Jun25
Drugs, Whips ... Who Has the Handcuffs?
Posted at 03:46 PM | Permalink
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Comments (34)
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Rick Dutrow is Big Brown's trainer, who was M.I.A. during the congressional hearings. It seems the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority found one of his horses, Salute the Count, with the highest level of clenbuterol (a bronchial dialator that also functions as a steroid) that the chief steward had seen in four years—more than twice the allowable level.
Dutrow is being suspended for a mere 15 days and will have to return the $20,000 that he made off drugging and racing Salute the Count at the race where he was tested. In his defense, he was quoted as saying that he uses this on many of his horses and has only once had a problem with it.
If that wasn't enough, jockey Jeremy Rose was recently suspended for "engag[ing] in extreme misuse of the whip" on his horse, Appeal to the City, according to this Blood-Horse article. I was not aware that there were proper and acceptable uses for whips on animals—only on humans.
Rose has been suspended (in Delaware only) for six months and will have to pay veterinary bills for the animal, which include treatment for hemorrhaging around his eye from being whipped in the face. Even though it's not as good as being permanently banned from contact with horses, Rose's relatively stiff sentence—virtually unheard of in the history of horseracing—shows that outside pressure is seriously having an effect on state regulatory bodies.
However, in the absence of an overarching federal body to oversee horseracing, the suspensions of Rose and Dutrow will only be effective in Delaware and Kentucky, respectively. They can still train, mount, drug, or whip horses elsewhere.
Posted by Sean Conner
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Comments
If a horse really "loved to run" they would not need to be whipped.
Let's see see hypocritical idiots take away the whips. And the spurs.
Posted by: kelly | June 25, 2008 04:16 PM
I would have loved nothing more than to have taken that whip out of that bastards hand and used it on him. It's great to boycott the races but to really make a dent we need to boycott "BETTING" that will hit them where it hurts. No betting, no races.
Peace for all animals!
Posted by: Judith | June 25, 2008 04:40 PM
PETA has done such a good job on this. Before, no one was discussing the issue, now everyone is. Keep it up.
Posted by: Maya, CVT | June 25, 2008 04:57 PM
lol kelly we finally agree on something!
Posted by: rose | June 25, 2008 05:25 PM
i strongly agree with kelly, if they love to run, why do they have to whipped?
Posted by: Meleightah | June 25, 2008 09:41 PM
Keep the pressure on PETA!
Save the horses from this awful unnecessary abuse!
And early death in slaughter houses.
People who abuse animals should punished under the law, and the laws need to be strict enough to be a deterrent.
Also court ordered counseling should be imposed to help the offenders so they dont abuse any living creature again.
Get them PETA!
Keep up the good work!
Go Vegan, save up to 100 farm animals per person per year, and save your health and our earth...
Posted by: Holly | June 26, 2008 07:02 AM
I work in the National Horce Racing in Greece as an office assistant and I see the daily training.
Not only to Horses but also
jokeys make use of a lot
illegal drugs (like cocaine,canabis e.t.c) very
often. When they get caught
nobody calls or reports to
the police authorities.
They just get banned from
horse racing for about
2 to 4 weeks.
In my 3 years there I have seen more than 10 horse deaths
because of drug abuse,
but I've never seen whip
abuse on horses
(although no matter what
when you force a horse to
run , in rain or shine
without it's concent ..
it should be the same..)
that's all for now.
Posted by: Ioannis | June 26, 2008 12:52 PM
I would think if a horse wanted to run, it would & there wouldn't be a need for whips,drugging and whatever else the sick bastards use. I can't believe it's allowed elsewhere.
Posted by: Heather Murphy | June 26, 2008 01:32 PM
Horses do love to run! That doesn't mean they love to run on demand, around a track, with blinders on, from a starting gate, and with a person they don't like on their back! Horses like to run across open fields with their friends (even human friends sometimes), and with their heads held high and tails flagged behind. They sometimes hurt themselves, but nature selects for the nimble and the strong, making better horses with each generation. Horses, love to run and its good for them. It exercises their huge lungs and hearts, and builds coordiantion and feeds their free spirits. I say, if you want a race, then bring on a track meet for humans, and let the horses run free! Nothing is more beautiful than horses running.
The racing industry is abusing horses for money...that's about it. In their own news they wrote about a successful race horse that was found in the kill yard of a sluaghter house. This horse had won prestigious races and the breeder had noted on his papers he could be retired at her farm. Still at 5 YEARS of age he was sent to die. 5 years is a just a young horse barely reaching it's maturity. How can they say they care one whit about the horses when they send a glorious winning horse that made it's owners over a $1M to death for no reason. Imagine the odds of surviving over five years of age for an average horse or a loosing horse.
