Below is an article about how one of the major east coast horse racing tracks will be adding a casino to it's venue in the next few years. If you are familiar with the New York crime scene and know that the mafia has it's hands in many of the so called "clean" businesses like the garbage collectors. It does have it's involvement in the racing industry and in fact owns several race tracks (I have insider info on that fact) on the east coast. Now it looks like the mafia might have a hand in the casino too. The company chosen to run the casino concessions has a trained past. The company call Delaware North was once known as Empirse and had connections to organized crime. You can read more about the history and current goings on about Delaware North here.
All I can do is shake my head. I don't really care about the gambling and the casinos but don't let the horses suffer because of it. If you will remember almost 20 years ago, it was organized crime's involvement in the murder of several well known racehorses. The acts were either to remove the horses from the competition or for the insurance money. The individual known as the "Sandman" would make visits to the tracks. It was commonly known that when he showed up a horse would die that night. The "Sandman" was on the mafia's payroll.
145+ race horses have died for the sole sake of money on the track in the last 5 months alone
If you have ever visited the MSNBC message boards about horse racing you would have seen the statistics on the amount of deaths of Thoroughbreds during a race. Did you know that 24 horses died during the Triple Crown races? Eight Belles was the only one to get publicity.
At the Lone Star race track, one horse drowned during a race after crashing through the side railing and lading in the infield pond. They fished the horse out the next day after the races were done. Didn't they bother to save the horse before he drowned?
Where do I put the blame of all of those "accidents"? Squarely on the shoulders of the trainers of course. They are the only ones that truly know the condition of the horses before the race. They can stand up to the owners and tell them that the horse is not ready or well that day. They can also be the ones that tell the owners that a horse is not matched right for a distance or caliber of race. Why don't they do that? Money is the reason. They know if they turn down a client then the owner will take their horse to someone else that will run the horse into the ground. Now if more trainers stood up to money hungry owners then the owners would have nowhere to turn to.
Years ago a good friend of mine was a top racehorse trainer on the west coast circuit. His father and brother are still in the business. Why did he quit? He loved the horses too much and every time he got attached to a horse the owner would sell it. The owners are the ones that govern the money and the true futures of those horses and the trainers are merely pawns that can be tossed aside if the horse is not winning. The trainers on the other hand are the ones that can really make a difference in the quality of life for the race horse. If all of them grouped together and said we will not run a horse younger than 4 years old then I bet that fatal injuries on the track would be almost eliminated. Only the caring and passionate racehorse trainers can make a difference in the sport of horse racing. It is those race horse trainers that have to band together and weed out the unscrupulous, abusive and down right greedy horse trainers in their mist.
At the Lone Star race track, one horse drowned during a race after crashing through the side railing and lading in the infield pond. They fished the horse out the next day after the races were done. Didn't they bother to save the horse before he drowned?
Where do I put the blame of all of those "accidents"? Squarely on the shoulders of the trainers of course. They are the only ones that truly know the condition of the horses before the race. They can stand up to the owners and tell them that the horse is not ready or well that day. They can also be the ones that tell the owners that a horse is not matched right for a distance or caliber of race. Why don't they do that? Money is the reason. They know if they turn down a client then the owner will take their horse to someone else that will run the horse into the ground. Now if more trainers stood up to money hungry owners then the owners would have nowhere to turn to.
Years ago a good friend of mine was a top racehorse trainer on the west coast circuit. His father and brother are still in the business. Why did he quit? He loved the horses too much and every time he got attached to a horse the owner would sell it. The owners are the ones that govern the money and the true futures of those horses and the trainers are merely pawns that can be tossed aside if the horse is not winning. The trainers on the other hand are the ones that can really make a difference in the quality of life for the race horse. If all of them grouped together and said we will not run a horse younger than 4 years old then I bet that fatal injuries on the track would be almost eliminated. Only the caring and passionate racehorse trainers can make a difference in the sport of horse racing. It is those race horse trainers that have to band together and weed out the unscrupulous, abusive and down right greedy horse trainers in their mist.
