Another Horse-Sports Tragedy
An atrocious string of thoroughly unnecessary and completely man-made (or man-caused) equine deaths lengthened this weekend with the Saturday death of a horse named Tigger Too in New Jersey at the Jersey Fresh horse trials.
I've written in this space about the "euthanization" of two horses at Florida's Red Hills cross-country trial in March. Two more were "euthanized" at Kentucky's Rolex competition last month. And, of course, one week ago, before a worldwide TV audience, filly Eight Belles was sacrificed on the altar of human ego, after "running her heart out" at the Kentucky Derby.
I put euthanization in quotes because, as I've noted earlier, the proper term from my perspective is "slaughter." These horses were knowingly put in harm's way by their human owners.
Maybe this time, just maybe, this expanding list of catastrophes will cause changes in both sports (eventing and thoroughbred racing) to put the health and well-being of the horse front and center where it belongs. I'm writing, yet again, about the issue of inhumane treatment of equine athletes because I'm sure Tigger Too's death will not produce the kind of publicity Eight Belles's death received. But it should.
Tigger Too was owned by David O'Connor. O'Connor, his website notes, won individual gold and team bronze for the United States at several recent Olympic games:
David brought home the first eventing Gold Medal for the United States in more than a quarter of a century, when he clinched the individual eventing championship on Custom Made at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney with the best score in Olympic history. Alongside Karen (his wife who is also an Olympic eventer) he and Giltedge helped the USET capture the Team Bronze Medal in Sydney, and the Team Sliver [sic] in Atlanta.
O'Connor is now president of the U.S. Equestrian Federation, the governing body of American rated horse shows. The federation has proposed tough, sorely needed rules changes to rein in upper-level eventing for the sake of horse and rider safety.
The most contentious of the rules said that riders and horses should be suspended from competition for up to six months and lose their qualification at the level in which they were competing, following a rotational fall.
It has since been amended to say that ground juries should have the option of banning riders for up to three months following a horse fall if they believe it was caused by dangerous riding.
Horse and rider would be eliminated from the competition after a rider fall and suspended for a month for a horse fall at a jump. USEF president David O'Connor said: "The suspension is meant to be a deterrent, to reduce dangerous riding."
The suspension, in its original, more punitive form, should be enacted. Fences, as I've mentioned earlier, should also be made to come apart upon impact.
Eventing fatalities occur most often in the cross-country phase, in which horses are forced to run too fast for long periods of time and/or jump obstacles that are obscenely difficult. The obstacles or jumps are designed to "challenge" the horse-rider teams. But in truth, upper-level eventers assume an ethic of "toughness" and machismo that promotes untenably difficult courses. This "machismo" ethic applies to female as well as male riders.
Extreme obstacles cause so-called rotational falls, in which the horse hits the fence with its forelegs, causing the rider to fall ahead of the horse. The horse's momentum carries it over the jump, after which it falls head over heels and lands on the rider. This YouTube video (at 1:40, 2:40, and 2:58) provides a more graphic description of rotational falls than words could ever provide. None of the horses or riders shown were seriously injured.
In eventing, perhaps something good will come of the unnecessary misery at Red Hills, Rolex, and Jersey Fresh if the federation succeeds in pushing through the tougher version of its rules changes. If public pressure on the racing industry forces changes in its conduct, perhaps Eight Belles and all the others killed like her in training or racing accidents will not have died in vain.
Tags: sports | animal cruelty | animals | horses
Tools: 
Share
|
| Comments (44) | Print
Reader Comments
Deborah Solomon regarding Westboro Baptist Church
February 19, 2009
I looked up the website for Westboro Baptist Church and was going to send an e-mail to Rev. Fred Phelps and his family, however, I did not see any place to be able to contact them so I am writing on this blog what I would like to say to them, since this article referred to them:
You and your family are obviously very passionate people about your beliefs. I have read many different times about your protests in various places. I certainly believe in a healthy democratic nation people should be able to voice their opinions as long as they are not spewing obscenities or inciting violence against people. I believe that according to scripture there are very clear boundaries for sexual activity and that is within the boundaries of heterosexual marriage.
