It Just Is - by Joel Turner

re: It Just Is - by Joel Turner

Pam Whitmire — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 18:27:39 GMT

I agree with you 100 percent! Owners should keep their horses running as 4 and 5 year olds to prove they are sturdy, hardy stud candidates. The only way to improve on the sturdy built horses is to breed horses that are proven to hold up over the long haul.

re: It Just Is - by Joel Turner

Karen — Wed, 21 May 2008 15:38:11 GMT

Wow. I had not read this article before today and I must say, this is written so perfectly and straight from the heart. This is a beautiful reminder of how much we love these horses and how much it hurts when we lose them. Thank you Joel. Thank you for your words of wisdom and your effortless way in which you describe the way we all feel. You can tell the true "horsemen" on this board as they will all agree with you. Finally we can read something and take a deep breath and feel good about it.

re: It Just Is - by Joel Turner

Sharon in MA — Tue, 20 May 2008 05:55:54 GMT

Well said Joel. Also I agree with you TripleCrownKaren totaly. I find my self extremely upset with the news and how its been presented and also PETA comments. People who ar not IN horses will be mis-led by some of the news and comments being reported.I have owned,bred,helped train and shown horses. Unless you are IN horses you just don't understand. Sometimes it just is.

re: It Just Is - by Joel Turner

HorsemensRights — Sat, 17 May 2008 05:44:55 GMT

Horsemen must unite NOW Joel! You said this-

"We continue breeding, raising, and competing our horses because it gives us purpose and pleasure, despite the inevitable risks."

Horsemen must stand united to improve horse racing, PETA's aim has always been only Total Animal Liberation. PETA wants to deny us any use of our animals. Through legal wrangling, getting horses re-classified as "companion animals" and their owners as "guardians", restricting/requiring licenses for breeding, PETA steadily works toward depriving horsemen of their property rights over their own horses. Their current demands are only a step in that direction. Do not negotiate with or give legitimacy to this or other animal rights groups.

Horsemen should include the optimism they feel for improvement in racing in their statements. Cite the work and advancements of our best people- vets, unbiased racing surface researchers, peidgree experts, ect. and show the public that American race horses have the opportunity for a level of care rarely equalled in the rest of the world. And that our horsemen are overwhelmingly good people who love their animals.

We must defend the good in horse racing or PETA will use your own words to take your livlihood and your property away from you.

Horsemen and the industry pick your best and brightest to make racing better for horses and horsemen. Do not partner to help horse racing with those who want to abolish it.

re: It Just Is - by Joel Turner

Larry Davis — Sat, 17 May 2008 03:10:18 GMT

Larry Jones, one of the best caretakers in the business is being chastised for his role of trainer of Eight Belles. Step up, get involved & find out what this business is all about before you begin to make him headlines. Larry has always & always will be a true horseman. Take this with your morning meds!!! Write about the card results from KY, NY, VA, WVA, LA, FL, MA, MD, LA, AR, IL, IN, IA, TX, OK, NM, AR, CA, etc. Compare these with the big shows that you like to write about. I think you will find the percentages something to look at. The media should cover the whole game, not just the ones that make press for the part time writer.

re: It Just Is - by Joel Turner

TripleCrownKaren — Fri, 16 May 2008 12:37:37 GMT

Mr. Taylor.....BRAVO for your insightful, sensitive piece! You hit the nail on the head when you wrote about "forcing" a horse to do ANYTHING it doesn't want to do. As for the "safety" part of raising and competing ANY horse in ANY discipline, I am reminded of a loss of a WESTERN PLEASURE prospect many years ago. A beautiful HEALTHY, normal 3 yr old filly was turned out in the training area (in this case, a round pen). She was playing, running & bucking as all young horses do to let off steam, when she kicked out and "briefly" caught her right hind foot in between the rails of the board fencing. She ws hung up for at most 1-2 seconds, but when she put the foot down, she was dead lame and could put no weight at ALL on it. I examined the foot and to my great sadness, the ankle sounded like crunching glass.....I knew it was broken.

The vet confirmed the severe fracture and this lovely filly had to be put down. Just an incident of a horse "being a horse" and a freak accident occurs.

Because we love them so much and they become a part of our "family" the loss is NEVER easy and it stays with you for life. But could I picture my life WITHOUT horses in it......ABSOLUTELY NOT!

