Cruel game? by Anon

Cruel Game?

Much has been made of the recent ‘ill-treatment’ of a pair of TB’s on July Day – While these actions if proven to be true should never be accepted or condoned perhaps a look at the Biblical quote – “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck in your neighbor's eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' while the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor's eye. (NRSV, Matthew 7:1-5)” may be appropriate. – As a punter for many years I accept that I am a hypocrite when I say that I’m an animal lover and hate cruelty to animals – My donation to the SPCA tin and Horse care Unit feel empty at times knowing that I have supported an industry for years that is based on cruelty and punishment.

Let’s look at how we as ‘HORSE LOVERS” treat our animals:

• They are taken from their mothers before they have learnt how to be horses. If they were human they would be dysfunctional adults as they never learn the value of being part of the herd.
• Some breeders see fit to dose them with steroids and growth hormones to reach better prices(try that with your three-month-old toddler if you want him to play for the Springboks before he’s 10)
• As a species the male horse is obviously regarded as a pedophile in general as we castrate him before he gets a legover – Perhaps the Drakensberg Boys Choir should try this to keep their young soloists from sprouting pubic hair and thereby loosing their angelic voices?
• All racehorses are Arabian in nature hence the close ties to al Qaeda as we lock them up in cells for approximately 23 hours per day. We give them an hour or so on the track each day to be fair far better than the USA treats its Cuban Captives I suppose.
• We force lovely metal shoes onto their feet – Similar to the Chinese custom of wrapping a young girls feet in a cloth to prevent natural growth.
• We medicate our friends to such an extent to keep them ‘fit’ that if Discovery Health had a Medical Aid Plan for horses it would be bankrupt tenfold.
• We teach these animals to jump over obstacles at high speed when there instinct says ‘go around not over you fool’
• A really cool thing we do is to add a bit of ‘bling’ to their noble heads – nothing like a hard piece of metal placed in the mouth to control direction. Try that with your partner when you’ve exhausted all the positions in the Kuma Sutra – and while you’re at it ask your wife to give you a few slaps around the buttocks(or neck) with a riding crop to get you going.
• After a good few years of service we give our turf-reps the ‘Golden Handshake’ – a good home to a loving girl that has attended the Liz Taylor National Velvet School of Equine Care. (How many kids do you know of that have a horse as a pet? I don’t know any to be honest considering how many horses retire each year)
• I suspect the majority of horses that retire find their way into the canine world as dog food? (I wonder if Epol still makes horse cubes?)
I’m sure there are many more examples of caring behavior that you can think of but I’ll have to stop here as I have a good chance of winning today’s Pick Six and I promise to double my usual donation to the 'Animal Tin' in my local Spar if you don’t call me Hypocrite when I collect my winnings!!

PS. I’ll buy you a really juicy steak at the Spur if you don’t ask where Steak comes from!
- the most part prisoners are not put into solitary confinement because of their crimes. They are usually placed in solitary confinement for some act of violence that was committed inside the prison. Prison officials say that it is the most violent and dangerous criminals that are placed in solitary confinement. If a prisoner is placed in solitary confinement it is usually because they are a danger to other prisoners. A prisoner can also be placed in confinement if his or her own safety from other prisoners is in danger. This is known as protective custody.
The cell used for the confinement can sometimes be around the same size as your average bathroom. In 24 hours there may be one hour of exercise outside of the cell. There will be no contact with the outside world in any form, although prisoners may receive mail. Prisoners will not usually be allowed to watch television or make telephone calls.
Statistics have shown that in the United States there are around 25,000 prisoners serving sentences in solitary confinement. Many prisoners have served out 20-year sentences in this manner. The majority of the prisoners in solitary confinement have been there for over five years. -

