Now 7 horses have died at Churchill Downs

[Nevilledog]

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philip lewis
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May 6, 2023
@Phil_Lewis_
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Horse euthanized after suffering knee injury in race ahead of Kentucky Derby, the 6th horse that has died in recent days.

philip lewis
@Phil_Lewis_
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A 7th horse has died at Churchill Downs ahead of the Kentucky Derby, with 2 euthanized after racing on undercard.
2:08 PM · May 6, 2023

[Peacetrain]

1. Are you kidding me?? Just this year??

What on earth is going on down there

[debm55]

2. Oh my, how sad.I never liked the Derby.

[Nevilledog]

3. Just this week. I'd pull any horse I had there (not that I would have one, it's barbaric)

[Peacetrain]

18. I missed the stories on that all together.. it is just horrifying..

If I had a horse there I would pull it too!!

[in2herbs]

4. Not a coincidence. The races for the Triple Crown should be cancelled until the cause of

these deaths are identified. Hopefully this approach would cancel horse racing entirely because the causes of these deaths will never be identified. Owners may want to blame jockeys, etc., but it all comes down to who will be charged.

Hate is a strong emotion but that is the emotion I experience whenever I see animal abuse.

[Rebl2]

6. Most definitely

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

5. Blood bath. Poor horses

[Jarqui]

7. I loved animals. Was very fond of horses.

Instead of going to camp, I pleaded with a camp to hire me as a stable boy at 15.
I'd had some years of equestrian training and riding and I'd had years of experience taking care of sick animals.
They initially declined but when the one who got the job didn't work out, they gave me a shot.
Two summers. 36 horses. I got emotionally attached to nearly all of them.

I was never a fan of dressage. But three day event intrigued. Stadium jumping intrigued.

I schooled the horses to be safe with the kids and helped teach.
The second summer, they gave me a horse to break and train.
There were riders related to the Olympics on staff.

By the end of the second summer, I'd seen enough.
I was the fox in a mock hunt and what that event did to my horses sickened me.
As I reflected, aside from some exercise, there wasn't much going on that was great for the horses.
Turned me off. Got out of it completely.

[cilla4progress]

11. Hey, Jarqui.

I lower level evented and competed in dressage...verrrrrrry lower level. I loved it! At that level it's just fun.

Now I'm far more into the "relational" approach to my horses. I use dressage as a foundation for my trail riding. I highly recommend Karen Rohlf...my guru in this! https://dressagenaturally.net/

[Jarqui]

13. That's a bunch of steps in the right direction

Glad to see that.

Trail rides. Pack horsing through the mountains. etc
Stuff like that I can still enjoy because the horse tends to enjoy it as well.

[cilla4progress]

14. Yep!

🙂

[jeffreyi]

20. Lifelong horse lover/caretaker here

My last, a rescue mare. 14 years of bliss. I live in an extreme unlimited rural area. Explored it as much as possible with my equine partner. Riding, camping. She loved it. I tried very hard to help this wonderful being have a good life, and succeeded, at least partially. These racehorse deaths are very troubling to me. Money money, the heck with the horses. Any true horse person would never subject a horse to that kind of stress at that early age. If you want to race them, fine, at least wait until their bodies are more mature, minimum 5 years. Equine endurance horses have to be at least 5 to participate in a sanctioned ride, at least in the USA, for good reason. I like the pageantry of the Kentucky Derby, and viewing the beautiful horses, but dread watching the race because of the potential for ugly injuries and fatalities, all too often realized. I will definitely skip this spectacle now, and in the future.

[crickets]

8. The last time I watched the Derby,

the horse expected to win pulled up lame. The injury was obvious, horrific, and did not have to happen. I don't watch horse racing any more. I can't.

[2naSalit]

9. That's awful!

Something really wrong is going on down there. One of the trainers was disqualified yesterday or today after one or more of his horses died.

What are they all dying from? Besides being put down for broken legs.

[cilla4progress]

10. Fucking

CRIMINALS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[UpInArms]

12. Back in the 1960s

My dad took a thoroughbred racehorse home after they wanted to euthanize it because it had a broken bone in its leg …

He put him in a sling in the barn (hanging so he could balance himself on 3 legs) for what (as a child) seemed like forever …

Long story short, the horse never raced again and was one of my best friends …

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

15. It is not just Churchill Downs.

Some 2,000 thoroughbred horses are euthanized each and every year. It's the sport, and it's also the breeding of the horses. All modern thoroughbreds are descended from one of three (yes, three as in one, two, three) foundation sires in the late 17th and early 18th century. Read more here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3357536/

[Nevilledog]

16. But 7 in 10 days is not normal

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

17. 2,000 horses a year. 365 days in a year.

That's 5.47 horses per day. 7 at one race track strikes me as well within normal variability.

So in those same 10 days some 54 horses died at racetracks. I have no idea how many race tracks are out there. Okay, a Google search says some 300, but that includes every type of horse racing, not just thoroughbred. Apparently, there are some 75 race tracks just for thoroughbreds. Which means horses are dying pretty much every single day at every single race track in this country.

[highplainsdem]

19. Horrifying.

[Raine]

21. I can't stand to watch any horse race 🐴 anymore.😪 nt