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Sad irony




  3. eldamon
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The Kentucky Derby was run Saturday featuring one filly (female horse) named Eight Belles. She was the sentimental favorite and backed by Sen. Clinton, her family and supporters - Sen. Clinton telling everyone to bet on her. The odds on favorite, a horse named Big Brown (insert you own humor here) over took the filly and the rest of the field down the stretch to win the perennial first leg of the Triple Crown, horse racings world series (Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes). Sadly after falling short of victory Sen. Clinton's horse collapsed and had to be put down on the spot suffering to broken front ankles. Hopefully Mrs. Clinton will fair a little better than her Derby surrogate and live to fight another day.
eldamon

16 responses // Sad irony

  • no way...that is just too perfect...
    brad149
  • yep - you can't make this stuff up.
    eldamon
  • The jockey drove that horse too hard...attempting any means to win, without considering the consequenses ...sound familiar..? Poor beatiful horse...how sad... in the end getting compared to an overworked former First Lady...
    PlatoTacius
  • wait...you can't mend a broken bone in a horse?

    thats really sad.
    MissAmanda
  • Now that's pretty sad, equating such a terrible tragedy to Mrs. Clinton. I thought the PETA freaks would be yelling there head off, but I never expected anything like that. You people are sick, just sick.
    JohnA
  • I'd have to agree with JohnA here. There's no need to equate this to the presidential race; that's just being sick.

    The real tragedy here is, why couldn't they have saved the horse? They could have at least gotten x-rays of its legs–TRIED to help the horse. Euthanizing it on the spot was like saying the horse is of no use anymore just because it can't race.
    slightlyavocado
  • The Doctor said she was hurt and in pain and there wasn't much that could be done. It wasn't just a bone, it was both ankles, and a horse's ankle is much more intracant than a human's. He said some bones had broken the skin. It really is a tragedy, but she would never have been able to lead a normal life.
    JohnA
  • Kentucky's got a problem - They're making horses that break down. It's happening every damn year now. Is this really worthy of a huge celebration on network TV - so we can see this year's breakdown/euthanasia? The bloodlines are inbred...how about boycotting horse racing until they're not killing the thing that feeds thems. The media slant is "She ran herself to death!" The truth is the race horse stock is weakened and inbred - the industry is the villain here.
    24French
  • A horse died and all people can do is make a political joke out of it? Tacky.
    JanforGore
  • good point 24French.

    I think we should all keep in mind that these animals are made to race because humans make lots of money betting on them. They are as naturally mistreated as the modification of our foods by corporations.

    I'd rather see this kind of thing go the way of the bullfight. (socially marginal, hardly existent) rather than to think it harmless and celebrate it every year with the Kentucky Derby.
    recommended by  Chique
    stephenthomson
  • According to the vets, especially for fillies, the horse's organs shut down if they can't stay moving. As was the case with Barbaro when they tried in vain to set one leg. They said she wasn't in horrible pain yet because of the adrenalin from the race, but within 10 minutes she would have been in unbearable pain and no way to fix it. By euthanizing her before that 10 minutes passed they saved her the agony. It's truly sad for the horse and I agree that exploiting animals for profit should be stopped. However, the correlation to Hillary specifically wanting Chelsea to bet on that particular horse, isn't so much a joke but total irony.
    Chique
  • I feel bad for the horse in any case. It was truly a sad ending to what is usually a festive event.

    The inescapable irony was set up by Hillary using the event as a political platform. She picked the only female horse in a field of males to set up an allegory but failed to see the downside. Although I have to admit this would have been pretty tough to see coming. The question is why did she pick that particular horse? The answer is obvious of course but then why does she whine and complain about sexism when it suits her and ignore it when it works to her benefit?
    eldamon
  • I think it was because it was a female horse and a female jocky.
    Chique
  • They need to STOP inbreeding these animals.

    The horses are running machines but their legs can't take it.

    Makes me sick to see this happening and actually it happens daily----an average of two horses a day!

    pathetic!
    dawnki
  • As an avid equestrian and horse trainer, I was heart broken to watch the fall of Eight Bells. There is NO OTHER equine sport where horses become injured like this and at this rate. It tells you something is wrong.

    While the race horse industry is monitoring for substance abuse and performance enhancers, hundreds of years breeding these magnificent animals to 'perfection' poses problems. Their hearts and muscles have been optimized for running, but their bodies are not meant to withstand the high impact of more than 1,200 pounds of muscle thundering down such a fragile bone structure. Breeding, over training and supplements are pushing these animals to limits beyond their bodies' capabilities. The 'Sport of Kings' is all about money, bragging rights, and 15 minutes of fame, all at the cost of the horse.

    For centuries, horses have worked so hard for humanity and brought us (literally) where we are today... Isn't it time we gave something back to them?

    PS- In response to the questions about mending a broken leg on a horse... it is pretty much impossible because the horse would have to not put weight on the injury... You can't keep a horse down for too long (a day at most) or they get other medical complications. The best you can do is 'stall rest' which just confines the horse to their 12 foot by 12 foot stall. It's been tried for hundreds of years, and no one can fix a horse's broken leg.
    KosterK7
  • JohnA is right on here. The jockey is not the problem. A fiercely competitive jockey running a properly bred horse is not going to cause any damage. But as kosterk7 puts it, "Breeding, over training and supplements are pushing these animals to limits beyond their bodies' capabilities" -- this "sport" is DEFINITELY proving to be nothing more than cruel exploitation.
    Artifakt

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