Reader says lack of public support for horse show is a shame

Reader says lack of public support for horse show is a shame LETTERS & FEEDBACK To ColumbiaMagazine.com: We went to the fair tonight to watch the horse show.

[wtg]

I think that with alot of people money is short right now. It makes you stop and think what may be ahead as far as spending money on things you do not need to.

[snap crackle pop]

I'm sorry that I missed the horse show. If I was going to attend a night at the fair, that would probably be my choice. The talent contest is also very entertaining. It's nice to see all the local talent that is in our little area perform.

[show]

Maybe it needs to be advertised more. I love the horse show and I missed it, too.

[Better Night]

I think it should be during the Fair not before it "actually" starts . I don't think people even realize it is going on and it is on a weekend when many are out of town or celebrating the 4th in some way. Make it a part of the fair and it will be better received. It is much more of a family event than cage fighting and demolition derbies. I have NO desire to take my family to these.

[MJMELLY]

The horse industry is not very good and it has been falling short for several years, not just in this area but all over the United States, your national horse shows still gain attention from good pedgrees.

Although, it's just not with our local shows the horse industry itself is seeing major problems. Horse owners for the last several years are having a difficult time keeping up with the demand of just feeding large head(s) of stock. It is so bad, that some are returning their horses loose into the wild.

Our American Heritage that stood on the front
line(s) with so many of our finest men during wars "The Mustang" are in big goverment lock downs dieing, the goverment is trying to control the population of wild mustangs to the point they are considering putting them down. This is our heritage they go back as far as we do as human beings. Wish more could be done!!!

I agree more attention needs to be put forth.. Good topic.

It's said but the days or short lived in the horse industry!!

[Lacilu98]

I hope it's a trend, maybe all animal exploitation involving horses will end by fizzling out. After 8 Belles people are sick of seeing beautiful animals breakdown & put to death for human 'sport or entertainment' it's a real turn off. If you read other threads in horse racing alot of the drugs, deaths, slaughters have been exposed and doesn't show the horse racing industry in a very flattering light. I'm sure it trickles down into the other exploitations like 'horse shows' whatever the hell that involves, I'd rather leave the animals alone.

Start a owner/breeder beauty pageant or something instead, let the owners & breeders have a human show to see who's the fastest & most attractive. At least they have a choice in the matter, but I bet most are fuc**** fugly.

[Whatever]

Lacilu98 wrote:

I hope it's a trend, maybe all animal exploitation involving horses will end by fizzling out. After 8 Belles people are sick of seeing beautiful animals breakdown & put to death for human 'sport or entertainment' it's a real turn off. If you read other threads in horse racing alot of the drugs, deaths, slaughters have been exposed and doesn't show the horse racing industry in a very flattering light. I'm sure it trickles down into the other exploitations like 'horse shows' whatever the hell that involves, I'd rather leave the animals alone.
Start a owner/breeder beauty pageant or something instead, let the owners & breeders have a human show to see who's the fastest & most attractive. At least they have a choice in the matter, but I bet most are fuc**** fugly.

Since you don't know what a "horse show" is why don't you save your comments for some other audience. If riding a horse around in a ring and showing that you have good command of the animal is exploitation our country would have never been founded. Horse Shows are simple entertainment and fun for all. Certainly better than seeing people ram cars into each other and fight in a cage.

[maybe]

Lacilu98 wrote:

I hope it's a trend, maybe all animal exploitation involving horses will end by fizzling out. After 8 Belles people are sick of seeing beautiful animals breakdown & put to death for human 'sport or entertainment' it's a real turn off. If you read other threads in horse racing alot of the drugs, deaths, slaughters have been exposed and doesn't show the horse racing industry in a very flattering light. I'm sure it trickles down into the other exploitations like 'horse shows' whatever the hell that involves, I'd rather leave the animals alone.
Start a owner/breeder beauty pageant or something instead, let the owners & breeders have a human show to see who's the fastest & most attractive. At least they have a choice in the matter, but I bet most are fuc**** fugly.

