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A rant.
14 years ago
General
I hate feeling like I have to preface every horse racing related piece of art I do with 'I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT' in relation to people who think it's 'cruel' or 'slavery' or that the horses are somehow -forced- into competition.
You are not only insulting my livelihood, you're insulting my own intelligence. And in addition, you're insulting the animals themselves. I dare anyone to climb aboard a thoroughbred, from greenbroke babies who have never raced to the most retired of ex-racehorses, and give them a chirp and a loose rein and see if they don't run. Turn them loose at liberty in a pasture, and watch them flip their tails up and take off at a gallop like it's the only thing they ever wanted to do. Watch them race each other in the field, pinning their ears and digging in faster if a horse dares come beside them to pass.
Running is in their blood. These horses are fighters, competitors. They want to run. If you think you have to 'force' it out of them, go ahead and try to gallop one down the backstretch--even alone, I guarantee unless you are dead fit and think you can hold back a freight train, you're going to have a handful of horse pulling your ass off to run off with you. And if you aren't dead fit, well... see you when he gets tired.
Yes, there are negative aspects of the sport-- what sport doesn't have crooked people willing to do whatever it takes to get ahead. I am not so stupid and blind to ignore that. There is still the use of illegal drugs and blood doping to get that extra edge out of horses who are run too much, who are unfortunately naturally slower or not as gifted as others. Of course there are the sensationalized stories of Barbaro and Eight Bells. Yes, horses get injured and horses die on the track every -day.- It is an unfortunate fact that my industry must deal with, and there have been -numerous- calls-- not just from outside the industry, but from those of us within it-- to change, and they haven't gone unheeded.
Whip rule reform, better understanding of how and why injuries occur, safer track surfaces, smarter horse management through science and understanding of their physiology, just to name a few.
It takes a special person to be in this kind of business-- it is 7 days a week, with no vacations, no holidays, no days off, from 5 am until 5pm-- sometimes as late as midnight or 1am if you are at a track with night racing. It is a complete and total commitment and ALL OF US understand that without THE HORSES we would be begging in the gutter. You CAN'T work in the racing industry if you don't have a deep and total love of the animals.
To compare it to slavery... is completely ignorant of everything I and my fellow racetrackers are trying to do, the perception we are working hard to change.
Spend a day with a thoroughbred, and maybe you'll understand. Until then, don't you dare come around my page patronizing me for the hard work that I and these magnificent, brilliant athletes do every day.
You are not only insulting my livelihood, you're insulting my own intelligence. And in addition, you're insulting the animals themselves. I dare anyone to climb aboard a thoroughbred, from greenbroke babies who have never raced to the most retired of ex-racehorses, and give them a chirp and a loose rein and see if they don't run. Turn them loose at liberty in a pasture, and watch them flip their tails up and take off at a gallop like it's the only thing they ever wanted to do. Watch them race each other in the field, pinning their ears and digging in faster if a horse dares come beside them to pass.
Running is in their blood. These horses are fighters, competitors. They want to run. If you think you have to 'force' it out of them, go ahead and try to gallop one down the backstretch--even alone, I guarantee unless you are dead fit and think you can hold back a freight train, you're going to have a handful of horse pulling your ass off to run off with you. And if you aren't dead fit, well... see you when he gets tired.
Yes, there are negative aspects of the sport-- what sport doesn't have crooked people willing to do whatever it takes to get ahead. I am not so stupid and blind to ignore that. There is still the use of illegal drugs and blood doping to get that extra edge out of horses who are run too much, who are unfortunately naturally slower or not as gifted as others. Of course there are the sensationalized stories of Barbaro and Eight Bells. Yes, horses get injured and horses die on the track every -day.- It is an unfortunate fact that my industry must deal with, and there have been -numerous- calls-- not just from outside the industry, but from those of us within it-- to change, and they haven't gone unheeded.
Whip rule reform, better understanding of how and why injuries occur, safer track surfaces, smarter horse management through science and understanding of their physiology, just to name a few.
It takes a special person to be in this kind of business-- it is 7 days a week, with no vacations, no holidays, no days off, from 5 am until 5pm-- sometimes as late as midnight or 1am if you are at a track with night racing. It is a complete and total commitment and ALL OF US understand that without THE HORSES we would be begging in the gutter. You CAN'T work in the racing industry if you don't have a deep and total love of the animals.
