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Saturday’s Kentucky Derby race – for many folks, the only horse race they notice all year – has, once again, brought unwelcome attention to the spendy sport. With the lingering death of Derby winner Barbaro still fresh in our minds, the sudden death of second place finisher Eight Belles, has everyone asking the rightful question: “How did this happen?”
"There was no way to save her. She couldn't stand. She ran an incredible race. She ran the race of her life. Losing animals like this isn't fun. It's not supposed to happen. We're heartbroke. We're going to miss her, no doubt."
--Eight Belles' trainer, Larry Jones
From all my ravenous reading, listening and inquiring, it appears there are two small answers leading to one larger answer: Aggressive breeding, racing horses too young and, most importantly, lust for money. The only mention of her death on the Kentucky Derby website is in her file for May 3 where it notes: "Held on gamely for placing. Pulled up in distress." This is all business, folks.
Often called, “The Sport of Kings”, horse racing dates back to Roman times and chariot racing. (In North Dakota, they still do this except with cut out oil drums and farmers instead of gladiators.) The sport began in America in 1665 on Long Island but has long been practiced worldwide, in one form or another. And you can be sure that all formats have inevitable ties to gambling, which creates an atmosphere of frantic one-up-man-ship - the same desperate climate which has done wonders for baseball.
Here in the U.S., this atmosphere translates into breeding for speed without waiting for a full grown horse to be conditioned for endurance. When I first laid eyes on Eight Belles, my first thought was, “Wow. She’s sure got spindly legs for such a heavy torso.” In the end, this proved to be a fatal flaw in her bloodline.
Both Barbaro and Eight Belles were descendants of a prolific bloodline from the stallion, Native Dancer, a 1950s champion whose bloodline is coveted by breeders for producing lightening fast horses that excel at the Derby. Unfortunately, ND's descendants have shown the same fragile tendancies that he himself suffered resulting in multiple leg injuries. Some say that if the industry continues to tap into this bloodline, the grim scenario is likely to be repeated.
I am certainly no expert on this sport but I do know a bit about horses. All of my free time is devoted to improving my riding skills and understanding the equine mind and I’ve got the dead-in-the-water personal life to prove it. I often confess that, at the age of 43, I am having a very tardy post-adolescent pony phase. Truly, I’m never happier than when covered in free-flying horse hair and a fine sheen of equine slobber.
One of the things I have learned over the years is that most horses – especially ones that are regularly ridden and trained – desperately want to please you. There is almost a canine quality about it, which surprised me. As big, hulking beings of pure muscle, their vegetarian minds are naturally, suitably, paranoid. The list of items that appear threatening to them are endless – the floating plastic bag being Enemy Number One. Beyond a big fat bale of hay, what does manage to calm them and instill confidence is the presence of other horses and/or a confident rider on their backs. In this situation, horses will happily go the distance and share the rider’s goals.
And, believe me, these horses they are breeding to race – they desperately want to win. It upsets me to see so much anger directed at Belle’s jockey, Gabriel Saez. I watched the Derby in a room full of horse people, including my horse teacher, and all agreed that the horse gave no sign of trouble until she had crossed the finish line. PETA and the Human Society are up in arms and I’m mighty glad they are forcing the industry to explain itself but to blame the jockey is way off the mark. If a crime has been committed here, it happened long before Mr. Suez ever donned his first silks and stepped on a scale.
There is no doubt in my mind that the industry needs to take a step back and look at what it has become. Like many pro sports these days, the
