Great Day At Preakness...How many are sad at the euthanized horse? It had to be done.?

Question

Despite what some..."some" animal right avtivists say..horse trainers take great care of the horses. they have no choice to euthanize (like they should have initiatially done with barbados) injured horses. They just don't have any way to help these horses when things happen....they are so delicate.

Answer 1

yes very sad whenever a horse goes lame and has to be put down these are beautiful animales that are great entertainment

Answer 2

I was actually surprised that Barbaro was not immediately euthanized. The damage to his leg was so severe that most racehorses to suffer such an injury likely would have put down right away.

I was even more surprised that he lived as long as he did after the injury. I had hoped that Barbaro would survive but all along, I had a feeling that he would not.

You are right when you say horses are delicate animals. They are. Horses with leg injuries are difficult to treat because unlike most animals, they cannot lay down for extended periods. Laminitis, which ultimately led to Barbaro's demise, is very common in horses with leg injuries as they simply cannot take the weight off the injured leg. Sling support can be used but not for long periods as it impedes blood flow to the abdominal organs.

Barbaro fought long and hard but I feel the right decision was made in his death. He had suffered enough. More than that, he made a valiant effort to survive, which touched all our hearts. He will be remembered as a courageous horse that wanted to keep running...and he is...in horse heaven.

Answer 3

I am not an avid horse racing fan or equestrian so this isn't an "expert" opinion....that said, I do have a personal opinion...

I have strong feelings about this statement...it's not just you - I've heard this statement expressed countless times by individuals...but it still rubs me wrong.

First off, I don't think people have a right to use an animal as a toy and when it's broke, they get rid of it and find another toy to play with. I am sorry if this sounds harsh, but it is exactly that....this is a game, a sport for the participation in and enjoyment of human beings - the animal is a toy, something that is used for this game, this sport, this enjoyment....what right does anyone have to do this to an animal?

It's for fun - it's not as if it's being used for necessity - for farming, for transportation or anything, like they used to be and in some areas of the country, still are; it's not being used for medical experimentation (that I know of - and if so, that is a whole other argument for other people in another forum)....it just doesn't seem right.  I think that sometimes humans tend to think that since we are the "superior" beings on earth, that, that gives us a free ticket to use whatever, whomever however we want, without regard to what/whom we are using.

So, did it "have" to be done - how can that be a simple yes or no answer.... Yes, if the animal was so injured that it could not survive....and if so, that's messed up. No - because it shouldn't be occuring in the first place. No if other means could facilitate it's living instead of dying, i.e. surgically repairing what needs to be repaired and putting them on ranches for educational purposes for children perhaps. Surgery you say? YES! because IF all it takes is surgery...then it should be done because it's the human that for sport injured this horse, so it should be the human that fixes the horse and spends whatever money is necessary to do so. Money shouldn't be an issue because usually the horse they want to put down is the same horse that made them rich...so the money is part of the horses and should be used for the horses care and boarding. Fair's Fair, right?

Answer 4

That was a terrible accident and I am sure the leg was shattered to the point where nothing could be done. It is a miracle that no other runners or jocks who were thrown from their rides were injured.

It is a segment of the sport that tears me up because the runners are giving it all for us, and their legs can snap like twigs due to a bad step, being over-medicated to mask an injury or through bumping/running into another racer.

Answer 5

SAD FOR WHAT....WITHOUT THE STANDARD $10,000 CLAIMER THAT RUN AROUND EVERY 21 DAYS SO WE CAN BET THERE WOULD BE NO HORSE RACING. AND WHEN  THIS OLD 10 YEAR OLD GELDING BREAKS-DOWN ON THE TRACK, AND THEY AS WE CALL IT" PUT HIM TO SLEEP ON THE TRACK WE JUST TURN THE PAGE TO THE NEXT RACE. BUT WHEN A WELL BRED HORSE BREAKS DOWN ON THE TRACK ON NATIONAL T.V., EVERYONE IS SO CONCERN BECAUSE THIS IS A TOP HORSE WHO MIGHT RUN ONLY AS A 2 OR 3 YEAR OLD AND THEN GO OFF TO THE BREEDING BARN, BUT THAT OLD 10 YEAR OLD WHO RACED 96 TIMES IN HIS LIFETIME, IS NEVER GIVEN A SECOND THOUGHT......I WONDER WHY.....

Answer 6

first bwj good post... without the media following and constant press few would have endeared themselves at all to the barbaro situation, he should have been put down at first to begin with...second I agree that its totally different for those who hang out at the track daily or weekly and wager, there is money in all sides of the business, owners, grooms exercise riders, trainers, everyone on the backside , and all the concessions at the live track and off track sites, a lot of people make their livings because of racing (and even at my local track Bay Meadows in the sf area a 4 month meet concluded and 25 animals were put down, and you would never see any press coverage for one of those, because the owners arent high profile and the horses werent worth millions, all that about barbaro was media hype)...and for the naive woman who posted above, you seem to think that the owners are all rich, only a small percentage of owners of racehorses are rich, they just happen to own a large percentage of the more expensive horses in training, not a large percentage of runners competing on a daily basis...for the most part running racehorses is not a largely profitable business for a majority of owners, that and you fail to see that a lot of people make their livings with jobs associated with racing, it is not a sandbox with toys as you refered to it...you must be very young and naive to even mention it in that sense...

Answer 7

I am always sad to see a horse go down.It doesn't matter if they are 3 or 23.I wish they weren't so fragile.They are beautiful animals.

Answer 8

Who gives a c**p about horse racing? NEXT?