Ed Whitfield, Equestrian Hero

It isn't 'greed' it is 'survival.'

Overall, most of the folks who are involved in horse racing are just plain working folks. While everyone would like to have a millionaire client to pay their bills, the reality is far from that.

Let's get all the problems of our children and families and educational system fixed first. THEN we can meddle in horse racing!

horse racing

I just realized something really scary. This is a long sentence, so bear with me...If I had NOT been involved in the Thoroughbred industry for over 30 years and to have worked at every level starting as a hired hand on a hay truck, to a broodmare farm worker, thoroughbred sales personnel, night watchman, hot walker (that's a job in the racetrack in case you didn't know), groom, owner, sales consigner and even completed a career as a Veterinarian (but never got to drive a BMW as some would suggest in Mr. Whitfields' Kangaroo court); I could possibly believe some of the information that has been fed to the American public by our "free" press. However, since I feel fairly well informed about this subject, and maybe not many others, it is terribly disturbing that I may have been lead to believe other printed matter from our "free" press that may be just as misleading.

I only wish those that sit in their offices and "research" via Google would have the interest in accurate reporting to take the time to truly investigate, personally, the stories that make up their fodder.

Does this industry have problems? No doubt. What industry doesn't. Is there potential for corruption? No doubt. What industry or profession (including politics) doesn't? Are there better ways to manage inadequacies? Yes, and again, in all arenas and professions.

But, for a mass hysteria to be created by those that have little or no real knowledge of the thoroughbred industry to insult those that have spent their lives devoted to the care and well being of the magnificent athlete that is bred to race is unfair, to say the least.

I would challenge any of those casting comments or opinions in a negative light, first spend a little, actually more than a little, time around these animals and the people that spend 7 days a week while charged with their care. If you aren't afraid of getting your shoes dirty, you might find a very different story.

There is no doubt, I will never read a reporters' article again without a large degree of skepticism for it's true accuracy. I should have listened to my Grandmother....don't believe everything you hear OR read.

The "press" should be ashamed for its' poor research and Congress should be ashamed for spending taxpayers money exploiting on this agenda.

I wonder how Mr. Whitfield's constituents feel about his personal aenda when our country is on the verge of a recession (if not already), we have soldiers dying overseas, fuel is $4.50+/ gallon, milk is about the same, farmers can't afford to stay in business and families are facing foreclosure of their homes?

Ms. Erbe

Her article is no better than Whitfields committee. I'm all for improving horse lives, thats what I do for a living, but blatant lies, hysteria. ignorance, and one sided biased opinions is no way to run a committee. It makes you wonder about the entire congress, do they base all their judgements on disturbingly inaccurate information? I suspect they do. That is why this country is in trouble and our political system is to blame. There is no way to confirm whether or not Secretariat raced on illegal drugs, whether Big Brown really didn't have his steroid booster, and that leads us to the problem. Our sport needs to base changes on facts, science, and what is best to make the horse as healthy as possible. Not based on misinformation spooned fed to the country by a congressional committee that celebrated ignorance and political motives. With this said , major changes do need to be made and Mr. Whitfield can help by inviting witnesses that speak the truth and offer sound insights that will help get the industry heading in the right direction. The leaders of this industry need to stand up and do the right thing for the horse, with National rules, Olympic type drug testing, and cleaning up the bad side every industry has.

Racing

Ms. Erbe, What a display of ignorance about horseracing. It is unfortunate that a magazine of the calibre of US News would choose to print such a biased and ignorant article.

Thank you

Ms. Erbe, while I don't fully agree with your assessments of Barbaro and Big Brown, I do thank you for seeing that the way we treat our horses that don't measure up to our standards of perfection is an abomination. The racing industry is clearly broken, as is the entire horse industry. While there are many human problems to work on, we can't wait until they are all solved before we address the wanton abuse of animals. There's no reason why we can't work on both. For this reason, like you, I'm thankful for people like Ed Whitefield, Mary Landrieu, and Senator John Ensign.

ed whitfield

miss erbe, you column is embarassing to you . you did absolutely no research on horse racing. to say big brown lost the belmont because he was not doped up is so off the wall that you should be embarassed. maybe big brown can not get the distance of a mile and a half, may be his shoe had something to do with it, maybe the days he did not train due to the quater crack and was not as fit as he should be. as for the slaughter of barbaro, if a horse like a human could be put in a n induced coma and put in bed to recover and could talk ,horses would then be able to survive, but they can't they have to stand because of how they are put together internally. miss erbe do your self a favor and get in touch with a barcley tagg, john ward or michael matz, all trainers and got to the barn at 430 am and see what they do and how they treat their horsses, so the next time you write an article on horse racing you will not make a fool of your self. as far as congress is concerned they like to grand stand and get nothing done.