To compare it to slavery... is completely ignorant of everything I and my fellow racetrackers are trying to do, the perception we are working hard to change.
Spend a day with a thoroughbred, and maybe you'll understand. Until then, don't you dare come around my page patronizing me for the hard work that I and these magnificent, brilliant athletes do every day.
But I feel ya. I recently had it out for several days with a guy who thought lancing an abscess on a cow was torture
People.
I've seen plenty of things in the industry that I absolutely don't condone-- but I'm not alone in that and to know that there are plenty of other people-- a vast, vast majority-- that feel the same way within the industry, helps. It's not doom and gloom and there are plenty of good people willing to step up and say 'that's not right by the horse.' And it's up to my own personal integrity to make sure that I never do the things I disagree with, and better the people around me as much as I can, too.
Even from a business standpoint, it doesn't make good business sense to put your own livelihood in jeopardy by hurting your own horses. They're the only thing making you money-- otherwise you're just pouring it into them with no return. These horses can't so much as twitch a hair wrong without the vet being out to make sure they're 100%. The trouble is that a lot of the controversial practices that are supposed to 'help' horses, like Bute and Lasix, have side effects of helping them too much, and you end up with horses running through pain that would otherwise cause them to pull up before the break down, or contribute to horses running past their natural ability and have led to those horses going to the breeding shed and essentially brought about the weak-boned, bleeding-prone modern American thoroughbred.
But look at the steps that are being taken-- this year's Breeder's Cup, for example, will be mandated to be entirely Lasix, steroid, and drug free. Kentucky racing jurisdictions have just announced they are lowering the Bute threshold-- your horse can't race with nearly as much of the stuff in his system, the new amount being more akin to a mild tylenol than a vicoden.
Change is coming, and it's all for the horses.
If there is something that people feel shouldn't be condoned then it makes more sense to have a discussion and work something out. That's how change really happens.
And I agree about helping them too much. IMO, we cannot deny that American race horses are really not improving and I feel that these procedures are one of the biggest culprits, though other people have insisted that it's because we've sent a large amount of horses with good genes overseas.
Augh, the Breeder's Cup. I don't even know who I'm rooting for
Look at how someone watches the BBC speical on dog breeding and then think they're qualified to say all cat-dog breeding is inhumane, breeders are only in it for the profit and are all greedy bastards.
If anything in furry I've noticed good many of people have very little hands on skills with REAL animals. They like the animals, sometimes they read about them but it's not common to really work with them, working I mean not just owning as pet. Like you I worked with animals (only cats-dogs) professionally. So it would offend and downright insult me to see many in this community lumping the people I worked for as a handler/trainer as so evil/corrupt.
I got into an argument with one furry, I worked with some feral cat colonies. They tried to make it out like domesticating/containing a cat colony that is made up of neglected, forgotten animals with a lifespan of 2-4 years as I'm ruining their lives because in his mind a feral cat has some majestic untamed life. >:|
After that point I just said 'you know what, not worth my time arguing with someone that has more experienced with playstations/Xboxs/etc than a real animals'
Not saying all people in this community are like this but good amount use furry as an escapism and I think it spreads to their views on animals and animal care.
I've been around animals my entire life, even working in the private sector with exotics and I have heard first hand from someone who worked in a zoo about some of the stuff the zoos get away with, while the private sector has a witch hunt on them by people who thing a few bad apples ruin the whole bunch. -.- And you can't convince these people to go do what you, me, or anyone else who has the experience with animals have done. I maintain people like that would get trampled by a flock of chickens.
I'm am totally on your side, people who can't tell that an animal is having a good time, should not bother in saying anything, and yes, drug are always bad, and I feel sorry for those who need to use them, but to me, as long the horse is at no risk, is very healthy, trained well, and having a good ol time, then a good race is a fun and great race.
In the US, racing whip use has come under heavy fire in the last 5 years and has been reformed in most state racing jurisdictions. They have mandated the use of a 'soft' crop, a whip with cotton padding stitched into the end of the bat that lessens the stinging sensation and encourages horses to run more from sound of the pop than a smack on the butt.