I agree with you on some points. I don't think you should mistreat an animal, such as doing things to it like making its feet sore so it will step higher and I don't like those big padded shoes either. But these horses are treated better than horses that are running loose in a pasture somewhere. They get the best of feed, grooming, healthcare and are excerised regularly. Accidents do happen and the humane thing to do is put the horse down. I bet the owner and trainer mourn for the horse like we do our pets when we lose them, and a lot of dogs and cats are killed because nobody wants them. They love these horses and they spend a lot of time with them. I don't think there is anything wrong with racing or showing horses unless you abuse them and I know this does happen. But from watching both, these horses are in a lot better shape than the ones you see elsewhere and are taken a lot better care of. Of course the horses don't have a say in it but neither does any animal. I'm sure cows, chickens, deer, hogs, or any other meat we eat had rather not be slaughtered. Dogs, cats, and other pets don't want to be dumped on the side of the road to starve or be killed. If you think about it these horses are treated pretty good actually and a lot better than other horses. So if they are not abused, I don't see anything wrong with it. These horses are beautiful and I love to watch them in shows but I have only watched races on TV.

[horseracingsuks]

When people fight in a cage it's their choice, you don't get to compare what activities and risks people choose to participate in to 'sports' like horse racing where the animal has no voice to say no to a man riding his back pushing him with a whip to go beyond it's capabilities. See, animal rights has heard that argument adnaseum and it just doesn't fly.

[maybe]

horseracingsuks wrote:

When people fight in a cage it's their choice, you don't get to compare what activities and risks people choose to participate in to 'sports' like horse racing where the animal has no voice to say no to a man riding his back pushing him with a whip to go beyond it's capabilities. See, animal rights has heard that argument adnaseum and it just doesn't fly.

Everyone has their own opinion, but if anyone has a problem with some of these things then they need to think twice before eating that big juicy steak, hamburger, pork chop, chicken leg etc. because these animals sure didn't have a choice in their fate either. I LOVE ANIMALS but some of this stuff is is taken too far. Animals are killed every day for human consumption. I think if horses had a choice they would rather us watch them race or parade around in a horse show than for us to eat them or work them all day on a farm or in the log woods like years ago and if they could tell us they would probably agree that they are treated better than any other animal besides house pets and a lot of other horses that don't get enough to eat or starve because the owners don't or can't afford to feed them.

[Mirabel_858]

"They Love To Run"

Here are a few key points about how this works, and there’s lots more info on this horseracing factsheet:

1. Nobody “loves to run” when they’re suffering from bleeding lungs or painful leg injuries, but that doesn’t stop trainers from pumping these animals full of drugs to mask the pain, enhance their performance and just plain keep them going.

2. We are getting calls and faxes about all kinds of cocktail mixes that "are common knowledge in the back stretch." Sometimes people are caught and suspended when they’re careless—as was the case with this veterinarian who got busted for injecting cobra venom into a horse as a nerve blocking agent. For real.

3. Why was Eight Belles so fragile? Well, horses begin training when their skeletal systems are still growing, and they’re completely unable to deal with pounding their limbs into jelly on a hard track at high speeds.

3. Don't tell me that all those people who "really know about horses" didn't have an inkling that this filly - a filly, no less - was a high risk for serious injuries like the ones she sustained. But she was raced anyway. Any gue$$es as to why?

4. As I mentioned before, horses that don’t make the cut get shipped off to slaughterhouses. The fact that anybody who knows this would still have the gall to comment on this blog saying that these animals are “treated better than most humans” is just too depressing to even think about.
__________

For better or for worse, Eight Belles is now a very public representative of an industry that’s rotten to its rotten core. My only hope is that people will keep looking deeper into the way these horses are treated. And don’t dare try and tell me that they like it.

Peta files

maybe wrote:

<quoted text>Everyone has their own opinion, but if anyone has a problem with some of these things then they need to think twice before eating that big juicy steak, hamburger, pork chop, chicken leg etc. because these animals sure didn't have a choice in their fate either. I LOVE ANIMALS but some of this stuff is is taken too far. Animals are killed every day for human consumption. I think if horses had a choice they would rather us watch them race or parade around in a horse show than for us to eat them or work them all day on a farm or in the log woods like years ago and if they could tell us they would probably agree that they are treated better than any other animal besides house pets and a lot of other horses that don't get enough to eat or starve because the owners don't or can't afford to feed them.

