In the wake of the Eight Belles tragedy.......?

Question

.....and especially after having seen (scarce) photos of her standing rather calmly on the track after her accident (ankles broken & giving no support, standing on lower leg bones), does it not seem a very clear possibility that painkilling drugs could have masked the beginnings of her injuries (and maybe even the end result), allowed her to run her race, and kept her body from providing the pain warning signs that would have helped prevent further injury/breakage?? (I am aware that the trainer stated he never gave her steroids, but he has never said anything about painkillers, and, sadly and unthinkably, they are permissable and often used.) And how can this enterprise, run by "humanE beings", condone such a practice?

Answer 1

No ,, They get tested ,, and believe me when this happens  they do a COMPLETE AUTOPSY OF THAT HORSE



There was another question a few days ago about the fact that all race horse's are on pain killers that  IS SO WRONG

The racing offica;s are so strict with that

all ten horses that recive money get test plus they pull a radom horse also

someone said that the horse p**s on the track Never have I seen a horse p**s before a race or after until they are in the test receiving barn ,,,they take the water away from them before they race,, they might p**p

NO ,, HONEY

THEY ARE NOT ON PAIN KILLERS

They can't even use bute with out a perfect reason and that horse has too be tested also, to make sure it is not masking anything



bute is NOT A PAIN KILLER IT IS A inflammatory med



If A trainer wants to be supensend for life and the owners and the horse from racing

Well he would have to be really stupid ....They do get caught

If you read a racing forum you'll see who got caught and for what ,, Really racing in such big time as that

No one would do that  And no steroids can not be used either If A horse has to many steroids then normal they will test farther for more ,,

They do race clean

Now at some bush tracks things may go on.. But not the big time

Answer 2

read this link to learn more..

http://www.sportales.com/Equestrian/Is-H...

NO graphic pictures.. just good info..

people condone it.. becuase they make money off of it..

Answer 3

I very much doubt that she was on pain pills.They never would have raced her and risked her life like that.

Answer 4

I have seen no pictures of her standing on the track after her accident.  I did see one of her trying to stand up on her broken ankles and the outriders were trying to keep her down.  I don't think it's because she wasn't in pain.  Horses don't like to be lying down... it's a very insecure position for them... so is grazing... they won't do it if they feel unsafe.  It's really scary for a horse to have to lie down and it's even scarier for them not to be able to use their legs.  So anytime a horse is scared, it's going to try to stand... it doesn't matter how much pain it's in.

Answer 5

Geese...people are still concerned with this. It was an unfortunate accident. PETA only made a big deal about it because they wanted exposer. Where were they last year when they were trying to keep Barbaro alive? That was cruelty. And what happened...he was euthanized.

Answer 6

my husband and i know both larry and cindy jones.  they do not use any type of pain killers or steroids.  pain killers would be used by a vet AFTER a race, not before.  when we had a barn we used natural feed to help our horses.  the only "painkillers" we used was butte and that was used usually after a race if they showed that they were sore. i am really tired of what peta is saying because if you havent been there you shouldnt accuse, you should ask questions.  most good trainers do not use any type of pain killers or steroids and if they do it would have to be administered by a vet and then the horse would probably be scratched because something would be wrong.  people just dont realize how well these horses are taken care of especially peta.  if you ever spent any time on the backside of the tracks you would know what i mean.

by the way i do believe they test the horses for any type of drugs so many hours before a race.   i dont know exactly when because they came up with this new rule after we retired.

my husband and i both believe they should do something about drugs.  they need to ban all of them unless a vet uses it for the good of the horse.  plus i dont care what anybody else thinks i strongly believe it would be better to start a horse racing when they are 3.  there were at one time, some drugs that didnt enhance their racing but did nothing but help horses that were sore or had something else wrong with them.  these drugs are now banned in the usa but can be purchased in canada.  we are hoping the new safety committee will come up with good solutions to help our horses.  

when i said good trainers which is most of them, i meant the ones that went by the rules and did not use medication to enhance their racing.  there is a vet list by the secretarys office at the race tracks that puts trainers that have something wrong with their horses or have used drugs to help them, so they are watched pretty close.

Answer 7

Ugh, not much to say,

BUT I FEEL HORRIBLE! I really wish it didn't happen to her, plus she was a filly! And she was so good too....I know I was asking my Dad the same thing because he recorded it for me while I was away at a netball tournament. "Was she on steroids? How come she managed to keep going?" I know I know, but there's nothing we can do now, is there? ~KARINA~

Answer 8

They autopsied Eight Belles and the results of the drug screening will be known in about 2 more weeks, so then everyone will know for sure about drugs.  I seriously doubt she was using pain killers.

I read the whole article that you linked from the Washington Post.  It's very interesting.  The author, Andrew Beyer, is definitely not PETA.   I agree with his reasoning about age and track surface.  I also think his contentions about drugs have alot of merit.  And I learned something:  I didn't know before that the U.S. has legalized drugs that are "banned in the rest of the racing world".   Thanks for the link.