I am still interested in learning how institutionally we can insure that when a catastrophic injury occurs to a horse, that it is looked into with a little more seriousness. I would think we could have a so many strike rule for the injuries as per the trainer, severity of injuries taken into account and then days given for those who have continuous damage done to the horses with the possibility of loss of license for some set number/severity of injuries. Somehow the trainers have to bear the burden of responsibility and cannot any longer cry that the owner made them do it!
Well, bless your heart!
You are obviously the only person in horsedom who cares!
Please send me your address.
I’d like to mail you a donation so that you can afford to purchase a Clue.
[QUOTE=horselover101;3343747]
He already has multiple horses for the conditions in which he is claiming horses out of. He is claiming cheap horses that will not make money anywhere but Suffolk. What’s he going to do when Suffolk closes for the winter. Feed a bunch of cheap horses that aren’t going to make him money. His win percent is about 15% with close to 100 horses. If he is such a good horsemen or has good horsemen working for him shouldn’t it be higher with the quality of horses he brought from MD?[/QUOTE]
I don’t know where all Gill runs, but why wouldn’t these horses be competitive elsewhere? Suffolk has good purses, so I’m assuming it’s a fairly competitive track. A lot of the horses there go to Tampa for the winter, don’t they? Why wouldn’t Gill send them to a track with similar level of horses as SUF and do just fine with them?
Fifteen percent wins isn’t bad, especially for a claiming barn. For comparison, everyone’s fave, Michael Matz has 16% wins and Nick Zito wins at a 17% clip.
There were only a handful of Suffolk trainers that had decent meets down in Tampa. They don’t claim cheap horses to run down in Tampa.
Wings, if you don’t want to convert to my cause that is fine. Just don’t be saying things about me. You’ve been a member since 1999? Is that supposed to make me respect you. You’ve shown me no respect. I had nothing against you and never knew you existed until you said stuff about me.
Off the topic. Barnfairy who was the other Lockhart who won the first race on Saturday?
I would think we could have a so many strike rule for the injuries as per the trainer, severity of injuries taken into account and then days given for those who have continuous damage done to the horses with the possibility of loss of license for some set number/severity of injuries. Somehow the trainers have to bear the burden of responsibility and cannot any longer cry that the owner made them do it!
Interesting idea, but very difficult, if not impossible, to implement given that these are horses and horses are, in my experience, either lame or about to become lame. 
I’m not sure how you would go about determining what injuries are due to the trainer and/or owner’s negligence and which are due to the fact that you have very large animals running at very great speeds.
How would you define “severe?” For example, my OTTB suffered an injury that was career ending for him on the track but not necessarily “severe.” (He overreached and sheared off part of his hoof. He’s a happy hunter horse now. Jumps very prettily.)
Catastrophic breakdowns are severe, obviously, but if a trainer sends a horse off thinking it’s perfectly fine and it breaks down, is that anyone’s fault?
How do you account for plain old bad luck? To use my horse as an example again, I could put him in a padded stall and cover him with bubble wrap and he would still manage to find the one splinter in his vicinity and impale himself on it. Often with horses you can take the best care in the world and stuff happens.
The trick in holding trainers and owners accountable is to find a non-subjective method and I’m not sure what that might be. It’s a really tough situation.
horselover, have you contacted Sam Elliott (VP of Racing), Tommy Creel (Racing Secretary), Christian Teja (Publicity) or Richard Fields (majority owner)? All but Mr. Fields can be reached by calling 800-225-3460 and I’m sure all the above mentioned would get you in touch with Mr. Fields. I have read all of your ranting here, but what have you done? Or did I miss that post? You are not just one voice, they have heard many voices.
[QUOTE=Laurierace;3343713]
Ok this is my last post addressing this asshat, she goes on ignore immediately following.
Here is an ex Mike Gill horse. His knee was broken in 6 places. He gave the horse to Horace Parker who then threw the horse in a field to starve. A few months later Horace Parker sent the horse to an auction where he was purchased by a friend of mine. She donated the horse to the rescue I work with. We xrayed his knee, bandaged him, fed him and then the next day when the xrays came back, we euthanized him.
I took the pictures to the TRPB and made a complaint. Horace Parker lost his trainer’s license for several years. What I did made a difference, and I did it without alienating people on the internet and without making myself look foolish. Its called putting one’s money where their mouth is, or stopping the talk and taking action. All you are doing is making yourself look like an fool and turning off people who could be your possible allies. Its time to grow up or shut up.[/QUOTE]
Laurierace-GOOD FOR YOU!!!
This is absolutely true when teaching 1-2-3rd graders to write. Beyond that…
[QUOTE=horselover101;3343734]
I’ll start using proper grammar. Wings and Pacific were never part of the bulletin before so who gives them the right to start bashing me. If you two have anything else to say about me, please say it. People please tell me what I exaggerated about or what facts I misskewed.[/QUOTE] (bolding, mine)
wow - I have been here since 1999, and I know Wings has been here quite a while- I am so baffled by your comments - do you have a recent head injury?:eek:
As an aside, I spoke with the owners of Country Life at church yesterday and they are bringing home yet another “Moon” gelding so that he can retire in peace. They are such a wonderful farm, and I wanted to give them props on taking care of the babies they have bred 
The Suffolk Downs bulletin, forum, or whatever its called. That is what I was talking about. I’m very proud of you for being a member since 1999. It must’ve been very difficult because I know what a feat it is to stay a member.
