the arrest of Ledford and three others in March 2006 in an alleged plot to fix races by injecting horses with banned performance-enhancing drugs.
http://1010wins.com/pages/189689.php...ntentId=295369
Stewart is alleged to have administered intravenous vodka shots to horses at Fonner Park in Grand Island in 2005 - before the fourth race Feb. 20, the sixth race Feb. 27, the fifth race March 11 and the ninth race April 9.
http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/other_sp...292425,00.html
And how about Dancer's Image,winner of the Kentucky Derby? He was running on "bute"-- an anti-inflammatory for his sore legs.
In horse racing, Butazolidin is commonly used to relieve sore-legged horses —such as Dancer's Image, born with "mushy" (swollen) ankles—and permit them to train without pain. A normally sore horse will usually run better if his legs do not hurt, and unscrupulous trainers have used Butazolidin to run such animals "hot and cold"—sometimes giving them the drug, sometimes withholding it, in order to vary the horses' performance and affect the betting odds.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...838365,00.html
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Injuries happen in all sports, not just horse racing. Unfortunately Barbaro's story garnered much attention due to the horrific way he went down and the extraordinary efforts extended to nurse him back to health. It's incredible that Barbaro responded to his treatments as well and as long as he did. It's a credit to those who were committed to ensure Barbaro with a good quality of life while in recovery, and to his owners who were financially able to make the decision on how to spend their money.
Yes, there are more thoroughbreds who go to slaughter than I might personally like, and if you want a truly tragic story we can look at Ferdinand for starters. There are some wonderful people out there like the folks at The Exceller Fund and International Fund for Horses who are working to minimize this practice.
Barbaro will be buried in a manner befitting a Kentucky Derby Champion. It's a shame, because I really thought he was going to make it.
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Injuries happen in all sports.. but they happen very frequently in horse racing because of the way the animals are bred. They are bred to have thin, delicate legs. Their legs are fragile and can't support the stress of the constant pounding at super high speeds.
Adult thoroughbred racehorses are powerful and fast animals, capable of racing at speeds of more than 50 kilometres an hour and weighing in excess of 500 kilograms. These two factors combined mean that when these horses get race injuries they sustain tremendous damage because of the forces involved.
Anatomically racehorses have strong muscular bodies, but fine almost brittle legs with the extremities composed only of skin, tendons and bone. This anatomical design requires that horses cannot lie down for long periods, and cannot rest one leg. They have been designed to remain standing most of the time andon all four legs.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/horse-...401197062.html
Have you ever been "behind the scenes" at a race track? I have. Just go and look at how many of the horses are "buted up." The horses legs shatter because they're so drugged up, they can't feel pain. Which drugs are legal in horse racing varies from state to state.
Still unconvinced? Did you know that race horses suffer all kinds of other ailments, like bleeding of the lungs from the stress of racing? Here is a "tip sheet" on how to bet on horses. Look at what it says about "medication"...
. Medication.
Lasix and Butazolidin are medications administered to racehorses. Lasix, a diuretic, is used to control bleeding (certain horses bleed from a ruptured vein - or veins - in the nostrils, the pharynx or the lungs), and Bute is an anti-inflammatory medication. Some handicappers pay close attention to a horse racing on Lasix or Bute for the first time, believing that these medications might enhance that runner's performance.
http://www.betusa.com/horses/racing_...roughbred.html
A University of Florida study found one of every 1,000 thoroughbreds who race suffer a catastrophic musculoskeletal injury.
Still think horse racing is humane?
And yes, there are people working to try to place horses, but there are also lots of groups trying to save racing greyhounds. That does not excuse the way the industry disposes of them.
Let's look at how some of these equine athletes have been "rewarded."
Remember the insurance scandal of "Alydar"-- the horse that came in second in all three races at the triple crown in 1978? An FBI investigation revealed that his leg wasn't shattered by kicking a barn door, but rather that it had been broken on purpose after being tied by a rope to a pickup truck.
Derby winner and "horse of the year" in 1987, Ferdinand was sent to a slaughterhouse in Japan.
Exceller, a horse inducted into the National Racing Museum's Hall of Fame was sold to slaughter.
As for Barbaro... I think he should have been euthanized right away. Instead, he was made to suffer through a number of painful surgeries and endure 8 months of pain.