[Mirabel_858]

They Love to Run- A Follow-Up

Well, about 500 or so comments later, the thread on this post about the recent Kentucky Derby horror is still going strong. It’s clear that this issue has deeply affected a lot of people—and hopefully, all this emotion about Eight Belles’ tragedy will result in some actual reforms that will give at least some degree of protection to the horses who are abused by this industry.

I don’t usually make a point of singling out certain comments on this blog, but there were enough people who made statements along the lines of “But horses are born to race. That’s what they love,” or, like,“They’re treated better than most humans,” that I figured it was worth pointing out a few more things about the horseracing industry, which, like any industry which depends on animal domination and exploitation, will try to get away with any abusive or neglectful practice that might make them an extra dime. And the real victims—Eight Belles and the thousands of less famous horses who died under similar circumstances or else were shipped off to Europe for human consumption—live miserable lives and die painful deaths.

Here are a few key points about how this works, and there’s lots more info on this horseracing factsheet:

1. Nobody “loves to run” when they’re suffering from bleeding lungs or painful leg injuries, but that doesn’t stop trainers from pumping these animals full of drugs to mask the pain, enhance their performance and just plain keep them going. We are getting calls and faxes about all kinds of cocktail mixes that "are common knowledge in the back stretch." Sometimes people are caught and suspended when they’re careless—as was the case with this veterinarian who got busted for injecting cobra venom into a horse as a nerve blocking agent. For real.

2. Why was Eight Belles so fragile? Well, horses begin training when their skeletal systems are still growing, and they’re completely unable to deal with pounding their limbs into jelly on a hard track at high speeds. Don't tell me that all those people who "really know about horses" didn't have an inkling that this filly - a filly, no less - was a high risk for serious injuries like the ones she sustained. But she was raced anyway. Any gue$$es as to why?

3. As I mentioned before, horses that don’t make the cut get shipped off to slaughterhouses. The fact that anybody who knows this would still have the gall to comment on this blog saying that these animals are “treated better than most humans” is just too depressing to even think about.

For better or for worse, Eight Belles is now a very public representative of an industry that’s rotten to its rotten core. My only hope is that people will keep looking deeper into the way these horses are treated. And don’t dare try and tell me that they like it.

The Peta Files

[maybe]

Mirabel_858 wrote:

"They Love To Run"
Here are a few key points about how this works, and there’s lots more info on this horseracing factsheet:
1. Nobody “loves to run” when they’re suffering from bleeding lungs or painful leg injuries, but that doesn’t stop trainers from pumping these animals full of drugs to mask the pain, enhance their performance and just plain keep them going.
2. We are getting calls and faxes about all kinds of cocktail mixes that "are common knowledge in the back stretch." Sometimes people are caught and suspended when they’re careless—as was the case with this veterinarian who got busted for injecting cobra venom into a horse as a nerve blocking agent. For real.
3. Why was Eight Belles so fragile? Well, horses begin training when their skeletal systems are still growing, and they’re completely unable to deal with pounding their limbs into jelly on a hard track at high speeds.
3. Don't tell me that all those people who "really know about horses" didn't have an inkling that this filly - a filly, no less - was a high risk for serious injuries like the ones she sustained. But she was raced anyway. Any gue$$es as to why?
4. As I mentioned before, horses that don’t make the cut get shipped off to slaughterhouses. The fact that anybody who knows this would still have the gall to comment on this blog saying that these animals are “treated better than most humans” is just too depressing to even think about.
__________
For better or for worse, Eight Belles is now a very public representative of an industry that’s rotten to its rotten core. My only hope is that people will keep looking deeper into the way these horses are treated. And don’t dare try and tell me that they like it.
Peta files <quoted text>

I don't know if all that's true that you have written or not and if it is that's tragic. There must be another forum on horse racing that you are commenting about because some of the things you stated are not on this one, such as "they are treated better than humans" I didn't see that anywhere on this one. This started out as a topic on our little small town horse show so for the ones that want to get in on the one about horse racing let them know where they can join in on that. For the record I love horses and wouldn't harm them in anyway way, but everyone has a right to their opinion so so don't you dare and try to tell me I can't voice it on here. And no I don't have race horses.