tagged w/ Racehorses
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Fans Bid Zenyatta Farewell At Hollywood Park
December 5, 2010 8:18 PM
Fans bid farewell to Zenyatta, who was the only female horse to ever win the Breeder’s Cup. (credit: CBS)
From darleeneworks
INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA(AP) — Zenyatta bid a final farewell to her legions of fans on Sunday at Hollywood Park, pricking her cotton-stuffed ears at the gaggle of cameras one more time before heading into retirement.
The superstar mare who won 19 of her 20 career races patiently walked around the paddock before taking to the track for a last stroll. Fans cheered and snapped photos as Zenyatta made her way along the grandstand so everyone could see her.
“It’s amazing the following she has and we’re fans ourselves,” Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert said.
Zenyatta entered the paddock in between races wearing a pink saddlecloth from one of her wins in the Apple Blossom Handicap. Groom Mario Espinoza walked her in circles as 11,216 fans yelled her name and photographed every shake of her head.
She made her farewell tour without a rider in the saddle, a way to keep her low-key in an atmosphere that otherwise suggested she would be racing. It was several minutes before Zenyatta briefly high-stepped, a move that drew an approving roar from the crowd that mostly ignored the running of the sixth race while watching her.
“You can have a 20-year lull and when something like Zenyatta comes along, the public responds,” said Bo Derek, a member of the California Horse Racing Board. “The fans confirm I’m not the only horse racing fan.”
Owners Jerry and Ann Moss looked on lovingly as the 6-year-old mare made the rounds.
“We’ve been very lucky and blessed to have Zenyatta. This is a great day,” a smiling Jerry Moss said, his arm wrapped around his wife. “We’re feeling fantastic. We have a great horse retiring 100 percent sound.”
The Mosses were joined by trainer John Shirreffs, his wife and the Mosses’ racing manager Dottie Ingordo-Shirreffs, jockey Mike Smith, exercise rider Steve Willard, Espinoza, hotwalker Carmen Zamona and pony boy Freddy Wilson.
“It was a tough morning to say goodbye to `Big Mama.’ I think I’m going to miss her more than all my wives,” said Wilson, who has been married four times.
As Zenyatta walked onto the track, a replay of her victory in the 2009 Breeders’ Cup Classic played on the videoboard. Smith leaned against the rail, watching intently as she beat the boys in a race that bolstered her credentials.
Smith briefly took the reins from Espinoza and walked Zenyatta around as planes headed for nearby Los Angeles International Airport roared overhead. Smith handed over the reins and twice tapped his heart with his right hand before walking away.
“I’m really excited and really happy, but very sad,” he said, tears welling in his brown eyes.
Handmade signs decorated the grandstand, expressing the fans’ affection and appreciation of a horse who became a crossover star, with her own Twitter and Facebook accounts and appearances in national magazines and TV shows.
“We will miss you Zenyatta” read one sign. Another said, “Zenyatta thank you!!”
A young blond-haired girl carried a homemade pink letter `Z’ decorated with pink feathers in the paddock. Several fans donned pink-and-green clothing in a nod to the colors of the Mosses’ silks.
“You have special feelings about horses, but a lot of people don’t share that feeling,” Shirreffs said. “But everybody shared it with Zenyatta. That was the wonderful thing about her.”
Zenyatta retired last month after finishing second by a head to Blame in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs for the only blemish on her record.
She heads off to Kentucky on Monday to begin a breeding career. Espinoza will accompany her and stay a few days to help Zenyatta adjust to her new surroundings. She will make a public appearance in the paddock at Keeneland before being sent to Lane’s End Farm near Versailles.
“We’re going to miss her, but that’s what happens,” Shirreffs said. “The big thing is to enjoy the ones that you have when they’re with you.”
The Mosses couldn’t resist a bit of campaigning on Sunday, with both of them wearing “Vote Zenyatta” buttons in reference to her bid to win Horse of the Year honors in January.
Fans did the same, chanting “Horse of the Year” while Zenyatta was on the track.
