Horse racing? everyone's opinion counts ?

Question

i want to know what you think

Answer 1

I want to know how long you have been watching horse racing?  Do you realize that 2008 was the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby.  There will be horse racing long after you and I are only a glimmer of being live on earth.

Yes, there needs to be changes and there will be, but the endless chatter of ending racing needs to cease.

Answer 2

I think your time could be better spent elsewhere, like urging Congress to preserve the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act and to resist the proposal by the Bureau of Land Management to balance the agency budget by euthanizing many of the 30,000 wild horses corralled and cared for at BLM holding facilities.

Answer 3

I agree that all race day medication should be banned, including Lasix.  Horses ran just fine without Lasix for many years, including our last 3 Triple Crown winners.  It didn't even become legal in all horse racing states until 1995.    

I disagree with banning the whip.  The vast majority of jockeys and trainers agree that it's no worse than a bit.  And I'm completely unimpressed that Gary Stevens claims it's  "wrong" now that he's retired.  He sure didn't seem to think it was wrong when he was riding considering he smacked Silver Charm in the stretch of the 1997 Kentucky Derby as least 25 times.

I also disagree that they shouldn't race until age 4.  There is no scientific evidence that younger horses suffer catastrophic injuries more frequently than older horses.  Man O War, Secretariat, Affirned, Alydar, and many, many other greats ran several races at age 2 without serious injury.

Answer 4

well yes i totally agree with you pagan with the medicine and the age . The whips could go and i am sick of those who are like oh no it cant hurt i think it should.

Answer 5

horse racing can be very risky and i get scared watching sometimes but it is true that thoroughbreds do love to run.  They are bred to be racers but i do feel like people these days are breeding them more for speed rather than for sturdyness and that is why more and more accadents are happening.

Answer 6

start racing horses at four and youll lose the triple crown along with almost all the fans that come along with it. i highly doubt that the whip really hurts the horses. not the way 99 percent of jockeys use them. ya the horses feel it but its more of a motivator to get them going than anything else.

if you take away the whip you are changing the entire sport, a sport built on history. the times will be slower, and youll always have the second guessing of, he ran the kentucky derby in two minutes, but imagine with a whip he would have broken secrateriats record. take away the whip you take away the history and all the stats and times. it would be like starting over..

lasix prevents bleeding thats a good thing.  

i guess this era will go down as the eight belles backlash era. that horse has done more to potentially destroy horse racing.than any other . she broke down on derby day and now they want to change the entire sport. its sickening.

Answer 7

I'm an Aussie and in Australia lasix is banned, period! and if a horse bleeds it is put into the paddock for a mandatory 3 months, if it bleeds again after that, it is banned from racing forever!

a couple of other facts about Australian racing........

more horses break down and are destroyed in equestrian events (show jumping, cross country, dressage), than racing!

so why do the tree huggers not focus on banning that sport!

more humans  have died in the sydney to hobart yacht race (an annual yacht race held of the coast of australia) in the last ten years than jockeys in the last ten years!

now equestrian and yachting are glorified sports, why i ask? when they account for more deaths (human and equine) than racing! yet racing is shunned!

whips........ i dont know about other countries but if you watch and pay attention alot of jockeys in aus dont actually whip the horse, they often show the horse the whip,(by bringing the whip up along side the horse head several times) which may look like the jockey is whipping the horse, but actually isn't!

now hypothetically speaking, if whips were banned, do you think that jockeys just wouldn't urge there horses? because i think they would simply find a less humane way, like giving the horse a kick in the ribs, and whats to stop a trainer or strapper putting a small electric shock device under the saddle?

so i guess im saying the devil you know is better than the devil you don't!

Answer 8

Race horses are bred to run (period).  Three year olds run just fine (two year olds seem a bit young).  Lasix is a coin toss...steroids should (and will) be banned.  I'm sure that some of these great horses that you are talking about had trainers that pumped them full of "tonics" to help them run better and stronger (people have always tried to get an advantage on the competition -haven't you heard of the Pharlap controversy?-).  Whips and spurs are tools to get the animals to respond to commands (I guess you don't like chain collars on dogs either).  It is the misuse of these tools that may hurt a horse (but there are already measures in racing to avoid that).

On to your questions...

horse racing?  yes, please.

everyone's opinion counts?  I hope so.

how many of you feel this way?  I don't speak for others...but, I surely don't!

Answer 9

Wow people need to calm down. Do you really think that a 120 lb jockey could hurt a 1500 lb animal but hitting it. The whip is used for motivation. If the horse doesnt want to run or wasnt cut out to run then most sensible people wont make it run.  People need to realize that these animals are huge and could over power any one person at any moment. They chose to gallop, they like to win! For god sakes did you see Barbero when he broke down? He broke his leg in numerous places while racing. His jocky was trying to pull him back and the horse wanted to keep going!! Same with Ruffian broke down and wanted to keep going. And even Eight Belles gave it her all and managed to come in second against 19 of the top boys in the country before she went down.  Yes the whole bred for speed and not for strength concept comes into play here but horses have been breaking down in racing for as long as horse racing was around! It isnt just recent.  I also agree with the opinion of not using drugs. Drugs can cover up pain which is good but the horse wont realize that they are not healed or anything so that is bad.  I have a horse and I have experiance so my opinions are actually put to the test.  But anyway people calm down we all have opinions and everyones are valued but there is no need to get rude about it.