Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Horse Racing - AGAIN!

About a year ago, I wrote a post about my strong opposition to horse racing.

I got a LOT of heat about it from some readers.

But I stand by my convictions and opinion.

This video breaks my heart.

10 comments:

Eve said...

I agree with you Lisa!

Lisa said...

i saw the footage of the actual collision. it was terrible.

and watching eight belles last year.

so sad.

my heart is so close to animal rights ... i just can't support this 'sport'.

xoxo

Anonymous said...

I can't watch the video--it would mess me up. I HATE the concept of horse racing and what it puts horses through; I can't believe you got flack for blogging out against it!

becky said...

I am with you too Lisa!!! My Ex takes the girls to Emerald Downs and I told them about it and they watched the video, they don't want to go with him now!!

Jessie said...

I don't know - I saw the footage too - it was terrible and it breaks my heart, but it was a total accident. I don't think I have much of a problem with actual racing - as with anything - it has its risks. But where I do struggle is the methods and all the supplements and inbreeding they actually do with the horses. And in really competitive racing, it is just hard to support how they treat these little babies!

Lisa said...

Jessie .. that is exactly my problem too. I understand accidents happen, as in everything ... there are risks. But the treatment, methods for training, quality of life, etc. makes me sick. I could go on and on. :)

Mary Diederichs said...

Lisa,
I really don't understand the pleasure people receive when they watch animals race, forced to break their necks to entertain human beings. I question who the animals are.
Mommy/Mary

Cheryl said...

Hey Lisa,

I'm not out to change your mind, but I will tell you what we found out when we went to Kentucky a few years ago and found a way to drop in on some Thoroughbred racehorse farms and barns. We were struck by what great homes the horses had and how wonderfully they were treated---not just the valuable racehorses, but also the ones who weren't valuable. The people who owned them, trained them, and took care of them clearly loved and respected them a great deal. What was especially touching was to see how the really old horses were treated---the ones who were past racing and breeding age. They had acres and acres to roam and kind, gentle hands to brush their gray muzzles every day. Although there are certainly horrible people out there who are abusive to animals, what we saw and heard about were people who loved horses more than people!

The other surprising thing we discovered was that these horses run and race because it is truly in their blood, not because they are forced to. It's hard to describe, but if you saw one of these horses close-up who is getting ready to race, you would be astonished to see how much they sort of light up---you can literally feel their excitement. They even seem depressed when they can't race.

There are some accidents, yes, but we learned they actually happen a very small percentage of the time at the tracks. The horseracing industry does need to address some inbreeding issues, some racetrack surface issues, and whether two year olds should race, but for the most part, what we saw was a sport in which the participants seemed pretty darn happy.

I totally respect everybody's opinion about this subject, but I did want to just point out our own experiences. Sometimes we just hear the negative things about stuff in the media---so it's fun to check out the facts in real life.

xxxooo
Cheryl

Lisa said...

Cheryl ... that is AWESOME and it warms my heart to know that you had such a great experience. It sheds light on a subject that not many of us know about. So cool that you were able to do that ... and I'll visualize what you say and feel a bit better about it!

xoxoxoxo

Rebecca (Ramblings by Reba) said...

I think horse racing can be MAGNIFICENT... but it can also be truly dreadful, as in this incident.

:(