Posted on Tue, May. 06, 2008

Heartbreaking losses turn horse fans away

For some, only change can help

By Linda B. Blackford

LBLACKFORD@HERALD-LEADER.COM

Tom Eblen | Staff

Sarah Hansel on The Quiet Man fell over the Footbridge jump on the cross-country course of the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington on April 26. Photo by Tom Eblen | Staff

Debate on track surface revived

Behind the Headlines: Another horse is fatally injured; should you see it?

Derby videos and slide shows

Sign a guestbook for Eight Belles

Slide show: Eight Belles' life (Could be upsetting to some viewers.)

Slide show: Eight Belles, Sudden Loss

Comments

Jo Wickline, who has owned and ridden horses for 40 years, did not watch the Kentucky Derby this year for the first time .

That's because she witnessed a horse crashing through a cross-country fence at the Rolex Three-Day Event. He was one of two horses destroyed that day.

"I'm still not over Rolex," said the Sunbury, Ohio, woman. "I just had this feeling I didn't want to watch (the Derby), and I'm so glad I did not."

The death of Eight Belles after she came in second in the Kentucky Derby and of two horses at Rolex in April has been a one-two punch to the commonwealth's marquee equine events. Although horse racing and three-day eventing are furlongs apart in practice and competition, the sight of injured and dying horses traumatizes fans like Wickline and hurts the image of Kentucky's signature industry.

"We are hearing from a very large number of people today saying that they can't watch it," said Keith Dane, director of equine protection at the Humane Society of the United States. "Everyone is concerned and everyone wants change."

Because of the prestige of both these events, they attract huge numbers of spectators -- 100,000 over the three days of Rolex and 157,000 at the Derby -- and are broadcast to a wide television audience as well. Eight Belles' death on the track came just two years after Barbaro's well-documented breakdown and eventual euthanasia.

The latest accident prompted a barrage of criticism from sports columnists and newscasters, as well as fans like Wickline.

"Every time we go on television, we cut our own throat," said Jim Squires, a thoroughbred breeder in Versailles, who bred Kentucky Derby winner Monarchos. "That's what drives everyone nuts, because no one feels it any worse than people in the industry."

Some of the problems experts point to include the overbreeding of thoroughbreds, the use of drugs and track surfaces in racing, and the difficulty of obstacles, excessive speed and proper training in eventing.

But the question, Dane says, is "whether these industries will accept the reality that bad PR puts their industry at risk and take action."

'Kicked in the stomach'

Representatives from both sports say they're already doing just that.

On the Tuesday after Rolex, David O'Connor, president of the United States Equestrian Federation, released a set of recommendations to improve safety on the cross-country course. They will be debated at a safety summit in Lexington on June 6-7. The discussion came at the end of a year in which 12 riders died worldwide.

"We've been very pro-active," said USEF Executive Director John Long. "The action that the USEF and USEA (United States Eventing Association) have taken has been strong and exactly the right thing to do -- to sit down and thoroughly review the ways we can make the sport of eventing safer than it's ever been."

In racing, the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation had planned a Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit some time before Barbaro's accident, says foundation president Ed Bowen. They have committees looking at such issues as track surfaces, medication and the durability of the breed.

"We're really kicked in the stomach when something like this happens," Bowen said. "But I think the sport can survive because it is a great sport that is very enthralling."

In addition, Bowen said, $25 million a year is devoted to equine medical research, looking at everything from genetic problems to track injuries. "We are learning all we can about preventing all the accidents we can."

Because racing is governed by state commissions, rather than one national board, change comes slowly.

The biggest change to come out of the summit so far is the collection of injury and medication data, which had never been done before, said Alex Waldrop, head of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.

"We have a lot of anecdotal evidence about questions of durability of the breed, but there's no evidence to support it because we've never had the evidence," he said. "There's no question that people want horse racing to be as safe as possible for equine and human athletes. When accidents happen people get upset and we get upset."

Complicated problems

Accidents such as Eight Belles' highlight a host of complicated problems in racing, ranging from whether over-medicating leads to weaknesses in the breed to an industry that stresses speed over stamina.

Jim Squires thinks the industry also needs to look at the overall obsession with speed, which affects everything from the use of whips to breeding. "Since horses naturally race against each other, what difference does it make if he raced in two minutes to two minutes and three seconds?" he said. "The image of a horse breaking down after it has been whipped to go faster is an image that we either have to clean up or suffer the consequences of. There's no question of that."

Mike Cooper, Commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Tourism, was at Rolex and the Derby.

"We hate it when things like this happen," he said. "Two weekends back to back is a shock and it's devastating to the horse industry, but we will continue to use the Unbridled Spirit brand because we are Kentucky and we love our horses."

Cooper released a report on Monday showing that tourism brings $10.7 billion to the state. Though the report has no specific numbers, he believes a large part of that is due to horses. That will be especially true in 2010 when the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games come to Lexington.

"This is upsetting, but it doesn't change anything that we will do in the way we promote Kentucky," Cooper said.

Because the horse industry, and racing in particular, is about big money, it's easy to think that industry people may be hardened to a horses losing their lives once in a while. But Nick Nicholson, president of Keeneland, which touts its synthetic track surface as safer, says it's important that casual spectators of horse sport understand that's not true.

"We felt the same nausea that you did, we understand that feeling in your stomach because we have it too, and we're trying our very best that you don't have to feel it again," he said.

Many in the horse industry are concerned that too many are feeling the way Wickline does.

"The older I get, the more sympathetic I am to these animals, and I'm getting to the point where I don't want to watch any of it anymore," Wickline said.

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