cluebyfour: breakdown, go ahead give it to me

Brian Martinez (

cluebyfour) wrote,
@ 2008-05-03 22:39:00

Entry tags:

animals, sports

breakdown, go ahead give it to me
I spent some time yesterday trying to come up with some response to agentsteel53's assertion that horse racing is "cruel and senseless", but nothing persuasive came to mind. Probably because I'm no fan of the sport. The kind of racing I like involves four wheels and an engine that burns methanol or dead dinosaur flesh. All I could think of is that humans have been racing horses almost since they domesticated the beasts, and at least in Western cultures, with horses bred and trained specifically for racing, what you're seeing are the superstar athletes of the equine world. If one doesn't have a problem with watching humans sprint around a track, then I'm not sure why one would object to horses doing the same.

That doesn't make the news that Eight Belles was euthanized following her race in the Kentucky Derby today any easier to swallow, of course. Eight Belles, the only filly in the race, finished second behind favorite Big Brown, then collapsed with both of her front ankles broken. She ran "the race of her life", as her trainer put it. Ain't that a shitter? You finish in the money and get turned into glue. And you have to wonder if it was a wise idea to run Eight Belles against the boys, when there's a race held the day before (Kentucky Oaks) just for the fillies. I don't know enough about the sport to say for sure. All I know is, we saw a horse literally run herself to death.

I still can't say if horse racing is a brutal, inhumane sport, but I sure don't see the point of it, either.

(Post a new comment)

	agentsteel53 2008-05-04 04:56 am UTC (link)
	We can assert for a fact that people volunteer to run races. We do not know this about horses. I for one believe that they don't. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	cluebyfour 2008-05-04 05:15 am UTC (link)
	How can you be sure, though? After all that's what these horses are bred and trained for. Certainly you don't see their trainers struggling to drag them into the starting gates. I suppose if horse racing was run like dog fighting it wouldn't even be up for debate, but the purpose of horse racing isn't to destroy horses. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

agentsteel53
2008-05-04 05:20 am UTC (link)

I don't think we can be sure either way. Until Mr. Ed comes down the path, we can't exactly go and ask. If they are bred and trained to race, to such an extent that they will not know when to stop themselves, it implies that that breeding and training has overridden a standard biological check in their system that would prevent self-destruction. Those horses that go down in the Kentucky Derby and elsewhere have literally run themselves to death. No healthy organism purposely self-destructs.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	cluebyfour 2008-05-04 05:29 am UTC (link)
	Yeah, I would tend to agree with this. The doctor who euthanized Eight Belles did say he'd never seen an injury like that in his life. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	gentlemaitresse 2008-05-04 03:29 pm UTC (link)
	Humans seem to purposely self-destruct all the time. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	gentlemaitresse 2008-05-04 03:28 pm UTC (link)
	I'm pretty sure that animals don't volunteer to be put on leashes or in cages, either. I'm pretty sure horses don't volunteer to be ridden, or driven, or made to plow a field. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	deadpansev 2008-05-04 01:27 pm UTC (link)
	All interactions between humans and other animals are cruel in the eyes of someone. One the whole, race horses are treated better than other animals in their dealings with humans. This doesn't mean it is not cruel. (Reply to this)

	gentlemaitresse 2008-05-04 03:30 pm UTC (link)
	Would you feel differently, do you think, if horses were used for food? (Reply to this)(Thread)

	cluebyfour 2008-05-04 03:59 pm UTC (link)
	I don't know; but I'm pretty sure that if they were, they probably wouldn't be run around a track at top speed before sending them to the slaughterhouse. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	gentlemaitresse 2008-05-04 04:09 pm UTC (link)
	Would you want them to give their permission before being slaughtered? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	cluebyfour 2008-05-04 04:22 pm UTC (link)
	Hey, I'm not the one who suggested that horses don't "volunteer" to run races. I'm just saying I find it pointless, particularly when one of the outcomes may be having to kill the participants. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	gentlemaitresse 2008-05-04 06:40 pm UTC (link)
	All sports carry risks, and ultimately they are pointless. I mean, I don't understand the thrill of watching guys drive cars around in circles for hours. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	actionjackson36 2008-05-04 07:03 pm UTC (link)
	I think he's saying that at least in human sports people can consent to doing pointless things, that's their right. Whereas with animals since we can't ascertain their will, if we are going to use them for things there should at least be some purpose (like for food, clothing, etc.). (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	gentlemaitresse 2008-05-04 08:08 pm UTC (link)
	Entertainment is a purpose. (Reply to this)(Parent)

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