Last week at the Arlington race track, tragedy struck as jockey, Rene Douglas (pictured), and his horse, Born to Be, suffered a collision that has left Douglas paralyzed in his legs and other serious injuries. Born to Be subsequently had to be euthanized after the horrific event.
You can view the race here. Approximately one minute and thirty-eight seconds into the race is when you can see Born to Be flip backwards. What you don’t see is Douglas flying head first into the track before Born to Be collapsing directly on top of Douglas. So horrible.
The person who is being held responsible for this horrific event is Jamie Theriot, jockey for Sky Mom. Theriot has been accused of bumping Born to Be which caused him (Born to Be) to clip heads with another horse which led to the horrific scene.
Theriot was demoted from fifth place to last in that race and has been suspended for 30 days beginning May 30th. Why isn’t the suspension effective immediately? Hmmm…..
Why do horse races exist? Horse racing has been around in the US since 1665. But what is the attraction and the draw of the crowds? Of course, it’s the obvious – gambling – making money off of animals.
I am no expert in the field of horse racing and I do understand why people watch but does anyone really care what happens or do they know what happens to many of these horses when their “heyday” is done?
New Holland, Lancaster County, has one of the largest auction houses for horses. Many of these horses are sold to slaughterhouses. Yes, that’s right. Some of your previous winners end up at this very slaughterhouse to be killed. Gone are the proud owners, the cheering crowds, the accolades and the media attention. Now it’s left up to the highest bidder to decide which slaughterhouse gets them. Many former race horses (not all) find themselves at these places through no fault of their own. Isn’t it ironic how Lancaster County can also boast of having the highest number of puppymills in the state for which we are named the puppymill capital of the east?
But, I digress. As I said, I am not the expert on horse racing but many animal welfare groups claim this “sport” is abusive to the animals and the horses are forced to live under poor conditions. According to the U.S. Jockey Club of New York, they have stated that 600 race horses died in 2006. I don’t know have an explanation as to why but I’m guessing the deaths occurred due to injuries.
According to Anna Walter, member of the Dep’t of Emergency Medicine at the University of North Carolina, who co-authored a study on jockey injuries, has said 100 jockeys have been killed between 1950-1987.
This is a dangerous “sport” for the animal and the jockey. The problem is- does anyone care? Or will making money off of animals be more important than the welfare of the animals? I guess I already know the answer.