fail or FAIL?

[hafital]

I am not talking about BSG or 24. NOPE. NOT GOING TO DO IT. Except to say they're trying to kill me. jeezus.

Instead, let's talk about this new reality tv show on Animal Planet, "Jockeys", all about Thoroughbred racing and jockeys, and whatever drama the jockeys get into.



So, I'm not a big fan of TB horse racing. It's a cruel sport. They typically start racing the horses too young at 2 or 3 years of age. Horses are retired as soon as they stop earning money which in most cases is about 8 years old-- consider that horses generally are not fully mature and shouldn't be undersaddle until at least 8 to begin with. Many race horses become lame or unsound due to racing before their bones are mature. All they are trained to do is to break cleanly from the gate and run fast, so if by chance they are sound when they're retired, and not sold at auction for the slaughterhouse, they have to be retrained.

There are several Thoroughbred rescue establishments throughout the country. Probably the biggest is The Thoroughbred Rescue Foundation, but I know there are many others.

From the TRF's about page:

The sad truth is that a vast majority of the general public and even many racing fans are unaware of the sad fate that awaits thousands of Thoroughbreds each year. They assume each animal is assured a safe and graceful retirement once its racing days are over. Their perception of the "Sport of Kings” is one where great personal wealth and life-long benevolence to all horses are givens. Unfortunately, it is a perception that does not reflect reality.

Reality is a Thoroughbred industry made up largely of owners with only modest resources and current economics that dictate that among all owners, no matter how responsible and well-intended, only a relatively few are capable of maintaining even a single Thoroughbred once it is unable to earn its keep on the track. Reality is a world where horse meat is in demand in many foreign countries and there are several slaughterhouses in the U.S., Canada and Mexico happy to create a supply. It is a reality the TRF is determined to change...

The horses at these farms and several of our other facilities often are so infirm when retired from racing that they can do little more than enjoy their days in their paddocks and fields. However, hundreds of TRF horses have successfully been trained for second careers, as show jumpers, companion horses, handicapped riding horses, even polo horses.

It should be noted that the two remaining horse slaughterhouses in the US have been closed, and I think it's now against the law or the senate just recently passed the law, but there's still auctions in which kill buyers buy horses and try to ship them either to Mexico or to Canada, where they're slaughtered and the meat is shipped to Europe and Japan -- there's some sort of transport law in the works to prohibit the shipping of these horses out of the country, but I don't know all of the details of how that's going. It's beyond disgusting. And I'm not going to go into how the horses are slaughtered. There are videos available on some websites. I've never been able to watch them. There are also establishments that go into auctions to try and buy these horses before the kill buyers do, but I've been told by a friend of mine who donated money to one of them that they are reporting kill buyers now are on to them and do all sorts of things to drive the auction price up or something to make it harder for these rescue people to buy the horses.

Many racing establishments now have no-slaughter policies, which, you know, I applaud but I'm APPALLED that something like a no-slaughter policy is even needed -- and this is a recent development, and for ages racing establishments turned a blind eye. Also, it doesn't answer for the general misuse of these gorgeous animals within the perfectly legal doings of horse racing. There is very little regulation.

And you know, I get it. I know why people love racing. It's not only the gambling -- it's a tradition that's goes back millennia. It's the topic of countless inspirational movies. It's thought of as romantic and thrilling and dangerous and exciting. It's also beautiful motion, heart-stopping action, etc. They're gorgeous creatures and it's awesome to see them run. But, it's wrong. And that's that. Although I don't get what the appeal is regarding jockeys. This show has a couple of female jockeys and that's kind of cool -- it's been a solely men's club for so long.

I'm tempted to watch for the horses but I know I'm just going to be royally pissed off the entire time. And one of the trailers I saw had all these fantastic shots of the horses having these terrific falls and collisions and I'm just not going to be able to take it, and I know all the drama is going to be about the jockeys getting injured and I'm going to be like FUCK YOU, YOU BASTARDS. I read one reviewer's post for the show, which said he was nervous about watching it for many of these reasons but Animal Planet said no horses were injured, which is bullshit. Even if a horse gets back up after a fall like that and can race again - it's not good for them! This isn't movie magic here. These horses are really falling, and badly!

Also, there's NOTHING (and I admit I didn't thoroughly search because I found the website annoying) on the Animal Planet's website about either slaughterhouses OR the fact that Thoroughbred horse racing makes horses lame and ruins their lives before they're 8 years of age.

So. yeah.

FAIL.

Comments

[hafital.livejournal.com]

I love hearing about race horses being retrained and then living long, happy lives. :D :D

[adonnchaid.livejournal.com]

He was a good horsie. And sometimes you could still feel the "race horse" in him. I was playing polo one time, and in a ride-off with a friend whose horse was also a "race track reject" and my horse and his horse looked at each other and took off, tearing down the field, racing each other. We just sat on them and laughed, knowing they'd stop when they got to the end of the field. When they'd run themselves out, we turned and went back to the rest of the game.

[teresa-c.livejournal.com]

Is your horse gone now, or was this a different horse?

[adonnchaid.livejournal.com]

I had to put him down in Spring of 2007 (he was 30 and had gotten to the point where he couldn't keep his balance on his hind legs any more), but it was the horse I had here, so you met him.