Ouch. What a shame. I’d be interested to know if the production is any more dangerous to the horses involved than an equivalent number of horses and passage of time at a working racetrack or stables.
Oh no! I’d be curious to know what the circumstances of the other two deaths were. It doesn’t sound like the third horse was being filmed or doing anything that a million horses don’t every day (walk back to the barn, not rear over and die). Things do happen though- horses are big, flighty and fragile.
I’m also sad to see the numbers of people watching the show, IMHO it’s gotten better each episode and is one of my current favorites.
I saw this elsewhere.
“I guess those three horses were the glue that held Luck together.”
Horses Being Offed
Interesting. My understanding is the first two horses suffered catastrophic injuries filming racing scenes, which IMO can be more or less prevented depending on how it is done. This is more of a fluke accident; the filly reared up while being led onto the track, flipped over, and hit her head on the ground. Santa Anita, the host track where all of this is filmed, disallowed further filming until the incident could be investigated.
I need to go see what the scuttlebutt is on this in the racing forums.
How unlucky.
I was really beginning to enjoy the series. I wonder if this was simply a pretext to cancel the series due to the ratings, or if the track’s production ban really caused the shutdown.
I’d be willing to bet that it was a situation where HBO looked at the ratings, looked at the history of accidents, and said, “You know what, it’s not worth it.”
They would have had all the expense of casting a new horse into the role and reshooting all the deceased horse’s scenes.
Well, on the upside, the fired crew members won’t go hungry.
Well it looks like the show’s been put down:
Horses are fragile creatures and thoroughbred racehorses doubly so - all right that’s a sweeping generalisation, but if you read the posts on equine message boards ever day someone posts about a horse going lame or dying…
At this year’s Cheltenham Festival (National Hunt racing where they jump fences) so far, in the first two days 5, yes five horses have died, or been PTS as a result of injuries (mostly leg) sustained in racing - the good going is being blamed.
I doubt that the production of this TV series has been the cause of any of the horses’ deaths
I think so. The show wasn’t doing well and I don’t think HBO wants to deal with boycotts and bad publicity for purportedly failing to keep animals safe.
I think I read that the Humane Society organization affiliated with the show had issued a suspension order. Not sure how that process works.
I’m not sure either, but I don’t think the AHA has the power to stop anything during filming. Wikipedia says HBO made the decision to stop filming the racing sequences while it looked into the deaths of the horses, and the AHA asked them not to resume filming until they had done a thorough investigation. Films and movies like to have the AHA’s approval because it reassures viewers, but producers and networks aren’t going to give the humane society the authority to stop them from filming.
Terribly sad that these horses died and the show got canceled. I was really enjoying the show - it was probably the best drama on TV at the moment.