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Most horses wear wraps behind to prevent them interfering (catching the inside of one leg with the hoof of the other). Wrapping the fronts provides minimal actual support. At a gallop each leg takes a turn supporting the whole weight of the horse (1000+ pounds) at whatever speed they are doing (somwhere around 40 mph). Any bandage of boot isn't going to do much to reduce stress on the legs with those forces. What they can help with is supporting the tendons some. If this post is in response to the tragic incident with Eight Belles in the Kentucky Derby remember these owners and trainers want the horse to do well AND LIVE. They have many hours and dollars invested in this and aside from the emotional cost, purely looking at the economics it doesn't help anyone for this to occur. From the footage I saw she clearly hit the wall and was just exhausted and very unbalanced when the jock was trying to pull her up. Very hard to hold any horse together like he was trying to when they're suddenly coming down from an adrenaline rush like that.
Unfortunately everyone will point the finger and say ;see- racing is BAD;. Fact is more horses are injured on regular farms in pastures than on the track. This was incredibly unlucky. For those who say the horse didn't choose to run- oh yes they do. You can't make a horse run that doesn't have it in them. I have 5 retired racehorses, 3 of them just too slow!
What I would like to see is horses not race until 3 y.o., surface other than dirt (which they punch through and can end up hitting base of fetlock on surface) and races a little less often per horse. I believe this could make it safer and perhaps fewer horses bred which is contributing to the current glut of horses needing homes in USA
Originally posted 3 months ago.
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fair_handmaiden edited this topic 3 months ago.
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Well said ...jolly good show
Posted 3 months ago.
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fair_handmaiden, I completely agree with you about horses not racing until 3 years of age. After all, saddle horses are not ridden at 2 years old, as their legs are too fragile. I also think that bloodlines such as Unbridled's should not be allowed to continue, as his get are notorious for breaking down (he was Eight Belles' grandfather). I wish the racing industry would STOP breeding horses that are unsound!
I also have great hope for the synthetic tracks--here in California they have made a huge difference, and the number of horses injured has decreased dramatically. It is such a joy to see these beautiful animals run, and such a tragedy to see them suffer.
Posted 3 months ago.
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One of the best books I have ever opened is the Daily Racing Forms champions of the 20th century or 100 year or something like that. In short it provides that past performances of all the champions going back to the 1910's. Most of those horse would race 6-8 times at two years old and then get 4 races in before the derby. Those horses didn't break down as much as these horses. Repetition builds strength. With strength you have stability. Unfortunately accidents happen as did the past weekend but in general the inbreeding, the lack of proper training and the abundance of drugs are a lethal combination.
Posted 3 months ago.
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Thank You fair_handmaiden. This was very helpful! I have been wondering this for a long time and Eight Belles propted me to ask it. I Think that you have some wonderful ideas about horse racing. I really want to do something with racehorses and since this past weekend I have been thinking about if it is in someway unkind to the Thoroughbreds. You helped me see past this. The fact about more horses being injured on a farm than on the track was very interesting. I will have to share that with my friend who never completly agreed with horse racing. I have read alot about horse racing and I agree totally with you about everything that you said!
Originally posted 2 months ago.
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Little Miss Lena edited this topic 2 months ago.
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I agree with The real Devil Doll, they should be more careful about what they breed. Maybe even breed back in a little arabian for stronger bones and more flight.
Posted 2 months ago.
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That would be a smart idea, It could also help them go the longer distances.
Originally posted 2 months ago.
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Little Miss Lena edited this topic 2 months ago.
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I agree about the breeding too. Nobody would breed to a HYPP positive Quarter horse so why are we breeding to stallions that have offspring that break down. Perhaps the Jockey Club could step in here and not issue papers to offspring from these stallions. I guess they could monitor stats and decide based on those. Breeding for stamina would improve things too. My Hanoverian stallion (modern lighter build) would love to add a little hybrid vigor :)) He's fast too!
Originally posted 2 months ago.
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fair_handmaiden edited this topic 2 months ago.
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That is a beautiful horse! I heard today that they are going start breeding more arabian lines into the Thoroughbred racehorses. I don't know If that is true though.
Posted 2 months ago.