Hypocrite of Note - Anon

So very well said Anon . I don't think betting on horses in SA brings good Karma . I am not a hypocrite as a owner i have every single horse i bought over the last 6 years , all living on my farm .I have had an old trainer, young trainer, top trainer and new trainer ,out of 12 horses i have had a grand total of 2 wins. My experiences in racing have left me astounded , aghast , shocked so i took the decision to give up my colours this year . To be quite honest i am sick of all the bullshit and the cruelty and the drugging .If asked all the above trainers would probably say i was a total pain as i was a regular once to twice weekly visitor to check my horses and check them i did. Another thing that irked me about the above trainers is that they all speak with a forked tongue.I am not here to judge others but when things are not right they are not right.
If we want racing to survive then we will have to start at the beginning and that is with the HORSE maybe its time to realise its not how u win but how u play the game.And the way the game is being played leaves a lot to be desired.
I accept my responsibility to my horses and will never allow them to be served in steak form at the spur nor in the Vienna sausages or Russians etc.

Superstar strong words,well said,thats what i call passion.Horse comes first,i hope this thread hits the mark.

Its a strange old world we live in, has anyone here eaten horse meat?

I have not but have had rabbit, I guess its a case if you regard an animal as a pet its taboo, if not you can eat it.


en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_meat

Aled Jones would still be able to sing Snowman...

Gambling has a lot to answer for....

Anon, a horseman I greatly admire has a saying - it's not the equipment, it's the hands that hold it.

For most people, with financial and lifestyle constraints, horses are a means to an end of some sort. And there are as many 'ends' as there are people and horses. Some like to race, some to jump, do dressage, endurance, vault, show, breed, etc. Just because you choose to compete your horse, put a bit in it's mouth, shoe it, geld it, etc. doesn't make you cruel (just as choosing not to do these things does not make you kind), it's how you choose to go about these things and who you trust your horse to that does make a difference.

I do choose to use my horses, rather than being content to let them live out their days in a field. And that choice saddles (scuse the pun) me with certain responsibilities. Mostly this entails caring for my horses and conditioning them in such a way that they are fit for purpose and will remain fit and strong and sound for a long time to come. Being competitive (such as I am) is to me, merely a way to measure where we are in our training (and how intelligently and successfully I'm going about it). I don't think that asking for an hour out of their day to indulge me in this pursuit is too much to ask in exchange ?

I am lucky enough to own both sport and race horses and both have their moral dilemmas. Fortunately I do not depend on either for a living, which broadens my options somewhat. I dislike a great deal about the management of racehorses, however, I also see the reasons and constraints behind the current management practices. If racing is something I choose to do, then the least I can do is to prepare my horses correctly for the transition into racing life. I do this by introducing a routine in line with what they can expect in training, teaching them appropriate manners so that someone more heavy handed does not have to do the job for me, and gradually increasing their stable time so that the transition is not too traumatic.

There are plenty of competition horses, particularly in Europe, who also live under these conditions !

Having messed around with breeding and bloodlines as much as humans have, we need to acknowledge the fact that what we generally look at when we see a horse is not 'natural'. And having modified and changed them to suit our needs, we need to compensate for some of the damage we've caused (such as putting shoes on horses with bad feet, feeding artificially manufactured concentrates, blanketing thin-skinned THB's against the cold, etc). Yes, some horses manage perfectly well without it (most of my horses are barefoot), but I would also consider not shoeing a horse with weak feet a cruelty.

I guess I don't really have an answer to your question, all I can say is that I try to do my best by my horses every day. I am fallible and all too human and I am not afraid to say that I don't always succeed. However, one of the most rewarding and addictive things about horse ownership is that you can never know everything and it is a game where you are constantly learning and improving. Where I fail, I strive to learn from my mistakes and do better next time. Every day each horse teaches me something new if I am open enough to see and learn. And with any luck, each new 'tool' increases my 'vocabulary' and makes me a better owner, trainer and, I like to think, person as well.

As I see it, if it's my horse then I can choose which games I play and how to play them. I understand that other people have different agendas, but that is ultimately their choice. My conscience allows me to sleep comfortably at night.