Race Tracks Are Not Good For The Horses

Well this could have been posted in the break room more appropriately...but this is a blog and not part of the main forum...so

good to point that out SE

So you think that the picture below is how a Engineer should address the engineering field. You'd be surprise on what you don't know about engineering.

Shame on you.

...and if someone absolutely has to kill something, why not limit it to paint-ball-armed drones hunting each other within the confines of the local paint-ball arenas ?...

I'm confident that the arena operators would really appreciate the (additional ?) business...

There already exists televised drone racing. So, why not add drone fighting?...

_{I was raised on a dairy also, at times, we had our horses running in with the herd, some of the alpha horses, would chase the cows away from the feed bunk.} we had to watch this very closely so they (horses) wouldn't get foundered (acute)k among other things.

One thing about dairy cows, abused dairy cows quite directly affects your bottom line, no good farmer

And whether it's cows or horses, when your close to the animals, each has its own personality... you can just about bet on how they will react.

interesting post. I have a different perspective. a zillion years ago a much anticipated match race took place between the best female horse I've ever seen race in Ruffian. She went up against the current Derby champ in Foolish Pleasure.Ruffian had won 10 races in a row and set several records along the way. you can watch the race, Ruffian had always gone wire to wire before her fateful 11th race @ Belmont Park. she always lead and never ran against the stiff competition that Foolish Pleasure brought to the track that day. within about 30 seconds of the gates opening Ruffian broke down. Personally I saw a proud horse that had met it's match that day but wasn't going to concede the lead or the race without giving everything she had, I believed she overextended her capabilities and she shattered one of her front legs.

You can't convince me that these horses were not aware this race was special.There is no certain way to know but the heart and determination I saw wasn't from an animal forced to do something against it's will. It loved to run and race. I see your position but I see it all from a different angle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsi_ixx4pAY

They have the emotional equivalent of a teenager, I think. Yes, they know when there is a really big crowd of humans around, and they feel the excitement, and can smell it.

Yes, they want to please the owners as much as dogs want to please.

You aim too please?

That race will always be in my mind. Very sad day,...

That race was truly a tragedy, because it demonstrated the fallacy of breeding horses strictly for speed...

Overtime, undesireable receding genes are accumulated during the breeding process, until two of the undesireable genes will combine to produce a horse with a critical weakness, that when stressed to the level of (excessive?) racing strain, will result in a cataclysmic failure of the horse, resulting in it's death (a broken heel, in the case of Ruffian) and therefore, the loss of future foals...

The name, ''thoroughbred'', seems like it would be more accurate if it was changed to ''overbred''...

...and, for all the associated horse racing industry activity, when was the last time a horse racing world speed record was set?...

".... and, for all the associated horse racing industry activity, when was the last time a horse racing world speed record was set?... ..."

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A world racehorse speed ragon record was broken (new record set) in 2008, possibly more recently.

In horse racing, horses are typically racing other horses, not trying to set personal bests.

What exactly is a ''ragon''?...

Mine was one of the first of the 65 comments. The next poster said I said nothing, and the following poster accused me of "baseless assertions" and that I thought that criticism of an idea insults the person making the idea. That was certainly not my intent, as it depends on how the criticism is made. The emotional flood of comments that followed showed how people (including me) select facts and thoughts to support their positions, some politely, some less so. My post suggested that we try to understand why people say what they do, and where they are coming from.

As an engineer, I learned to believe what I see, and not vice versa. Doubt is a tool, not an enemy. That's why reproducible data are so important in science, but it takes courage to listen and learn with an open mind.

If we try to see where opposing views come from, we'll learn more and fight less. If anyone thinks that's bad, I'd still like to know why.

You aren't suggesting that your 'nobody bets on cows' was a well based assertion, are you?

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Just as a reminder, you did request that anyone who found error with what you wrote respond to tell you why. I find it a little odd for someone to complain when they get the very response they requested.

there is one other issue, whether it was mentioned.

Its not the track that damages the horse, its the breeders that selectively breed to get the traits to produce a fast horse.

Its the same with dog breeds, the breeders breed the dogs to get the certain traits, is the reason certain dog breeds have problems specific to their breed, such as hip (German Shepard), nasal (Pug), spinal (Dachshund), etc...

And with that said,... for the closed minded 'engineers' who are riding rather arrogantly on their high and almighty 'horse' this belongs in CR4... maybe in the BioMech & BioMed section.

Race horses live the life of a king, they are meticulously groomed, well fed, see a vet regularly....If you were a horse you would want to be a racehorse....much better than a wild horse that suffers out in the wilderness...I hear horse meat may be spreading as a delicacy....or a trip to the glue factory....either way if I was a horse, I would want to be a race horse...pampered and praised, revered as a champion...would you rather live in the ghetto or be a sports star hero?

https://tuesdayshorse.wordpress.com/2012/10/17/m-wells-dinette-scandal-and-dangers-of-horse-meat/

either way if I was a horse, I would want to be a race horse...pampered and praised, revered as a champion

This is my hypothetical story of the fast times of the Racehorse 'SolarEagle'...

Racehorse 'SolarEagle' lived the life of royalty,... until that fateful day as a (3) year old thoroughbred gelding (You were bought cheaply at an auction, the original owner gelded you, but the new owner had that feeling... )

and you're on the track when your unnoticed hairline fracture on your right front leg explodes on the home stretch, and they get the tent out to cover you so no one can see that they're about to put you down.

And here lies the racehorse 'SolarEagle', a tragic footnote in horse racing history.

The end.

^{geez phoenix, you really can be an ass....}

He lived well and died well....RIP

But you will be drugged to run faster, you would be put to sleep if you break a leg, you forced to run to exhaustion and will have a heart attack, you will be mistreated if you do not win the race.

Everyone in the whole world can tell that that's a pretty broad generalization of horse treatment.

So pretty much no change...?

Amichelen, how disappointing. I really though some progresa was being made.

When Toby was a puppy, when he chewed something he wasn't supposed to, did you beat him? When he releaved himself inside before he was house trained, did you kick him? When he humped your aunt's leg, did you choke him within inches of his life?

Of course not.

Do some people do those types of things? Unfortunately, some do. Most people with pets, in my experience do not and find those actions abhorrent.

Horse people are not that different from dog people. You really should go meet some.

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BTW racehorses, much like human atheletes are drug tested.

Hi to all,

Today, August 8, just two weeks after the start of the Race track session in Saratoga, we got our 11th victim.

Read here: https://horseracingwrongs.com/2017/08/06/unbroken-chain-killed-at-saratoga-today-11-dead-and-counting/

Eleven horses so far! Anyone wants to guess how many will be killed this session? Come on guys! We still have four more weeks to go.

Are you still planning to sponsor this place of horse killings?

Shame on all of us who go to this Roman Spectacle!

Anyone wants to guess how many will be killed this session? Come on guys! We still have four more weeks to go.

• Killed: 9,540,672
• Wounded: 12,546,097
• Missing in Action: 345,765

..."Shame on all of us who go to this Roman Spectacle!"...

Whatya mean us?....speak for yourself.....and put a sawbuck on Gladiator to win for me....

"What do you think about this?"

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I think it is an incomplete experience/knowledge that would lead you to seek to rid the world of thoroughbred horses, because you believe their sine qua non should be abolished.