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all it really takes for some organization to come down hard on the racing industry is serious pressure from viewers and people who write to papers. it doesn't matter what people in the indsutry think... it's what regular viewers think. perhaps horses on farms get injured alot, and maybe horses like to run, but that is not the same as the untimely deaths of animals due to whatever the variables were - by NO choice of their own.
one more bad accident, and it won't matter what caused it. the visible frequency of these catastrophic injuries to the general public is what is going to put alot of pressure on the racing industry, and although the industry means well, you are going to keep having these accidents... there is no way to predict them, and they are not going to stop, and now you see them in hugely televised races more than ever. Let's hope The Preakness doesn't have one. The Belmont would be even worse, but even if that doesn't happen, people on the outside of the industry are getting a look at something that they are going to stay away from on purpose, without caring about what anyone in the industry does. to me, I think these deaths are pretty inexcusable at this point.
I really love racing, but my advice is to enjoy it while you can. I just mean, that you can imagine what would make breeds stronger and think of ways to take care of these problems better, but that won't do any good if it's stopped somehow now. which is what would have to be done to stop these accidents - which some might decide is the right thing to do. Noone is going to want to watch the destruction long enough for the industry to fix. This is a systemic problem. That has taken years and years to develop. And it is on a roll now. I'm not sure how anyone can really rationalize these deaths anymore as being acceptable. I just can't. That doesn't mean I'm going to stop going, but I don't think it's going to survive.
Originally posted 2 months ago.
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lensjockey (a group admin) edited this topic 2 months ago.
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lensjockey, alas you are probably right. Perception often becomes reality. Just look at what happened with three day eventing after the completely biased tv coverage of the Barcelona Olympics. Unfortunately the measures they took have backfired, stamina isn't sorting the men from the boys anyone so the fences are more & more technical- not much room for error when they are solid so we are seeing more injuries in that sport!
The responsibiity falls to the governing body of any sport to keep it's house in order. We live in times of "trial by press ordeal", I was horrified at the attitude exhibited on the Today show when they interviewed the trainer. This was a horrific accident & unfortunately we all got to see it. Now everyone is busy looking to blame someone. Now is when the Jockey Club needs to step up to the plate & show just what steps have been taken in the last few years to improve the safety for the horses & what is currently being researched- & it needs to be in mainstream press as a full page ad instead of buried in equine publications. Otherwise I fear you may be right. Most of the population is completely out of touch with horses so those of us that have them need to educate as many as possible about how hoses are. I do this any chance I get including the party I was at for the derby.
Meanwhile, I still say, run later, weed out weak stallions, inject somenew blood, get off dirt & whilst we're waiting for all that to happen how about xrays before races or nuclear scintigraphy to check bone soundness?
Posted 2 months ago.
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Eight Belles tradgety is becoming very big, I have heard so much about it lately. Reading this dicussion is so interesting, concidering I am still learning about racing and don't know as much as some. I really think that more people should hear about the things that are talked about here.
Posted 2 months ago.
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there was ALOT of really bad things in the NY Post yesterday. Today there were some bad letters.
I don't know, maybe racing can shift gears, but knowing how much anti-racing press there might be and the general lack of interest in racing by the public - i don't know... this is pretty bad I think. This incident has overshadowed the win to such a degree, and I think there is alo0t of stress and anger out there about other things that might - well, people might just want to vent alot at racing, use it as a scapegoat.
you don't really have to know that much about racing to figure this particular thing out. I don't really either, but I mean, it's a dead filly on the biggest day of racing all year. In the race that is the only race most know about. After a really big accident a couple of years ago, that got to quite a few people.
Posted 2 months ago.
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wanna hear something? I overheard at the track that there are mushroom growers who won't take manure anymore from Aqueduct because there is too much steroids in it. When I heard that it really hit me hard. Not everyone knows that.
Originally posted 2 months ago.
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lensjockey (a group admin) edited this topic 2 months ago.
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But even tho there are alot of bad things in racing there are still lots of good things, and good trainer, owners, ect. That really know and care about their horses.
Originally posted 2 months ago.
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Little Miss Lena edited this topic 2 months ago.
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I heard that Eight Belles jockey got suspeneded for running her too hard. :/ does anyone know if this is true?
Posted 2 months ago.
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