Eight Belles

[seminolewind]

All race horses become a year old on Jan 1st. Which means that alot of them are actually 2 year olds. Their knees aren't even closed yet.

 

[chicknmania]

I just wonder at what point she began to feel pain. I'm wondering that, if she had been sound all the way through, if she might not have won. I bet she would've, not that Big Brown isn't an awesome horse in his own right. Belles was so adrenalized during the race that she probably wouldn't even have noticed pain much, til the end. Bless her and I know she'll make it to horse heaven. ..

 

[EggCentric]

It's not just racing 3 year olds, a lot of times these horses start their training at 18 months. Their legs, backs and knees are screwed up long before they hit a professional track.

These accidents happen a lot more often than anyone sees. You see them at the big races because they are broadcast widely.

I think they should change the rules and make it so that a horse can only race at 4 or older. Plus make it so that their birthdate is NOT on January 1st.

Another thing I'd like to see is for every TB entered in a race, to have a percentage of their entrance fee to go towards a retirement fund for these horses.

 

[Betsy]

So, so sad

And she had a chance at winning, too. My Mom was in tears and shocked that they put her down so fast-almost before we knew she was down. I told her that from what I've heard, it's very difficult for a broken bone on a horses' leg or foot to heal. Sigh...

Friday at work I saved a Wall Street Journal from the trash and it had an article about how all the horses in the Kentucky Derby had one or more ancestors who were descendants of a horse named Native Dancer. One of Native Dancer's faults was that he had heavily muscled legs and bad feet, and thanks to all the inbreeding that trait is a problem in many of his descendants. Thankfully some breeders are starting to look outside of Native Dancer's bloodline, so maybe Eight Belles' death will motivate breeders to quit the inbreeding.

 

[gumpsgirl]

Very sad.

 

[lizardz]

What a beautiful filly and such a tragedy. The reason they put her down so quickly was because there was no hope of a recovery for her. Both of her front ankles were broken, so there would have been no chance of her healing. Horses bones are rather brittle and often shatter rather than a simple break. Also, the circulation in their lower legs in not very good, which hinders healing. Horses also do not typically do well if they are unable to stand. We all saw what Barbaro went through, and that was with one broken ankle. They made the right decision and, thankfully it was a quick decision so she did not suffer long. Still, it is heartbreaking to see such a beautiful animal come to such a tragic end. Run free, beautiful girl.

 

[Tikkajazz94]

are you guys talking about the horse that fall down and got put down?

 

[Equest94]

Quote:
yes.

 

[EllyMae]

Quote:
Amen to that. I have been asked for my opinion on what happened with Eight Belles by family and friends...I just say that I don't really have an "opinion". I just don't support racing just like I don't support cock fighting, dog fighting, dog racing, etc. I LOVE my horse and it made me cry when I saw the news report.

 

[Pitchfork]

I agree with the idea of waiting for horses to mature to begin their training, but this is true for show horses as well as racers. I have seen so many halter horses over the last twenty years that have been pumped with feed and suplements, and I suspect steroids that it is just sickening.
A yearling looks like a three year old and the three year olds look like fully mature horses and by the time they are five or six so many are limping around with bad feet and so heavy they can hardly walk. And the riding events are not much better, there are a lot of two year old snafle bit futurities with horses being forced to do things their bodies are not ready to do. Some one has already said that horses love to do what they do and I can speak with forty years of experience that this is true. Put twenty yearlings in a large trap and watch them race each other, they love it. And I have know bull dogin' horses that would nearly cry if you loaded up for a rodeo and they could not get in the trailer.
The problem is as, again, already stated, starting them too early, and breeding for small bones and long strides. Racing Quarter horses don't break down at the same rate as Thouroughbreds because they don't run as far and have been bred with larger bones and shorter strides. But they still start them at two and they do break down too often.