Posted by: joanna | June 26, 2008 01:32 PM
Horse racing is abusive both for the animal and the horse gambler because eventually he loses everything.
Why is it that humans love sports if an animal is abused, loves fur if an animal is used, loves meat if an animal is butchered to put it on his plate, shoes if its made of leather at the cost of a butchered cow, medicine if animals have to be tortured, mutulated and vivisected for the sake of saving a human life, and the list goes on. What would it take to have the human race survive without the use and abuse of animals...My guess it probably would not be able to and only then would mankind find alternative ways to eat, develop medicine and find sports that dont require the abuse of animals.
We can hope cant we
Posted by: R | June 26, 2008 02:07 PM
Please note that if you actually read the Blood-Horse article you will see that Rose volunteered to pay the vet bills and that he immediatley notified the officials of the incident once he got off. Read his statement. Get your facts staight PETA!!! It was an accident. He is a good jockey who I have followed for years, he cares about his horses. Have you even been on a race horse? Probably not!! If a 1200 lb animal is lugging towards the rail you're going to flash your whip towards their face to get their attention and keep them form running into it - saving the horses life and possibly yours. Accidents happen. End of story. There are plenty of issues with the industry but you need to lay off and focus on the REAL problems. Stop grabbing smoke.
Posted by: Jennifer | June 26, 2008 04:40 PM
Get your facts straight. Rose' whip slipped in the race and he never hit the filly on purpose to hurt her in any way. Stupid PETA.
Posted by: Paint-Mare | June 26, 2008 07:28 PM
Dear Joanna,
What a refreshingly intelligent post!
Thank you!
Posted by: Susan T | June 27, 2008 02:40 PM
This jockey should perhaps just get a taste of the whip in his eye and maybe HE will pay better attention. Get rid of the whips and steroids and clean up this nasty business. I am orignally from Louisville, Kentucky and have attended many Derbys. I live in California now, but I have often spoken with pride about the Derby and horse racing. No more. It is shameful. The "sport of kings" is far from regal anymore.
Posted by: Pamela | June 27, 2008 09:35 PM
HEY JENNIFER AND PAINT-MARE(PAINT-MARE??)Anyways you don't seem to get the picture do ya?!horse racing for betting and sport is torturous on the animal. that 1200 lb horse not only has to support it's own weight but someone elses fat ass on those skinny legs. on top of running on that dirt on the track which ain't soft! add in some cruel whipping action go down to a stable unzip you're pants and flail yourself just once I dare ya to..nah didn't think so! So like i say to my coworkers and everybody else i meet if you wouldn't want to be tortured and sliced open alive don't eat meat and dont abuse other forms of life.use at least some of the sense ya got
Posted by: GRANT | June 28, 2008 04:39 PM
This issue has gone on long enough. STOP IT. I bet you all would fall over with the information I'm about to tell you. There's other equine sports where people abuse horses.
Gag bits-nasty bits that when you pull on the rein, it'll put pressure on their head toput their head down.
spurs- its a TRAINING AIDE if you have a horse that won't respond good to leg cues then its called get the spurs. My pleasure horse is a spur horse because he was born naturally lazy. Before we decided to ride him in spurs we tried a whip a gental tap to get him to go and he wouldn't
WHIP- did you know? in a lot of races the jockey doesn't hit the horse with the whip? He/she will wave it in the horses line of vision because a horse knows what a whip is. When the jockey waves it their telling the horse "I have this and my god I'll use it if you don't speed up"
Its true the drug situation is bad but don't jump down all RESPONSIBLE horse owners who don't use drugs unless their horse needs it
Posted by: Rachel | June 28, 2008 09:53 PM
I love you paint-mare. Although calling them stupid wont help. But guys come on Jeremy would never purposly whip the horse in the eye. And by the way joanna... you seriously think the horses don't like there jockeys? because that is a really stupid though. I was watching racing today and before the race started a joxkey kissed the horse on the neck and patted him softly. Oh ya that sounds SOOO cruel. and I saw that about sixteen times... no more like about 30 times today. Blinders... you mean blinkers? to help them run better? oh way because the horses totally hate those. They don't even bother them! AND WHY ARE YOU TARGETING RACE HORSES FOR SLAUGHTER HOUSE!?! now i am sorry but that is just OUT OF THE LINE! do you seriously think that all the entire horses that race go to the slughter house?!? and ONLY race horses? because that is a straight out LIE. many many MANY horses die not just race horses. just little kids ponies who outgrew them go to the slughter house! got you guys know nothing about facts. LOOK UP SOMETHING BEFORE YOU SAY IT.
oh and jennifer niiice. very well said. Sure there are plenty of problems with the industry, but like jennifer said, you're grabbing smoke.