[QUOTE=pacificsolo;3344343]
(bolding, mine)
As an aside, I spoke with the owners of Country Life at church yesterday and they are bringing home yet another “Moon” gelding so that he can retire in peace. They are such a wonderful farm, and I wanted to give them props on taking care of the babies they have bred :)[/QUOTE]
Call Bonita Farm and tell them you have one of the babies they bred heading for slaughter and see what they say.
[QUOTE=spooked;3344186]
horselover, have you contacted Sam Elliott (VP of Racing), Tommy Creel (Racing Secretary), Christian Teja (Publicity) or Richard Fields (majority owner)? All but Mr. Fields can be reached by calling 800-225-3460 and I’m sure all the above mentioned would get you in touch with Mr. Fields. I have read all of your ranting here, but what have you done? Or did I miss that post? You are not just one voice, they have heard many voices.[/QUOTE]
Didn’t Creel and Elliott previously work for Gill when he had all those horses a few years ago?
[QUOTE=horselover101;3344356]
The Suffolk Downs bulletin, forum, or whatever its called. That is what I was talking about. I’m very proud of you for being a member since 1999. It must’ve been very difficult because I know what a feat it is to stay a member.[/QUOTE]
This is called the Racing Forum, and this is a thread regarding Suffolk Downs.
So, let me get this straight: If someone comes to a thread later than you did and calls you out on your grammar/behavior, then they do not have that “right” because you were here first? Please, help me understand your complaint.
DickHertz - is that to say Bonita won’t take care of the babies they have bred?? 
If so, I am very sad to hear that. I wish owners/breeders would find a way to either humanely euthanize horses or care for them by either retiring them in comfort or selling them for sporthorse enthusiasts - which is precisely how I got my mare and how CANTER has helped place many other ex-racehorses.
You don’t have the right to say anything about me. That is what I’m saying. You didn’t say anything about the topic. You went off cracking a 3rd grade joke towards me. What business of it is yours to care how I type?
Firstly, thanks to the kind folks like Barnfairy, AppJumpr, frugalannie, and spooked…all of whom have done AMAZING things to help Suffolk OTTBs on their own time, without a bit of fanfare, I should point out…and to everyone who is offering positive suggestions and constructive criticism regarding Suffolk’s new policy.
Allow me to clarify my earlier post: CANTER NE is not hoping to talk to Mike Gill for the purpose of “getting money.” Our only interest is in introducing our program and supplying our contact information, in the hopes that Mr. Gill and his trainer(s) will use our listing service to find homes for their horses who are injured or no longer competitive. That’s the same reason we introduce ourselves to all the trainers on the backside.
Like all the CANTER affiliates, CANTER NE is a 100% volunteer-run organization. We welcome, and badly need!, donations, but we don’t ask owners or trainers for donations as a prerequisite for helping their horses! Money has NOTHING to do with our efforts to find new homes for every horse at Suffolk that needs to move off the track. It’s about helping these deserving animals, period.
And as others have eloquently pointed out, we do try our best to build positive and diplomatic relationships with the horsemen at Suffolk. That’s what has allowed us to transition so many horses since 2002, and it’s allowed us to build a very productive and open dialogue with the track management regarding horse welfare and retirement issues.
If we alienate a trainer or owner, we are sorely limiting, if not eliminating, their horses’ chances of moving on to new lives off the track. And that’s simply not fair to the horses.
spooked kindly posted contact information for all of the Suffolk Downs administrators. Anyone with concerns about the treatment of horses at Suffolk should not hesitate to contact those individuals, or to submit comments electronically through the Suffolk Downs web site.
P.S. Horselover01, to answer your question about the other Lockhart horse who won the other day, her name is Cashmere Kelly (she’s gorgeous, and is actually for sale on the CANTER NE site right now!) and she is owned/trained by Alan Lockhart, who is the son of Lori Lockhart and grandson of Lloyd Lockhart. Alan has taken great care of this filly and it’s nice to see her earn a win.
[QUOTE=pacificsolo;3344425]
This is called the Racing Forum, and this is a thread regarding Suffolk Downs. QUOTE]
You’re right Pacific it is a thread about Suffolk Downs. It isn’t one on “how bad horselover types” or “make fun of horselover because I feel like it”. You just made yourself look like an idiot.
I apologize for what my sister said. I know CANTER is great. I have nothing against them. I know CANTER there is too help out the horses and that is a great thing. I have nothing against CANTER.
[QUOTE=horselover101;3344459]
[QUOTE=pacificsolo;3344425]This is called the Racing Forum, and this is a thread regarding Suffolk Downs. QUOTE]
You’re right Pacific it is a thread about Suffolk Downs. It isn’t one on “how bad horselover types” or “make fun of horselover because I feel like it”. You just made yourself look like an idiot.[/QUOTE]
Sweetie, I did not make myself look like an idiot by calling you out on your poor use of the English language. This BB is made up of many people with many opinions. Some of happen to want to be able to read and understand posts that others produce. If those posts do not make grammatical sense, they are difficult to understand. Your posts fall under this category.
If you want people to care about what you say and have an intelligent discussion with you, then please try and type intelligently. Unless you have an LD or a head injury, you need to show fellow COTHers some respect by writing coherently. We are ALL here for the love of horses.
This thread does not belong to you - it is for all people registered on this site. Either learn to get along with others or do not participate.