To those who are not IN horses, you can't possibly understand how rich life can be with them....and how tragic and sad it is when we lose them, whether they are 2 or 22.

re: It Just Is - by Joel Turner

Josie — Thu, 15 May 2008 17:47:42 GMT

One of the problems commonly acknowledged in racing is the decline of durability in the breed. Too often, the stars of the track are retired to stud before proving that they can withstand training for a 4- or 5-year-old campaign. Smarty Jones, Street Sense, Hard Spun (a personal favorite), and now Big Brown, fall into this camp.

Personally, I would love to see the Jockey Club take one simple, yet ground-shaking step that would transform racing - simply make foals ineligible for registration from a stud that was not at least 5 years old at the time of cover. This would encourage the great horses to keep racing and remove the financial incentive to retire horses early - they could choose to retire a horse at three, but couldn't do anything with him until he turned 5. Just a thought...

re: It Just Is - by Joel Turner

Geegees — Thu, 15 May 2008 15:32:27 GMT

HEAR HEAR Finally someone who speaks from experience. Any one in the horse business has lost a horse, most of the time just from a freak accident. Yes if possible make the game safer but why try to change things completely. These horses be they racers, jumpers or just pleasure horses are athletes, and like any athlete they will get injured. Ask Joe Theisman. Do not condemn horse sports because of this.

re: It Just Is - by Joel Turner

Charlotte — Thu, 15 May 2008 14:20:00 GMT

There have been some outrageous posts and completely unconstructive comments around the fatality of Eight Belles but racing is now at a critical time and if the profile of the sport is not raised the effects will be dire. Unfortunately, fatalities with animals are a given - Horses can break down any time, anywhere, and sometimes there really is nothing that anyone could have done even with the benefit of foresight. However, even if some of the reaction so far has been hysterical - one dreads to think what might happen if Big Brown broke down in the Preakness -that does not mean racing can afford to ignore the vitriol.

The surface debate will rage, will America really accept synthetic tracks that provide a totally different race to a dirt track. Some say its unreliable and horses don't show such speed on it. However, whatever the pros and cons of that debate, American racing is one of the worst in the world for medication and its about time action was taken against it.

Regardless of raceday medication, many horses are routinely administered analgesic medication to enable them to stand a more testing training regimen; steroids, too, are used to aid recovery from injury and training

As a result, some horses may run right through the pain barrier, but short-term gain can mean long-term pain. It isn't always the case, thankfully, but if a horse is both overtrained and desensitised to pain, the potential consequences surely donot need spelling out. Durability is probably not the word you are looking for.

I expect a torrent of abuse for this email but outside of this country, American racing is considered to be as pumped up and artificially inflated as some of those comments regarding the basic ethics of the sport.

re: It Just Is - by Joel Turner

Terri — Wed, 14 May 2008 22:16:35 GMT

The most rational, most thought out, unbiased article published since the Derby fiasco. Finally the voice of reason and education has been heard.

re: It Just Is - by Joel Turner

amy edwards — Wed, 14 May 2008 04:40:08 GMT

Well Said

re: It Just Is - by Joel Turner

mary forsberg — Tue, 13 May 2008 22:46:14 GMT

Mr.Turner,

Your heart felt editorial is appreciated. mary

re: It Just Is - by Joel Turner

Janice — Tue, 13 May 2008 21:28:43 GMT

Thank you for such an eloquent and moving editorial. Eight Belles like Barbaro was truly exceptional and captured our hearts. Not that we should forget any of the other beautiful horses who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their people. I hope these tragic events will serve to bring about much needed changes in the horse racing world so that we can protect these beautiful animals that are in our care. I pray that will be so.

re: It Just Is - by Joel Turner

Wanda — Tue, 13 May 2008 18:28:31 GMT

Your comments made perfect sense.In the racing game you do the very best you can do for the horse and for yourself. Sometimes you have to make hard choices,but that's a part of life.If you can't take the low's,you don't appreciate the high's.I've won races and lost lot's more than I won and yes I've made some very very hard choices. But you know what? I still love the game.It just is. You said it best Joel.

re: It Just Is - by Joel Turner

FELICIA — Tue, 13 May 2008 17:31:58 GMT

THANK YOU MR. TURNER FOR THE POSITIVE EDITORIAL. I THINK WE ALL NEED TO HEAR MORE ABOUT WHAT CAN BE DONE TO STOP FATAL BREAKDOWNS. I KNOW EIGHT BELLES DID'NT DIE IN VAIN & SHE CERTAINLY WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTON LIKE SO MANY PEOPLE THOUGHT.