Why don't you guys go solve the slughter horse problem... the one where they really ARE killing the horses... And they actually DONT enjoy it.
Posted by: Danica | June 29, 2008 01:33 AM
Sidenote: I plan on making a video on horseracing. To prove to you guys its not cruel.. watch it when im done ill post it
Posted by: danica | June 29, 2008 01:42 AM
Danica, why don't you take all that enthusiasm and make a video of horses running free in a sanctuary. That would be a video worth watching. And it would back your claim to love horses.
Posted by: lynda downie | June 30, 2008 02:45 AM
I am so pleased that the horse racing industry, loaded with idiots who claim to love horses, is now even more fearful of PETA. Stay after them PETA! Thoses of us who own and love our horses know deep in our hearts that the racing thugs exploit these beautiful animals for money. GO PETA! I'm donating more money to you because you have finally taken on causes near and dear to my heart: race horses and carriage horses
Posted by: Valerie | June 30, 2008 08:57 AM
This is referring to a horse called Unrequited a 5 year old gelding. This is a horse trained by Rick Dutrow. Unrequited was raced on Friday at Belmont to an unplaced finish. The horse was then shipped to Monmouth to run on Sunday. The horse broke down in the race that he was entered. I am not sure if he was euthanized or not. Horses should be given more rest then one day. Thank you! If anyone can find out anymore about this please post.
Posted by: Jen | June 30, 2008 06:12 PM
Hey Danica...I can't wait to see the video. I would really like to exchange emails to talk about this in private. qshirl@yahoo.ca, write when you have time! :)
And Lynda, horses don't have to run free in a sanctuary to be happy. Wake up, the world isn't happy pretty land. A racehorse does not have a thousand acres of lush land to frolick and prance in, but they are well looked after; they have their basic needs met, and they get medical attention when they need it. They have good food, and a clean stable to live in.
PS: Grant, jockeys aren't fat. They weigh a lot less than what you probably do. Name calling, how intelligent. Go back home so your mommy can give you a spanking.
Posted by: S.Q. | July 1, 2008 09:09 PM
S.Q.
Horses have to be 'broken' to submit to a life of clean stables and good food and regimented racing. Their fight against domination reveals how highly they value their freedom. Those who truly love horses respect their dignity and right to autonomy.
Posted by: lynda downie | July 4, 2008 01:13 AM
lynda,
Fight against domination? So you're saying that when my horse greets me with a nicker every morning, nuzzles me when I go up to her, follows me around without a halter, and trusts me when we encounter obstacles while riding, is fighting against domination? You seem to be saying that all horses hate humans, which is untrue. Horses are not "broken" to live life with humans. They allow us to care for them because the horse is a willing and generous creature. When given proper care and love, a horse will willingly give back to humans by working. The horse you're
talking about seems to be from the Black Stallion. Not all horses are human haters that want to break free and roam the prairies. In fact, I'm sure if racehorses were given the power of speech, most would say that they loved their trainers and grooms and would rather stay with them than be released to live a supposed harmonious life. Your view of horses seems equivalent to that of a horse crazy six year old who thinks all horses belong in wild mustang herds. In reality, horses are working animals. Those horses who are born in the wild would prefer to stay in the wild; and those born into a world with humans would probably like to sleep in a clean barn with human care than in a cold hard meadow. That is just the way they have been raised, and no, they don't hate it.
Posted by: S.Q. | July 4, 2008 03:13 PM
I help train horses and i have seen some instances of abuse, but that doesn't mean that horses hate to be ridden.My horse is a reiner and she loves to do her job. Even she knows when we've pulled off a good slide and we both relish in it. A true trainer knows that to get a horse to give its all it has to want to. You have no horse if it doesn't truly want to run. ( in the case of racehorses.)You also have to keep in mind that any horse can be dangerous, especially stallions. If you give some breeding stallions any gray zone, they could seriously hurt somebody, but that doesn't mean it's not a great horse that can pass along amazing bloodlines and abilities. Some horses need a little bit more of a hand when you ride them. If all horses were the same. We would have 1 type of bit and 1 type of saddle, and everybody could ride exactly the same, but then everybody could ride. That's part of the challenge, to see what you can do with your horse and how far the teamcan go. So don't be too quick to judge how other people ride or what they thought was right at that point and time.
