As a long time racegoer I have seen a few horses put down. The most distressing was an unraced 2 year old. I had taken a friend to watch the barrier trials - early morning, no betting, no crowd and it was a great day out until the second last trial. We were down on the fence near the finish post and only metres away a beautifully bred youngster pulled up with a snapped fetlock. Like Barbaro, its leg dangled as though held on by the skin. Screens were put up, then the horse ambulance arrived and the horse was put down.
A horrible way to end what would have been a magical morning.
TB racehorses have very fragile legs. Horses used as warhorses or plowhorses - think Clydesdales in compairson. Much, much more massive bone structure.
Okay, now I remember the program-it was “History’s Lost and Found” and the horse was merely known as “No. 5.” The artifact in question was his hoof, I believe, which had been preserved. (I wish that show was still on!)
I’m sure regular ol’ horse-owners occasionally have to shoot horses, but racing horses at the track have a vet on hand to do the deed a little more delicately. Horrible situation any way you slice it. Then you have to dispose of the enormous body.
Very interesting. Here’s a GQ for you, if it isn’t answered here maybe I’ll open another thread. How about the grand kids? If a horse is conceived using AI the Jockey Club won’t recognize it. What about any foals that horse has? Financially it would still be worth having the bloodline continue for a Derby winner but it would be a longer investment. I’m assuming by your post that if the horse is not recognized by the jockey club it can’t race as a thoroughbred.
If the sire and dam are not both thoroughbreds, the horse is not a thoroughbred. Since the artificially inseminated horse is not considered a thoroughbred, his offspring wouldn’t be thoroughbred, either.
I think the reason for the rule is to prevent fraud. It wouldn’t be hard for an unscrupulous breeder to use semen from either a different horse than contracted, or from a non-thoroughbred. The Jockey Club keeps that can of worms tightly shut.
At the track (Belmont), on the infield near the finish line.
I’m sure they are disposed of in graveyards (if you can afford it). My SIL already purchased a plot for her horse and she’s left explicit instructions to bury her with him. I haven’t had the nerve to ask her husband how he feels about that.
A tragic topic, but… am I the only one who thought of the “Far Side” cartoon of the veterinarian looking through a textbook in which all the remedies for horse injuries were “euthanization”? :eek:
The potential for fraud used to be the main argument against AI. However, with genetic testing, it’s no longer the main one. There are lots of arguments for and against AI that you see thrown about on horse discussion boards. Some make sense. Others are crazy.
The one that makes the most sense is that live cover helps keep genetic diversity in the breed. A stallion can only cover so many mares but can inseminate a lot more through AI. Also, shipping a mare long distances and boarding her is an expensive and risky venture. So a mare owner may prefer to breed to a more local stallion even if he’s not the first choice. With AI, you could see more and more mares impregnated by fewer and fewer stallions.
yep, that was ruffian’s. there is a site that had where a good number of tbs were buried. most seem to be buried at their farms. i was trying to find a site for the ones buried at a track and came across ruffian’s.
go for wand, i def. remembered being buried on site.
I can’t find on New Bolton Center’s site whether they have an exercise pool as well as the surgery recovery pool that we’ve all seen in the news. I observed the one at Rochester Equine Clinic in New Hampshire when my horse was there for arthroscopic surgery years ago. There’s a ramp into a doughnut-shaped pool where the horse can swim and thus exercise without weight-bearing on its injured leg.
Here’s an article explaining therapeutic swimming for horses recovering from injury and/or surgery.
From memory, the pool at New Bolton is huge. Anesthetic recoveries are done in one corner that has direct OR access. The other end of the pool has a ramp that is designed for awake equines to negotiate.
I have some funny pics of us working on a recovering horse in the pool. Funny because we are all wearing hockey helmets. All it takes is one leg to twitch while the horse is being lifted/lowered!