“I think the industry will miss a huge opportunity if they don’t give her Horse of the Year,” said Shirreffs, who didn’t wear the pin.Fans Bid Zenyatta Farewell At Hollywood Park
December 5, 2010 8:18 PM
Fans bid... more
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Gary Smith
The Dark Side of the Kentucky Derby.
PART ONE...
The Kentucky Derby, considered the most prestigious horse race in the world, will be run on Saturday. The race is one and quarter miles long, lasts approximately two minutes, and takes place at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Kentucky Derby attendance ranks first in North America, usually surpassing all other stakes races including the Preakness Stakes, Belmont Stakes and the Breeders’ Cup. It’s also one of the most highly watched sporting events on television: people tune in from all over the world to watch the beauty and splendor of thoroughbred horses.
But behind all of the pageantry and tradition lies a deep, dark secret the public is not privy to. That secret is the intense cruelty and abuse that horses are subjected to because they are regarded as little more than income-generating property.
Breeding is not a pretty picture. A thoroughbred mare will be kept pregnant 90 percent of her life. To make sure insemination is successful, the industry uses various practices that would amount to rape if they were performed on a human female.
Only four weeks after a mare has given birth, she will be impregnated again. Horses would naturally give birth in the mild Summer months, but in Australia, artificial lighting and drugs are used so that foals are born as close to August 1 as possible – their winter. This allows the most time for training before racing season. Australian breeders produce the second highest amount of thoroughbred foals in the world, but most are discarded due to injury, birth defects or lack of racing promise.
However, thoroughbred breeding stats showed a decline in 2009. The number of stallions bred dropped almost 9 percent, and the number of mares bred fell 13.5 percent, according to The Jockey Club. Before we cheer, the numbers of horses bred are still staggering. This year alone more than 45,000 mares were “covered” (bred), which means that tens of thousands of foals will be born into the racing industry and, if successful, will suffer broken bones, stress, loneliness, drugs, abandonment, neglect, and slaughtered when they are no longer considered “useful.”
Thoroughbred horses are bred specifically to race. Because of selective breeding they have many genetic problems that are exacerbated by hard track surfaces, year-round racing schedules, and owners who race them too frequently in an effort to make more money. They weigh at least 1000 pounds yet their bodies are supported by ankles the size of a human’s, and they’re forced to run around dirt tracks at speeds of more than 30 miles per hour – all while carrying people on their backs, being yelled at and whipped.
Training is rigorous and takes a huge toll on horses. They are fed highly concentrated diets rather than grazing as they would normally. This is done to give them the energy to be able to train for many hours. The problem with this diet is that it causes health problems, such as painful gastric ulcers. Studies have shown that horses can develop bleeding ulcers within eight weeks of starting training.
Horses are highly social, and have strong instincts to be part of a herd, yet when not racing or training, racehorses spend all their time confined in stables. Being stabled separately, many develop neurotic behaviors such as wind sucking, self mutilation and head weaving, very similar to animals confined in cages, zoos, factory farms and circuses.
Racehorses travel from state to state, and racetrack to racetrack, in cramped and less than ideal conditions. Only a select few will run in the popular, well publicized races; the majority are instead trucked, shipped, or flown to the thousands of other races that take place all over the country every year. A travel schedule like this causes immense stress for the horses.
Drugs play a large role in the horse racing industry and are administered (illegally) to increase performance, cover up pain and increase recovery time. Some insiders have revealed that horses can be injected with various drugs 25 to 30 times in the week leading up to a race. Any time a horse is not racing it cuts into profits, so trainers and even veterinarians commonly give painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs to mask fatigue and give horses a temporary burst of strength. Just as they do on a human body, drugs take a physical toll and create addiction and dependency. Among legal drugs, horses are given Lasix to control bleeding in the lungs, phenylbutazone, an anti-inflammatory, and cortiscosteroids for pain and inflammation. Often these legal substances have performance-enhancing effects, since they can mask pain or make a horse run faster. Compounding the problem, labs cannot detect all the illegal drugs out there, and which drugs are legal varies from state to state, with Kentucky holding the reputation as the most lenient state.
CONTINUED...Gary Smith
The Dark Side of the Kentucky Derby.
PART ONE...