Posted by: Mikayla | July 5, 2008 08:45 PM
S.Q. I think you're right, my view is like a 6 yr old who wants all horses to be free. I guess The Black Stallion still lives wild in me.
Posted by: lynda downie | July 7, 2008 12:57 AM
S.Q.
Thank you for that great response. " They allow us to care for them because the horse is a willing and generous creature. When given proper care and love, a horse will willingly give back to humans by working." You demonstrated to me the TRUE relationship between horse and Man (in a general sense) People cannot understand the most incredible relationship between them. Man has relied on horse and horse has relied on man for generations. You are a horseman... Dave
Posted by: Dave | July 7, 2008 03:16 PM
S.Q Anytime! Ya I'm busy lately, and I have to upload and get enough pics but ya I'll show you the video :)
Posted by: Danica | July 7, 2008 03:31 PM
Thank you Dave,
But that's horseWOMAN ;)
Lynda,
I can see how you want horses to live a wonderful free life; and I can tell you that when I go trail riding with my horse and see wild horses together on the mountains, I think it is beautiful; and I wouldn't want any human to interrupt their lives. But the fact is, humans have domesticated horses for hundreds of years. It would be a shame to release all horses who have been bred to work alongside humans for so long; in fact, many of them wouldn't be able to survive with at least some human care. My friend, Mandy, lives at a ranch and has 20 or so horses that live outside in a large pasture, all year long. However, they receive extra hay in the winter, water; blankets, and a shelter. During one winter storm, a mare was about to give birth, and my friend took her inside the barn. The foal was premature and Mandy was able to get a vet in and give the foal vital shots and care. No doubt the foal (and mare)would not have survived without these. The foal has now grown into a strapping colt who is excellent with children. So you see, humans don't always have a negative impact on horses. Although some horses are abused, sometimes horrifically; horsemen and women have the responsibility to make sure these animals are cared for as best as they can. Many (who have the resources and skills) will take in an abused horse and help it recover. Some of the stories are truly amazing. Please don't dismiss all horse-human relationships as evil and wrong.
Posted by: S.Q. | July 7, 2008 03:48 PM
Rose's suspension has now been cut to 3 months allowing him to be back on the track at Delaware Park on Sept. 23.
According to an article posted today on delawareonline.com, "The Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission today cut jockey Jeremy Rose's suspension from six months to three months in the wake of a horse whipping incident June 23 at Delaware Park."
Not cool. What kind of example does this set???
Posted by: Aileen | July 22, 2008 02:42 PM
These Animal are being run to death, yet thousand watch.
We watch them fall to their death on the track yet the standerds that horses are deem sound has not changed. why? Eight Belles death was a crime, this little girls ran her self to death for humans who could have/should have protected her. Ijuries like hers dont just happen.
Posted by: Tammy | July 28, 2008 01:18 AM
This might be off topic here, but when people say Eight Belles was injured during the race they go by the way her head was. Why hasn't anyone watched her legs during the running. I'm pretty sure that you can she her legs moving in the stretch and I didn't see anything.
Posted by: Steph | August 27, 2008 11:54 AM
HEY S Q PAY ATTENTION IF U CAN to the first paragraph of my statement I"ll type it slow so u can keep up ..we're talking about horseracing not privately owned farm horses RETARD (how's that for name calling) ok..horseracing there is treatment for A.D.D you know .The differences are a million miles apart as previously mentioned! OH and the longevity of your boring misinformed diatribes don't make you seem any more intelligent. Your views towards animal rights are screwed up as it is.So stop talking shit behind the safety of your computer and be RESPECTFUL!.
Posted by: GRANT | March 3, 2009 12:04 PM
Dudes relax. i show horses in jumping. its basically racing caz u encourage them to go really fast to the jumps. my horse loves it, its not cruel. when i turn him loose in the pasture i swear to god he jumps every log in sight. so he obviously enjoys it. I don't go to say that every horse, or animal for that matter, likes their 'job,' but if they hated that much don't you think they would just attack the person?
So racing and all that isnt really cruel unless you know fo sho that the animal doesn't like it. which you dont, so don't act like you know how they feel. every being has their own feelings and opinions on things.
Posted by: Equestrian jumper gal | May 17, 2009 08:02 PM