I would cash it and donate it all to breakdown research or TB rescue.
Please don’t take this as me telling you what to do, I don’t mean it that way.
[QUOTE=Sannois;3186756]
ITs the nature of the sport.
They did not broadcast it, cause the cameras were not even on her when she went down. All you saw was a brief shot after Big brown spooked, and they flashed to her on the ground.
Seriously, its very tragic, but I am so tired of all these people saying, OMG I will never watch racing again, I will never watch Eventing again. Fine dont, but spare others the melodrama!
Sorry it just gets old.
Horses break down, and die. it happens more than anyone sees or hears about it. You not watching it is not going to stop it from happening.
Sorry Off soap box! :no:[/QUOTE]
I agree with you.
This is from the Thoroughbred Times:
I think he was pulled up that way simply because the outriders already knew she was down and didn’t want to chance anything else happening. I’d not be surprised if we hear he did pop another crack, or something, but I hope it was just that he was still so up from the race with plenty of go still in him that he was just hopping around…but I hate to believe otherwise.
And, yes, I saw that he looked a little funny, too.
After that first shot, there was a replay of a camera generally on the horses galloping out, and Eight Belles went from fine to down/out of the picture in one stride. Replays of the 15 or so strides after the finish line looked perfectly normal, too. An awful, freak thing. But I am with you, sick and tired of the melodrama. Yes, this filly had a tragic end. But from the time she went down to the time she was dead- a matter of a few minutes, pretty much pain free because of the way shock and adrenaline work in response to injury. She otherwise had a fine life, best of care, and a cool trainer- loved the story they did earlier in the day. Contrast that with all the nameless horses out there everywhere, suffering for weeks or months or years on end from neglect, abuse and starvation. Go scream about THAT, folks- that is real cruelty. Horse racing is not. And neither is eventing, while I’m at it.
[QUOTE=BuddyRoo;3186710]
There is evidence that supports work helping build better bone–denser and stronger–this is true.
But moderation is key. When we’re talking about legs, don’t you think overuse injuries are from just that? Overuse? Perhaps?
And as far as the rest of the horse? The spine doesn’t fuse by 2 or 3 or even 4 in most cases.
Why not let these horses mature a bit…do more light riding first?
Look, I am a supporter of equine sports. But I am also a lover of equines. And they are doing what WE ask of them. Perhaps our questions need to be changed. Keep in mind, I just got back from Rolex. I’m frustrated and saddened by the deaths this week.[/QUOTE]
Again getting back to the science, light riding will only condition the horse for…light riding, and the equine body becomes less adaptable at later ages. The research performed in the UK indicated that horses which were unraced until five were more inury prone. I wish the answer to all of this was that simple, but it’s not.
Not that this was the cause of Eight Belles’ injury, but I’ve always had a concern about the preparation of Churchill’s surface on big racing days. Don’t know if super’s have been changed, but I’ve never liked when the surface is packed so tight that it’s drastically different as to what the horses have been training or racing on.
Oh for the love of god you have got to be kidding me?!?!! ANOTHER ONE?! I am just sick. I watched her break down and felt absolutely nauseous. What in the bloody hell is going ON in this sport?!?
NO MORE horse races for me…this is so incredibly sad!
Poor baby
[QUOTE=bird4416;3186793]
Here is video of the breakdown.
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/22825103/vp/24445258#24445258[/QUOTE]
Oh god…that was just saddening and made me cry.
RIP sweetie.
I take that back…
She actually looks fine until 2 strides before swapping and falling. It looks like the left went first, and the right when she fell on it.
How horrible am I that I’m jsut studying and studying???
[QUOTE=Sannois;3186756]
ITs the nature of the sport.
They did not broadcast it, cause the cameras were not even on her when she went down. All you saw was a brief shot after Big brown spooked, and they flashed to her on the ground.
Seriously, its very tragic, but I am so tired of all these people saying, OMG I will never watch racing again, I will never watch Eventing again. Fine dont, but spare others the melodrama!
Sorry it just gets old.
Horses break down, and die. it happens more than anyone sees or hears about it. You not watching it is not going to stop it from happening.
Sorry Off soap box! :no:[/QUOTE]
I’m not stopping because I think I can affect change with my own personal boycott, it’s just that fear of what I might witness overrides the joy of the sport for me now.
This past month I’ve just been thinking about this kind of stuff in general and honestly…
do horses like this? any of it? jumping, eventing, dressage, racing, showing, being ridden at all? do THEY LIKE THIS?!? is this all cruel? do we have the right to do whatever we want with these animals just because we can?
I’m starting to feel guilty every time I go to ride my horse and I don’t know how to justify it, I just do it because I like to. is this really okay?
[QUOTE=bird4416;3186793]
Here is video of the breakdown.
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/22825103/vp/24445258#24445258[/QUOTE]
Its like she just ran right into the ground…
Yes, excersize may be good for babies, but racehorse training is a total overkill, no pun intended. If it did make them stronger why do so many more break down relative to other equestrian sports and general turnout/being a horse?
Nothing will change, too much money involved.
[QUOTE=Marieke;3186727]
wouldyou mind PM-ing me that research? I know the findings of the University of Wageningen point out the complete opposite in warmbloods. They had 4 groups, took x-rays along the way, and euthenised for autopsies as well. I would like to read that. I do think warmbloods and tb’s are way different.[/QUOTE]
Google the Maryland Shin Project or Dr. David Nunnamaker. Someone did a study in Australia and another vet covered the UK. Somewhere in my storage room I have a Horse and Hounds issue detailing the UK coverage. If I get to it this week I’ll dig it out.
[QUOTE=Kenike;3186817]
You know, Findeight was right. She was definitely not right before switching leads and going down.
So, I’d be willing to join in that something happened IN the race and she gutted it out, maybe not even letting Saez know that something was wrong until it was Way too late. Either that, or he just didn’t know that he was feeling somehting bad…[/QUOTE]
First let me say I am no racing expert, so please do not flame me and maybe what I thought I saw I didn’t see, just help me understand. While watching the replay before the last turn turn it seems al the others were galloping in a longer frame, Eight Belles seemd to be in a shorter frame with her head up higher? Was that just her way of going, or could she have been trying to keep weight off her front legs? Just wondering. thanks
Godspeed, Eight Belles
[QUOTE=Sannois;3186756]
ITs the nature of the sport.
They did not broadcast it, cause the cameras were not even on her when she went down. All you saw was a brief shot after Big brown spooked, and they flashed to her on the ground.
Seriously, its very tragic, but I am so tired of all these people saying, OMG I will never watch racing again, I will never watch Eventing again. Fine dont, but spare others the melodrama!
Sorry it just gets old.
Horses break down, and die. it happens more than anyone sees or hears about it. You not watching it is not going to stop it from happening.
Sorry Off soap box! :no:[/QUOTE]
I like this argument even less than “horses die all the time doing other stuff” justification. How can you just accept that you will watch horses die a percentage of the time you go to the track or turn on the TV? Even with appropriate editing, a horse still died. It’s like people have given up and simply accepted breakdowns as a necessary evil (and given them a nice, inanimate name, too).
findeight, tiempo beat me to the idea…it would be SO kind to cash the ticket and donate the money to CANTER or someplace.
With the economy the TBs are going to be in tough times this year.
Again, I am not trying to direct you:no: It seems like the smallest dot of positive that could happen in something so sad.
I just watched the video…
I am so, so sorry. I was on the ferry crossing from CT to LI, and they had the pre race stories on…mentioning her as the only filly. We disembarked, and then on the news, in the car, we’d heard she went down.
So, so sorry. I hate to see any of them go.
