Michele Lee

After a long discussion about Eight Belles and racing with Jason last night I want to clarify myself a bit. I think that the answer to “Is horse racing cruel?” is “Maybe”. Having worked with an ex-racer, and horses in general, not to mention having some in depth conversation with grooms on the Churchhill Downs backside I consider myself not an expert, but not completely in the dark either.

Horses love to run, and Thoroughbreds love to run more than most. I have no doubt that the average Thoroughbred, much less those that make it to the Derby level are insanely well cared for. Before I saw the tears on Eight Bell’s trainer’s face I knew no one puts their horse in the Derby unless they think they have a chance. Many horses are scratched from races every day because of injuries or health problems, or a trainer just not wanting to put their luck. In general these people love their horses and want the best for them. And financially it makes sense to take care of your money maker, not running them into the ground.

My problem is that I think they’re raced too young. I think that Eight Belle’s forelegs weren’t strong enough to stand up to the punishing pace that the Derby required because she was so young and because (as any human athlete can tell you) every time someone competes they get hurt. Microscopic tears of the muscle, pulled ligaments, tiny cracks of the bone. They all heal, and sometimes no one even notices them because they are simply that tiny. But add that up over the several races it takes for a trainer to decide they have a Derby horse and each tiny injury can be harder to heal, pushing a seemingly fit horse directly into a break down.

Eight Belles was born February 23, 2005, so she was 3.

I would also like to know what the number of injuries are for older horses, the 4 and 5 year olds who run. I’m not asking with a closed mind, but I would like someone to tell me why we can’t move the racing ages up to 4, 5 and 6 instead of 2, 3 and 4.

I also wonder of the 30,000 estimated horses born for racing this year, what happens to all the ones that don’t make it? I know a number are retired to breed, sometimes even if they haven’t won or don’t make it to the big three races. There are also Thoroughbred rescue organizations, individuals who keep them as pets, trainers and owners who end up keeping them as pets and places like The Kentucky Horse Park which takes care of some of them as well. I know ex-racers make excellent pleasure horses and also can be excellent at other kinds of horse competitions as well (jumping, dressage, eventing, even barrel racing). But what are the numbers? What proportion of ex-racers or never-were racers end up taken care of and how many end up like the gorgeous lady I had the privilege of meeting, turned out into a field on a donkey farm with the tease pony, the mule mare and no shelter save for a copse of trees?

That one came to a bitter end as well. After a few months of visiting and working with her on the ground, grooming her and paying out of my own pocket to deworm her instead of selling her to me, the owner thought she was looking mighty fine and sent her off to a breeding farm to pop out some babies. At the farm she managed to get out of her stall and had a run in with some farm equipment. After trying for two months to clear up an infection and let the massive wound on her shoulder heal they ended up putting her down because it was too expensive to keep up (the vet and the stall rental at a breeding farm) and she couldn’t be moved back to the donkey farm because of the injury.

Her owner wasn’t a true racehorse type. He was a donkey farm owner who went in on a race horse with a friend who handled everything. He honestly didn’t do much but handle the business side of his farm. When the filly failed on the track he offered up his field, and before sending her off to breed he bought out his partner, who had no interest in breeding horse, just in training and racing them.

Inexperience was the problem in her case, but it’s still just as sad.