Real issues

Nine people die in a bridge collapse in Minnesota and Congress has yet to have a hearing. One (albeit tragic) death of a horse and Congress has a hearing (truly a dog and pony show of wealthy individuals and academicians putting forth mistruths and lies) within two months. Perhaps a certain Congressman whose district is composed of mainly "dry" counties who has taken close to one hundred thousand dollars from beer and wine PAC's should look in the mirror and try and help his constituents and stop wasting taxpayer money on pre-arranged soft ball questions to the elite while the working blue-class men and women of his district suffer the effects of a faultering economy.

what about EIGHT BELLES

EIGHT BELLES WAS MURDERED. If Barry Bonds was the trainer,

Marion Jones the jockey and R. kelley the owner would Congress not ask one

question concerning her death,,,

Biased Are We?

Barbarro slaughtered? The owners tried for months to do everything they could to save the horse. Any injury to the lower part of a horse's body is dangerous because of the difficulty in preventing Laminitis from setting in. The veterinarians knew they were fighting an uphill battle from the beginning, yet they still fought the battle anyway. It was only after all hope was lost that Barbarro had to be put down many months later. I hardly call it slaughter, which I feel is a term you are using carelessly.

You're also making an awfully big assumption that Big Brown lost the Belmont because he wasn't given his monthly dose of Winstrol. You're leaving out the fact that he raced against top-notch competition three times in five-weeks. You’re leaving out that he was stepped on coming out of the gate by another horse and dislodged the shoe on his foot. You’re leaving out that he ran further than any other horse in the race because he had to run on the outside of the track due to jockey error and the actions of the other horses. You're leaving out the fact that the Belmont is a 1 1/2 mile race and some horses simply don't flourish running long distances. In other words, you have no proof Big Brown's loss was due to steroids, or the lack there of; only an assumption that steroids could have been a factor, which no one knows for sure, and I actually find doubtful.

Moving on. Most agree the horse racing industry does need reform, and the primary reason the industry has had problems is because there is no national body setting standards for the sport. Be that as it may, I find it difficult to believe that congress doesn't have better things to do than get further involved with sports. I would believe health care, national debt, eroding dollar and foreign policy issues would take precedent.

That said, you tout the work Ed Whitfield has done to eliminate horse slaughter houses as a good thing, when in actuality, it is quite bad. By eliminating slaughter houses in the United States, the government has lost all ability to govern the practices of slaughter houses and ensure they are as humane as possible. Now, the industry is shipping horses to Mexico where the trip and methods for destroying the animals is far more inhumane.

Of course it would be best to save as many horses as possible from slaughter, but that simply isn't realistic. There are not enough adoptive homes for them and you can't turn these animals out to a field and expect them to live. Instead, they'll die a much slower death.

I do agree drugs should be eliminated from the sport, or at least, more closely monitored, but your bias shines through your column, as well as your lack of knowledge of the sport as a whole. That's too bad, because the voice of the mainstream media is very powerful, and when you speak to an equally uneducated audience, it does a great deal of harm.

Whitfield; Advocate of everyone except his constituents

I am disappointed that you did such a hack job on Whitfield's voting record by representing just one tiny little portion of his congressional history!

In his 14 years in congress, he has voted against veteran's benefits, against children's health care, against fiscal responsibility, against women's rights, against transparency in government, against the constitution, against a greener America and expanding alternative energy, against military family benefits, and against worker's rights - but he's voted FOR horse rights. It is beyond sad and pathetic that Mr. Whitfield cares more about the health care for horses than he does for the children and families of his district.

If you ask me, a constituent of Mr. Whitfield's, I would be happier with his performance, and more willing to "give him a medal of some kind" if he were to actually go to bat for the average working Joe, such as myself. Feel good legislation that makes you "attaboy" Congressional Members is only good for election year press - which apparently you are more than willing to give this do-nothing congressman. Thanks alot Bonnie Erbe.