The Derby

[TheBigChicken]

Love horse racing....Go to Tampa Bay Downs all the time. I hate to see a horse die at the track....how sad :'( This was an uncommon thing . I'm sure PETA fans will scream murder from the highest hill tops. So did any of you peeps watch this? I always get a kick out of all the GOOFY hats...Respond to me Louisville!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jon T.]

Don't know anything about horse racing but I do watch Sportscenter.  That was tragic.

[Kory]

I am pissed about the horse with the broken ankles and I think we should euthanize the horse owners with the horses that become injured... maybe I'm destined to join PETA.

[Kory]

oh yea, and this place is a mess with goofy hats and dumb fucks all excited about chow wagons and fest-a-villes!

[megalicious]

the best part of derby is the PIE.

derby pie is so good.

[Jon T.]

According to SportsCenter there are around 700 horses euthanized a year due to horse racing incidents.

[crazylove]

http://www.wikibartender.org/wiki/index.php?title=Image:MintJulep.jpg

[Kory]

According to SportsCenter there are around 700 horses euthanized a year due to horse racing incidents.

that's fucked up.

[Kory]

Here I go posting again... I just went down to this ice cream place close to my house that had a sign up for "hand dipped derby pie ice cream" and they told me they were sold out til next year... RATS!

[megalicious]

Here I go posting again... I just went down to this ice cream place close to my house that had a sign up for "hand dipped derby pie ice cream" and they told me they were sold out til next year... RATS!

wait.

derby pie ice cream?

that sounds so good.

[Kory]

I'd love to tell you how it was but I have to wait about 350 days.  :-/

[peanut butter puddin surprise]

I'm still a bit hungover from Derby festivities.  :o

Went to a Derby Party at some friends of friends house;  proceeded to knock back a 1/2 fifth of Elijah Craig, didn't know the hosts personally but won the Derby as I pulled Big Brown from the hat (woot!).  Good food, good booze, good times.

Yes, the Belle tragedy sucks.  However, the PETA folks are a bit off here as the jockey has little or nothing to do with the breeding of horses built for racing, with tiny little feet on hundreds of pounds of horse.  It was bound to happen, on national TV no less, that one got hurt and had to be put down.  Unfortunately, it was the humane thing to do as they can't recover from injuries like that as she literally couldn't ever stand up again.

Is it right?  Well, I don't know.  

[Penny Lane]

ugh..what do you expect from PETA...

it was really sad to watch, makes me wonder about the horses in the wild when stuff like that happens:-(

[peanut butter puddin surprise]

Additionally, one should realize that the owners, trainers, and handlers of these prized, fortune makin' horses genuinely love these creatures, and their comfort is foremost in their minds.  The people at the Downs are also trained specifically for events like these, and although mighty sad, is the only humane thing to do.

The owner wasn't crying because he lost his money makin' machine, he was crying because he loved that horse and knew that was all that could be done.  Witness Barbaro from 2006-look at all was attempted with him.  Believe me, they do their damndest to ensure that they don't have to euthanize, but like a terminal disease, broken/shattered ankles are terminal for a creature that large.

[Jon T.]

It's a tough situation.  I'm sure these prize horses get treated better than most of us could ever dream of.  It's the lower level of horse racing where I would imagine things get a little hairy.

[Angry Ewok]

Believe me... when a horse goes down, the entire team is absolutely heartbroken about it. Years and years of people's lives are spent on these horses... trainers and riders and stable hands groom these (very intelligent and personable) creatures for a very long time, and always, always become attached in the process.

[bowl of soup]

These horses are treated better than most children in this country are treated and there is a real love between the people who interact with them on a daily basis and the animal.  It is still pretty rarte for this kind of thing to happen - I heard the stat of 1.6 per 1,000 races is the actual number.

I did see Randy Moss (the horse Randy Moss, not the football Randy Moss) on ESPN talking about this issue and he actually agrees with PETA on a couple of issues:  There should be no whipping, the whip serves no real purpose - you can make horses run real fast without a whip and if nobody has a whip, there is no disadvantage in not having one.  Second, they should not be drugging these horses on race day.  Only in North America do they allow this and it masks the horse's natural instincts to sense trouble before it becomes catastrophic.

Lastly, the jockey is not to blame.  He was running to try and get the trainer before they put the horse down.  He couldn't fathom the horse being put down without any input from the trainer and wanted to alert him first.

All of the money in the world could not have saved this horse - see Barbaro who only had one break.  Just really sad.

[Coltrane]

um.....why are we still riding horses????


for any reason......really.....seriously

[Angry Ewok]

If gas prices continue to surge, you may wish you had a horse.

[Jaimoe]

The world would be in a healthier state if we all had horses instead of cars.