The Kentucky... more
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New life for horses ... and prisoners
Thoroughbreds who don't win or can't race are often discarded, auctioned off -- sometimes to the slaughterhouse. Now these horses are getting new lives and helping inmates re-evaluate theirs.
By Lesa Jansen, CNN
September 18, 2010 6:32 a.m. EDT
Photo: Prison inmate Alonzo Pickett handles Greek, a retired Thoroughbred racehorse, at a prison farm in Maryland.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* Inmates care for horses as part of a pre-release plan in Maryland
* The horses come to the Second Chance Farm after race career ends
* Inmate says prisoners and rejected horses share a common bond
Sykesville, Maryland (CNN) -- It's the dirty little secret of the racing industry. Thoroughbreds who don't make the winner's circle, are injured or simply too old to race are discarded by their owners, auctioned off -- sometimes to the slaughterhouse. Now these horses are getting new lives.
The twist? Prison inmates looking for their own second chances are helping save them.
In the rolling hills of Carroll County, Maryland, is Second Chance Farm. Alonzo Pickett leads a horse to the pasture to graze.
"Greek is a beautiful horse. I love him," says Pickett. "I think he's a gentle giant."
The 7-year-old gelding came to the farm after a leg injury ended his racing career.
Each year thousands of racehorses in the United States like Greek are sent to slaughterhouses and their meat sold overseas, according to the nonprofit Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation. That's why the foundation funds programs in eight prisons across the United States to rescue these abandoned horses and train prisoners to "gentle" them so they can be adopted.
The inmates also have duties beyond grooming the horses. They maintain the farm buildings and the grounds.
Video: Second chances for inmates, horses
Pickett, 44, figures he has spent at least 14 years of his life behind bars. It is his third prison sentence, this time for drug possession.
"It could have been a lot worse," he confides. "A lot of guys that I grew up with ... are deceased."
But Pickett maintains this will be his last time in prison and he thinks working with Greek as part of this program is what has changed him.
"It gave me a chance to really evaluate who I am," he says.
"Everybody thinks it's about the horses," says Gary Maynard, Secretary of Public Safety for Maryland prisons. Maynard saw the benefits of the program in other prison systems where he worked and brought it here.
"It's really about the men that work with the horses and what changes they go through as they learn to care for an animal, as they learn mutual trust and self-respect."
The bond between Pickett and Greek is evident as the inmate gently prods the animal for grooming and softly speaks to him. Pickett calls the bond they share a mutual support system.
"I have a chance to face my obstacles head on and to overcome [them]," he says, and "[Greek] knows we are here for him ... [that] we love him."
Conni Swenson worked with racehorses many years ago before coming to work for the Maryland Department of Corrections. She is the program coordinator for Second Chance Farm and says she daily observes the unconditional acceptance the horses have for the inmates as each come to trust the other.
"They learn compassion. They learn patience," says Swenson. "If you have a 150-pound gentleman and you have a 1,200-pound horse and you need the horse to do something, you're not going to teach that horse to do it through brute force."
There is a striking difference between the farm and the prison, where the inmates return each night. There are guards at the farm but no bars, no razor wire. Pickett notes the atmosphere of serenity at the farm, far from what he calls "negative conversations" at the prison.
"You look at these grounds, the meadows, the horses grazing in the field," says Felicia Hinton, assistant commissioner, Maryland Department of Corrections. "It can only put gentleness inside of you," she says, smiling. It's her responsibility to make sure each inmate is ready to begin life outside the prison walls.
"It gives them a sense of humanity," she says. Hinton calls the program an opportunity to change a life.
Pickett agrees. He will be released from prison in just a few months. He plans to move to his grandfather's farm to care for his aging father.
"If I could come out here and take care of Greek every day," he says, "then I can go home and take care of my father."
Hinton considers that a measure of the success of the program. "Our responsibility is to send a man or woman out of prison a better person."
As Pickett cleans and scrapes Greek's hooves, he speaks with pride about his time at Second Chance Farm.
"I love the work and I love to know that I have a responsibility and they can depend on me for that responsibility being met."
