The Ugly Truth Behind Horse Racing

 

Horse Racing has quickly become one of most popular sports to watch in America. Whether or not you have any interest in horses or not, you most likely have seen a horse race. Multiple horses bolt from a gate at extreme speed. They race along the track, neck in neck with other horses. One mishap and the animal and rider can end up beneath the hooves of thousand pound animals galloping forward at such an extreme speed that can easily kill a rider and horse as well. However, it is not only the extreme speeds and close quarters that cause pain to the horses. Unfortunately, many of these horses are pumped on drugs, abused on and off the track, run into the ground, and slaughtered after the races- which is extremely repulsive and lowers my hopes for humanity. 

horse

What most people don’t know about race horses is that they are injected with many chemicals in order for the animal to produce more adrenaline and other hormones that can cause them to run faster. The horses that are victims of these drugs are running on steroids, which can be detrimental to their health. Most horses injected have scars on their legs from the injections. This alone is proof of the pain, as nothing leaves scars without inflicting pain on any living thing. In the image I have pasted above (from a Peta investigation) it shows the “pain face” that a horse will often give when pain is taking place. It includes lowered ears (which you can not tell from the image) as well as facial muscle tension which is clearly shown, a scrunched muzzle, contraction of the eye muscles, and overall a lot of tension in the facial muscles. Although most people stereotype that this only happens in lower level racing, illegal drug tests taken from Saratoga race track have returned positive. These animals are constantly put through a cycle of injections that have become routine. This pain that they introduce to these animals is all for the glory of the win, and is most definitely not worth it.

Race horses also experience extreme cases of abuse on and off the track, such as electric shock pulses being used on the horse during a race in order to get bursts of speed. Although these shocks are illegal to use, they are still being used despite the act to end it. The shocks are similar to  “cattle prods” . However, in horse racing, most jockeys don’t bother to even use it “properly”, which makes the end result of the shock much worse when they are being used incorrectly. The punishment for using this device can result in arrest, however, it still does happen, especially in lower level racing. To add, whips are also used to strike the horse’s flank in order to encourage speed. Horse’s’ skin is incredibly thin, thinner than ours even, and the whips cause severe pain to the animal. That being said, abuse can also occur off the track through the extreme amount of drugs these animals consume. Also, the animals are forced to continue to run on hooves that have been shortened from how much they have run, proving that this is indeed unnatural. Racehorses hooves are also extremely short from being over ridden to the point where you’re not even able to feel a pulse. A horse by the name of Nehro died from colicing, which is a disease caused by the extreme circumstances this horse suffered.

horse 2

 

Lastly, horses that come off the track from injuries are often slaughtered. Once they have supplied their speed to their money thirsty owners they are considered worthless. The treatment they were forced to endure during their running days continues onwards on their trip to slaughter. Instead of giving these horses second chances, they kill them. These people couldn’t care less where the horse goes as long as they got their money’s worth. The horse racing industry is a cold, and dark place which is often overlooked.

Overall, the truth behind horse racing is that these animals are mistreated. Before you turn on your TV to watch horses gallop around a track with whips being slapped against their sides, rethink horse racing. It isn’t as glamorous and glorious as often clueless people think it is.

Learn more about helping race horses here:

~Samantha

 

I’ll Have Another

http://ei.marketwatch.com/Multimedia/2012/05/05/Photos/MG/MW-AR370_derby__20120505190445_MG.jpg?uuid=e5e80d30-9706-11e1-8c02-002128049ad6

June 9, 2012 was the day of the last of the three races in the triple crown: The Belmont. The three races in the triple crown are The Kentucky Derby, The Preakness Stakes , and The Belmont Stakes. The horse racing fans around the world waited for the list of the horses competing in the last race to come out. Upon reading the list they were surprised that the winner of the last two races wasn’t listed: I’ll Have Another. According to a spokesperson for the trainer the horse has been scratched from the race due to an injury in the front leg. “I’ll Have Another” has the start of tendonitis in his front leg.” He’s not 100%. And we ain’t taking any chances.” says trainer Doug O’Neill.

This is a disappointment to all the fans out there because we all really believed this horse would win the triple crown. The last horse to win the triple crown was  “Affirmed” in 1978. That was thirty four years ago. I personally am a big horse racing fan and was really disappointed to find out that we would not be having a triple crown winner this year. We can only hope that next year will bring a win.

~Julie Marino

The Super Bowl of Racing…With A Girl?

The 2012 Daytona 500 has a new racer, Danica Patrick.  She is only the third female driver to start in the 54 year history of the race. This is the first Daytona 500 Patrick has qualified to race in.  She has changed NASCAR, being in the spotlight as the only female driver since 1949.  Many of the male drivers are intimidated by her, but why?  All drivers race the same cars, have the same fuel, and the same skills.  The only advantage Danica has is that she is a little bit lighter then most of the men drivers. So, racers are all the same, it’s just she has a different gender.  The 2012 Daytona 500 should be an interesting and memorable race because Danica is changing the face of NASCAR.  She is a very tough racer, handles the race car like all of the men do, and can handle hard crashes.  For these reasons, there should be no problem with her being a NASCAR racer.  How would you feel racing against a girl?

If I was a NASCAR driver, I would commend Patrick for having the courage to race in a predominately male sport, especially because many drivers and fans do not think that she should compete.  I think that girls should be allowed to race and play any sport that they qualify for.  If she can handle it, go for it!  I have been in a similar situation as Danica’s opponents because I had to play a lacrosse game against a girl.  At first, I didn’t want to hit or check her but after she hit me, the game was on.  Eventually, I legally hit her just like she was a normal boy player.  I don’t care if there is a girl playing any sport, as long as she doesn’t have any special privileges because she’s a girl playing a boy sport.  I don’t think it’s a big deal having a girl racing in the Daytona 500 because I’m a tough competitor.  Are you?

~Peter Earley

2007 Honda crf100f Review

Hi, I’m Dom Allegirni a local 13 year old doing a review on my 2007 Honda crf100f dirt bike. This is an awesome dirt bike, I could not ask more out of it. It is very reliable and will start up in any weather. The cherry read and blinding white are and amazing color touch, which makes it fashionable to ride. the speed on this bike is tremendous with top speeds at a whopping 60-70 mph. The crf100 offers top of the line safety with a unique hidden key locking system located behind the front tire, guaranteed to keep your bike out of the wrong hands and safe. This is a five speed bike with the shifter located on the left foot petal and the back break located on the right petal. When on the trails there is no worry of running out of gas with a 1.3gallon tank designed into this Honda.  It will keep you going for hours of fun without refilling. This bike has pop when shifting, it dominates the trails, stomps the gas prices and flys.   What more could you ask for? It also has top of the line suspension great for beginners and intermediates, guaranteed to take the jumps,rocks, and the hardest terrain thrown its way. If I were to change anything about this bike I would buy a new tail pipe, even though the stock pipe has exceptional performance.   However an upgrade to a fmf pipe would be a wise choice. While at around $200 a fmf pipe increases the top speed and horse power of your bike and since it is built to last it is worth every penny! I hoped you like my review on the Honda crf100. Have fun riding the trails!!!

~Dom Allegirni