What I would also like to ask you is why do you only seem to focus on the sin of homosexuality? Scripture talks repeatedly about many different types of sin. I have a family member tht was molested by a man who then tried to convince him that he was homosexual, when he was a young boy and he told his parents that he struggled with his sexual identity ever since that time in his life. Do I believe since it is a member of my family that homosexuality is alright in his case? No I don't. Jesus never condoned or excused sin, however, he did have compassion on people for the struggles that they sometimes find themselves going through in life. When Jesus was really harsh in the things he said it was when he was talking to Religious Leaders. He showed compassion for people that were caught up in sin. He said it is not the well that need a Doctor, but the sick. When they brought the woman caught in the act of adultery to Jesus he showed compassion. He did not excuse her sin, however, he said "Neither do I condemn you, now go and sin no more. When he met the woman at the well he told her all about her sinful past. He then showed compassion and made her believe there was a way to get out of the entrapment of her lifestyle and that her life was valuable in God's eyes. If our motives are truly to help bring change then we must stop and assess are our actions bringing about the desired results? Then why do we sometimes continue on blindly saying and acting out the same failed methods. Once again, Jesus never excused or condoned sin of any kind, however, he always had a heart of compassion. I pray Rev. Phelps when my family member decides to go back to church and to the scripture he was taught in his youth he will find a minister and a congregation that will reach out to minister to him with compassion and motives of restoration and love. As the Apostle Paul said if I have not love I become like a noisy gong or clanging cymbal. May God give each of us wisdom to stand for the truth of His word with the motives of love and restoration for hurting people.
Get a Clue
If you want to rant about how horrible eventing is, go do some research on REAL slaughter the horses that are thrown on double decker trucks, tied and hung by their hind legs...Why don't you write about that? This is happening all over and THEY are making a quick buck. Not eventers.
In ALL horse competetions there are risks. I for one know I would NOT take my horse up levels if he is not ready and does not want to do. Horses are our best friends, yes there are a select few people who may be riding to get to the international level and not have the horses best interest in their mind but I guarantee that 97% of us eventers put our horses first.
"Some of the risks involved with riding Cross Country are unavoidable. But there are some precautions that riders can take to keep themselves and their mounts safe while on course. Many of these precautions are enforced by USEA rules." - Taken from a different article.
Pulmonary hemorrhage - is just one of the causes of some of the deaths you mentioned. That is not something to be called the riders fault, that is NOT nor does it have anything to do with slaughter.
GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT, DO SOMETHING USEFUL AND GO AFTER THE PEOPLE WHO ARE ACTUALLY SLAUGHTERING HORSES FOR FOOD AND A QUICK BUCK!!!!!!
Why dont you try researching your facts before you spout off.
If you had done some research you would have seen that in 2007 out of 45,705 starts there were 684 falls. Of those 684 falls only 111 of those resulted in injuries. From these number that means that 1 in 67 starters fell off going cross-country in 2007. That's 1.5%. It's not like they are dropping like flys.
Horses are athletes, especially those that are competting at the levels you see broadcasted on television; and as such even top horse athletes (like human athletes) can have off days, can miss-judge a distance, or make a mistake. It is not like we are beating these horses over fences. Lets see you try to make a 1000-1400 pd horse jump that doesn't WANT to. These horses LOVE their job, many times you see riders PULLING their horses back to slow their approach to these 'Cruel fences' that you're so convinced we're beating them over. They love their job so much they race on to the next fence ears up eyes bright, these are not the facial expressions of an upset animal, try bronc riding, THERE is an unhappy horse.
Maybe you should try doing a little research before you post bogus articles of which you know none of the facts because you are too busy wringing your hands and pointing fingers to investigate.
advertisement
