Kind of an extreme reason to put down a horse !

[submariner409]

You breed horses to race, and you breed cars to race. Unfortunately torque wrenches can't fix a horses' legs or heart but will fix a broken mechanical widget in a car.

A living, breathing horse races its guts out through love, training and care. An iron horse races because you force it to.........

[dkozloski]

They juice up the horses with steroids just like pro athletes until their muscles overpower their skeletal structure; think Brian Bosworth. They literally break their own bones to please their owners, trainers, and riders.
It's a nasty business similar to fighting dogs and in my opinion about as ethical. The big problem with the whole operation is that the horse doesn't get a vote in the matter.

[CadillacSTS2003]

it all depends on the owner
my dad has owned hundreds of through bread horses in his lifetime
he even did have one run at the Kentucky Derby
when it comes to the horses treatment or ill treatment of that matter it all comes down to the scruples of the owners and training staff

[70eldo]

Horse meat makes very good smoked sausage. My favourite!

[Jesda]

MOAR GLUE!

[dkozloski]

Horsemeat is very popular in Europe. More than one seller of a thoroughbread horse has found out that the horse he just sold to an old world nobleman was destined for the stewpot.

[CadillacSTS2003sgurl]

Originally Posted by CadillacSTS2003

it all depends on the owner
my dad has owned hundreds of through bread horses in his lifetime
he even did have one run at the Kentucky Derby
when it comes to the horses treatment or ill treatment of that matter it all comes down to the scruples of the owners and training staff

True. I've had my fair share of riding horses and going to different ranches to ride/help. You can tell whether some of those horses were either well kept or not by the owners + trainers. I was at a ranch in Michigan for one summer and the horse I was assigned to I swear was going to fall over, you could see his ribs. He had white foam around his mouth. Such a beautiful horse, black with white markings on his face... his name was Cody. I pretty much had to force feed him so he would eat.

Also the horse farm behind Jason's house, all/well most of those horses are malnourished. In the winter time when they escaped into Jason's backyard you could see their ribs too. Just makes you sick. The owner is really old, limps around alot. I would definitely love to help the guy out, I'll have to talk to the neighbors down the street since their daughter goes over to groom them.

I know a lot of people who think horse racing is abuse (since they use a crop to whip them)... I'm on the fence on that issue. I love seeing horses race, it shows their ability. But meh...

[MauiV]

I play the ponies a bit and follow thoroughbred news some. Most elite horses today are lucky to see a dozen starts. Trainers are forced to use steroids to keep up with the other trainers that use them. Until states like Ky, NY and Cali ban steroids it will continue to run rampant in the industry.

Another contributing factor is the inbreeding which occurs in this breed. All thoroughbreds can trace their lineage to one of 3 horses and with studs like Storm Cat continuing to pump out ($500,000 a pump) Graded Stakes winners and proven studs the gene pool overlaps at numerous levels.

Poly track seems to help on the injuries and Keeneland has seen its injury rate drop significantly after developing and installing the surface. The Cali Racing Commission has mandated ALL tracks in the state go to poly. Big problem is Churchill Downs and Keeneland are VERY big competitors and Churchill will resist adding the poly to the bitter end because Keeneland will gain from it.

[CadillacSTS2003sgurl]

10 minutes until Preakness Stakes race!!!

[CIWS]

..and Big Brown takes that crown as well