Swenson says she believes in each of the inmates who has gone through the program. She likes to quote visitors her favorite Winston Churchill passage, "There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man."
"That is absolutely true here," she says. "I see it every day."
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/09/18/maryland.prison.horses/index.html?hpt=C1New life for horses ... and prisoners
Thoroughbreds who don't win or... more
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End horror of horses led to slaughter
By Jane Velez-Mitchell, HLN
April 30, 2010 9:07 p.m. EDT
Editor's note: Jane Velez-Mitchell hosts "Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell," a topical event-driven show with a wide range of viewpoints that airs every night at 7 p.m. ET on HLN.
New York (HLN) -- It's racing season in America! The Kentucky Derby is this weekend. Then it's the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes. Get out the fancy party hats and pop the champagne!
But it's not a cause for celebration for America's horses. These magnificent, yet voiceless, creatures cannot tell you about the exploitation underlying America's racing industry.
Where do thoroughbreds go after they lose one too many races, throw one too many riders or develop a limp? Many thousands of thoroughbreds end up being slaughtered for horse meat. The unpleasant truth is horse meat is eaten in Europe and Asia.
Despite the myth that they end up knee-deep in grass on some idyllic farm, the reality is that horses are very expensive to keep. When they outlive their usefulness, they often are sent on a hellish journey that ends in a slaughterhouse. Toward the end of the line, these horses are sold priced per pound.
I know. I've bought perfectly healthy horses for a couple of hundred dollars just as they were about to be loaded on a slaughterhouse-bound truck.
The fortunate few end up at a sanctuary. The others are bought at auction, end up in overloaded trailers and travel thousands of miles without food or water to the slaughter plant. Some are dead on arrival.
According to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), tens of thousands of live horses are transported every year across the border to slaughterhouses in Mexico and Canada.
Part of the problem is that the horse racing industry breeds for perfection. For every stallion or mare that looks like a winner, an untold number of foals get left in the dust. As the saying goes, they can't all be winners ... and they can't all be riding or school horses either.
There is a severe horse overpopulation crisis caused by overbreeding in the racing industry. It's time for that industry to accept responsibility for its castoffs and take dramatic action to protect a species that has so loyally served humankind.
They've got the money to create enough retirement homes to accommodate all the horses that pass through their gates.
Horse lovers won a huge victory when America's foreign-owned horse slaughterhouses were shut down several years ago. Before that, the HSUS estimates 100,000 horses were being slaughtered every year in America. Ever since, horse slaughter proponents have aggressively campaigned to reopen such plants, despite public revulsion.
For too long, Congress has been mulling over a Horse Slaughter Prohibition bill (H.R. 503) that would "prohibit the shipping, transporting, moving, delivering, receiving, possessing, purchasing, selling, or donation of horses and other equines to be slaughtered for human consumption, and for other purposes." This bill passed in the House of Representatives in 2006, but languished in the Senate.
It's time for compassionate Americans to send a wake-up call to their members of Congress and demand passage of legislation to end the wholesale slaughter of America's horses once and for all.
Then, the racing industry will be forced to do something about its addiction to breeding. The time to be oh-so-polite about the industry's dirty little secret is over. This secret is out of the gate. Now, the race to end the cruelty must begin in earnest.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Jane Velez-Mitchell.End horror of horses led to slaughter
By Jane Velez-Mitchell, HLN
April 30, 2010... more
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Rescuers: 1 Horse Died, 2nd Recovering
Rescuers said the two horses spent the last two months starving in a pen in reprehensible conditions.
MIAMI -- Two emaciated horses that were once thoroughbred racers at Calder Race Course were taken over the holiday weekend from a farm alleged to be an illegal slaughterhouse.
Karla Wolfson and Laurie Godecke spent their Christmas Day trying to save the lives of two thoroughbred racehorses. The two animal lovers drove to a farm in northwest Miami-Dade County after Godecke read an article in a newspaper about an increase in horse slaughter farms.
"I said, 'That's the filly and that's the gelding.' I knew exactly who they were because I have galloped them over and over and over," said Godecke, who was an assistant trainer at Calder.