But let me also interject that when these horses are running flat out at 40 mph, and getting tired in the last furlongs, there is no human way on earth just your arms and your prayers are going to ask him to give all his heart and overcome that fatigue to carry on to victory. That's what the whip is used for-- not to 'beat' him and frighten him into running, but to ask him for his best by one quick shot of adrenaline. The amount of adrenaline in a horse's system-- adrenaline is the best natural pain killer in the world, ask anyone who's ever pulled a muscle in a soccer game or sprained an ankle in a tennis match-- effectively numbs whatever sting is delivered. Also, there are many many many many times where a good rider knows he does not need to use the whip-- when his horse is overmatched against its competition or is too much the best, he rides him to the wire without it.
Long case in point, whips-- when used correctly and humanely-- do NOT hurt the animal. It's the same as kicking him in the ribs, which is impossible for a jockey to do because of how high they must ride in the stirrups to maintain the center of gravity to give the horse the least amount of hindrance so he can run his best.
They clearly dont realize that racehorses are some of the fittest horses out there and some people think they are treated horribly however my aunt works on the track doing various jobs and she knows that the horses there are treated like royalty.
It's just like people and rodeos, not all rodeos are the same as others. Maybe there are some people out there that just want to win and will do whatever it takes and so then EVERYONE assumes that ALL rodeos are like that. It's the same for racing.
Unfortunate things happen in every dicipline every day and every horse person knows that and they have to face unfortunate things all the time, its just life.
And if a horse didnt want to run, he wouldnt. They are alot bigger and stronger than us and if they dont want to do something they wont or they wont do it right.
I agree with this rant 100% and I have a lot of respect for what you do as your job. I can see your a hard worker and you still have time to create beautiful work. keep it up and don't let those silly people get to you! :)
:') Warms my little Kentuckian heart.
And horses dope their own blood, apparently.
You kinda have to be IN the business, like you are, to see all the changes and improvements. The media likes to focus on the bad and extreme aspects of any event, unfortunately.
But wow, wtf. Haha. Are people really that... derpy? Horses *are* domesticated animals, as beautiful as they are... I don't think they'd run for people if they didn't actually want to run to start with. :B
I hate to compare horses to dogs, but I know my dog is way happier when I let her outside to play, sniff, swim and do whatever else she does naturally. If I was a bird hunter, I know she'd be super-happy to jump into icy water and go fetch a duck for me (as she does that with toys all the time, lmao). Idk why people would really consider that slavery. Safe to say... everybody (animals included) want a purpose in life. ;3;
http://www.racingpost.com/news/hors.....stalls/892243/
http://www.racingpost.com/news/hors.....efusal/766675/
Both of these were top level racehorses (and both girls, ironically, women seem to have a mind of their own no matter the species) who one day just said "that's enough, kthx, this isn't fun any more."
I hope people aren't giving you too much trouble! You summed up everything so nicely in your journal... people who work so closely with animals (especially with something as intimate as racing) are probably not the ones who would want to abuse the animals they work with. X'D
Now that we are on the topic, I hear where you are coming from but I am still in disagreement about the industry as a whole, so long as it continues to exist in its current form. I am glad to hear there are people in the industry that care about the animals and try to do their best to advocate for them. But ultimately I see that as their burden of responsibility rather then charitable thoughtfulness.
Why? Because the animals are not there under their own consent. I am not surprised by their desire to run. I know that first hand from working with grey-hounds and huskies. But that drive is not there by natural selection, its there by our own design. How is it a benefit to them when they are placed in a good home and they escape just to endlessly see whats over the next hill? Or survive in the wild by wasting precious energy? These traits were breed into them for human interest and to further the industry. It wasn't a choice the animals were ever given.
The ultimate problem is that our current model of business is beholden to their bottom line, enforced by their investors and the law. Welfare is only a concern so long as it isn't in conflict with their profits. I'm sure that when they can, they will do what they can to make sure their product stays fit and healthy so they can get a return on their investment. That profit motive might even ensure that the horses are treated very well. But slaves treated like kings are still slaves. If you have no rights, and your nothing more then property, then your welfare will be secondary to the interest of the owners livelihood.
That's not a recipe for care, its a recipe for problems.
But you're right. We will not see eye to eye.
I wouldn't agree with any Animal Rights activist who believes that domestication is slavery. However, when you right into law a group as property... that's pretty much the exact definition of slavery.