Rob Schultz: In name of money, torture of horses goes on
It's been a tradition with my family to stop whatever we're doing during the late afternoon of the first Saturday in May and watch the Kentucky Derby.
My 17-year-old equestrian daughter, Liz, broke that tradition this year by announcing she could no longer watch the Derby or, for that matter, any other horse race.
"It's too cruel," she said as she spun out the door just minutes before the race began. "Horses always die."
It turns out she was prophetic as the only filly in the race, Eight Belles, broke down after finishing second in the race and had to be immediately euthanized. It served up ugly memories of Barbaro's horrific injury at the Preakness Stakes in 2006 that led to his eventual demise less than a year later.
Eight Belles' death brought out the usual whack-jobs like those from PETA, who got on their high horses (excuse the pun) to claim the filly's death was the jockey's fault. Somewhere, you can bet a representative from NOW was agreeing.
That's unfortunate because it doesn't look like anybody did anything wrong on purpose, although an excellent argument can be made that a filly should never be in a race with 19 colts. Early returns on the injury show it to be a freak accident. The trainer was completely crestfallen. It was a tragedy.
But, truth be told, the horse business has been an utter disaster for at least as long as the white man has been on this continent. There are more rats in the horse business than in the sewers of the New York subway system. If the dog is man's best friend, man is the horse's worst enemy. It's not just thoroughbred racing that's cruel. You can find cruelty in any corner of every business that includes horses.
Countless horses are killed each year so the owners can collect insurance on them. Countless horses are drugged to hide any imperfections during a sale. Countless horses are tortured to make them perform better in shows. For many unfortunate horses, a trip to the glue factory is a good day.
Spend any time at any horse show anywhere in this world, and there's a good chance you'll hear at least one horrific story of a rogue trainer or a mean rider from some enemy stable doing something awful to a horse. And while the horror stories are always told, the tales of somebody getting fined or thrown out of the business are never told because it doesn't happen enough.
Those who cry foul at the Triple Crown have a point. Go to a stable some day and ask to see a three-year-old horse. No matter the breed, what you'll see is a baby with toothpick legs still growing and developing.
Making matters worse is that those toothpick legs that belong to three-year-old thoroughbreds are getting weaker by the generation, which explains why there have been more injuries. The thoroughbred is a closed book and suffers from in-breeding. Some believe it needs to match up with an Arabian or another breed to strengthen its weakening bone structure.
That's what I thought about when I saw Eight Belles spread out on the Churchill Downs track late Saturday afternoon. That filly's short life went from enjoying life on the farm as an athletic adolescent to learning how to race on an urban track in a frightful atmosphere filled with thousands of camera-toting, loud-mouthed, mint-julep-sipping gamblers. After that, all she had to do was stampede down a track with 19 colts while getting whipped furiously by a jockey.
The blame game will go on regarding Eight Belles' death, but the races will continue. So will the killing, drugging and torturing at stables around the world. It will all be done in the name of money.
I may not be able to help myself, either. I'll be pulled to watch the Preakness because I want Big Brown to win the Triple Crown. I want to see the next Secretariat, whose image is framed on a conspicuous spot on a wall in my home office. If I make the decision to watch the second leg of the Triple Crown, it will be met with disdain from Liz, who will no doubt call me on my hypocrisy.
I should listen to my daughter, who just happens to be what is great about the horse business. She loves and respects horses and will spend the rest of her life making her horses happy. There are millions just like her, too. Liz and those she competes with and against spend countless hours with their horses; if they aren't competing, they are enjoying a quiet, country ride on a sunny afternoon followed by a long brushing in the barn.
There's something incredibly sweet about hearing a horse nicker when it sees its owner walking toward its stall. You get the same feeling when you see a young girl's big smile as she gets her horse to canter for the first time or a passionate trainer gently taking care of an injured mare or settling down a frisky colt.
As bad as the bad are in the horse business, the good outnumbers them by several hundred furlongs. Knowing that makes me feel better at least until I hear, read or view the next horror story involving a horse. Unfortunately, I know many more are due to come, especially if precious three-year-old thoroughbreds continue to be forced to run.
Eight Belles ran for the roses Saturday. She got them, too. They are over her grave.
File photo
Eight Belles and trainer Larry Jones walk around the paddock before the Kentucky Derby last Saturday.