Godecke had found a home for the gelding, who was named Dance Hall Graeme, two months ago, but it somehow fell through.
"He was going to a beautiful home with kids feeding him apples, petting him, loving him, and he had to end up like that and suffer and suffer. That's the part that killed my heart," Godecke said.
On Sunday, the animal was euthanized. The rescuers said Dance Hall Graeme was nothing but skin and bones, was bleeding through the nose and suffered from infections it could not survive.
"He is gone but maybe she can speak for him somehow. It was so horrible. I don't have the stomach for it," Wolfson said.
In a video shot by Animal Rescue Mission, Miami-Dade police can be seen at the farm on Dec. 18, BUT NO ACTION was taken to seize the horses.
"There was a picture taken of me with two extremely neglected and emaciated horses that ended up being from Calder Race Course," said Richard Couto, of Animal Rescue Mission.
Now, Wolfson and Godecke are focused on caring for the filly at a Southwest Ranches farm and also are trying to get racehorse owners to look after their horses when they are done racing so they do not end up like Dance Hall Graeme.
"These trainers and owners need to step up to the plate and find decent homes for these animals. You can't turn a blind eye to what is going on and say it's not your responsibility. These animals deserve better," Wolfson said.
The prognosis for the filly is good. The rescuers said she has to battle some infections and put on more weight.
Miami-Dade police said the lead detective on the task force that visited the farm on Dec. 18 was out of the office Monday and they could not find the incident report, so they could not comment on why the animals were not seized. {WTF?... that's the best EXCUSE for for being such disgraceful human beings?}
Representatives of Calder Race Course said they are opening their own investigation into how the two horses ended up in that situation.
http://www.justnews.com/news/22074851/detail.htmlRescuers: 1 Horse Died, 2nd Recovering
Rescuers said the two horses spent the last... more
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Miami, Florida (CNN) -- Freedom's Flight is a beautiful thoroughbred with an impressive pedigree. His bloodlines can be traced to two of the greatest race horses of all time, Seattle Slew and Secretariat.
But, unlike his kinship, Freedom's Flight's racing career ended before it had even started. It was almost two years ago when the thoroughbred's leg snapped right out of the gate at Miami's Gulfstream race track. The animal's days as a cherished racehorse came to an abrupt end.
"He came from the famous Clairborne farm and ended up on one of the worst farms in America," says new owner Richard "Kudo" Couto.
That "worst" farm in America turned out to be an illegal slaughter farm in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Couto, working for the South Florida Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, participated in a raid on the farm and rescued Freedom's Flight. The timing of that rescue may have saved Freedom's Flight's life. The horse was limping around on his broken leg, he had sores on his body, and you could see his bones protruding from his dirty coat.
Some 18 months since his rescue, Freedom's Flight looks more like the stunning race horse that was worth thousands of dollars than the injured horse that was sold for $50 to an illegal slaughter farm.
Read on by clicking on the provided linkMiami, Florida (CNN) -- Freedom's Flight is a beautiful thoroughbred with an... more
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In this video, we learn that in 2008, the controversial champion racehorse, Ship's Captain, came out as being gay. The controversy swirled, but the horse's trainer says people should focus on the horse's abilities, not his sexuality.In this video, we learn that in 2008, the controversial champion racehorse,... more
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Several companies that I've been following have been redirecting their stem-cell research that they originally developed to help injured horses to help people recover from debilitating Achilles tendon injuries.Several companies that I've been following have been redirecting their stem-cell... more
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Latest News on Horse Slaughter: 'No Country for Horses'
With slaughterhouses closed in the U.S., Canada is now home to a growing horse slaughter industry. Undercover video exposes some disturbing methods.
WARNING: While the producers have tried to be sensitive about the footage used in this feature, please be advised that some people may find some of these images disturbing.
PLEASE NOTE: THERE ARE 6 DIFFERENT VIDEOS ON THIS WEBPAGE:
http://www.cbc.ca/national/blog/special_feature/no_country_for_horses/no_country_for_horses.html
PLEASE SEE WHAT IS HAPPENING TO AMERICAS HORSES!
Latest News on Horse Slaughter: 'No Country for Horses'
With... more
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