Another horse trainer acused of sexual abuse
Why does it seem like the horse industry has more than it's fair share of nut jobs and abusers? Here is yet another horse trainer that has 465 counts of sexually abusing 4 teenage boys over a 4 year period. It use to be that Catholic church and the local schools had more than their fair share of sex abusers but now the horse industry wants to share the lime light.
Well known horse trainer stands up against horse abusers
My hat goes off to Kimball Lewis a well respected horse trainer in Idaho. He has written an in depth article that appears on the Canadian website for Agriculture and Rural Development in Alberta detailing the many instances of horse abuse by horse trainers.
In the article he sites one incident of 2 horses being loaded into a horse trailer with the out come of the horses both dying as a result.
If only more of the well known and respected horse trainers stand up for animal rights like Mr. Lewis, instead of thinking about lining their own pockets with money, the horses and the horse industry would be a better place.
In the article he sites one incident of 2 horses being loaded into a horse trailer with the out come of the horses both dying as a result.
If only more of the well known and respected horse trainers stand up for animal rights like Mr. Lewis, instead of thinking about lining their own pockets with money, the horses and the horse industry would be a better place.
A horse trainer that should be horsewhipped
Today I have to thank Fugly Horse of the Day for bringing attention to the following video of a Danish horse trainer that is currently under investigation by the local police and animal welfare groups. Here is a very graphic video of the "trainer" beating and abusing the horses that are sent to her to "train". I warn you the video is not for the faint of heart. The case of this trainer abusing horses is not the first time. Here is a video of a previous animal abuse case against her. That video shows blood dripping from the mouth of the horse she is "training" as she rides it.
On another note, close to my heart is the incidents of horse abandonment. The number of horses being abandoned all over the world is rising at an alarming rate. Those of us located in the USA are well aware of the numbers in the USA, but here is a sad tale of a once famous horse in Ireland found wandering the marshlands near Belfast near death. The article goes on to state that Ireland is having a growing problem with horse abandonment.
On another note, close to my heart is the incidents of horse abandonment. The number of horses being abandoned all over the world is rising at an alarming rate. Those of us located in the USA are well aware of the numbers in the USA, but here is a sad tale of a once famous horse in Ireland found wandering the marshlands near Belfast near death. The article goes on to state that Ireland is having a growing problem with horse abandonment.
Horse trainers and the internet
I often wonder if the world of the horse industry has more than it's fair share of highly ignorant and illiterate computer users. Just putting in the word "horse" and adding "training" to it in a search on YouTube will get you the most idiotic selection of dumb asses riding and "training" horses with some of them adding links to their training websites. There are now spin offs of YouTube that also have videos so you can watch all the stupidity as these people are willing to up load on the internet.
Of course I was mostly referring to the backyard trainer that usually has no liability insurance or even a business license to do professional horse training. Those two little items has never stopped them from putting up a sign and getting people to pay them for "horse training". What about the big name professionals? Are they just as dumb as the backyard trainer when it comes to the internet? Yes they are! I found one trainer that has a big following and probably has someone do his website for him. It seems that Tommy Garland joined the band wagon to have a blog (just like everyone else on the planet) but failed to realize that you need to write in it to make the blog worth while. His blog was started back in February 2008 and ended the same day. The man has over 16 comments left on the blog, most of them wanting his advice. I can't blame them for leaving comments like that after all the blog is named Horse Training Help. The top of the blog reads "Welcome to our site. This site was created to help horse lovers solve some common problems in training their horses." My guess is the only help he is giving is to himself with the links in the blog to his website so you can "purchase" his help.
Another horse trainer named Deb Bull in Virgina has fairly decent website but I found her review of her own website more interesting to read. In her review she admits that she has not gotten many calls for her services from her website. Looking at the website again I noticed that she does not mention her fees or have pictures of her place which would be a huge deciding factor in sending a horse to her for training. Since she claims to specialize in reining training, a few photos of her in action might be appropriate. It looks like her "website" is just a one page affair that was done for her (evidenced by the "designed by" at the bottom of the page). At least the website did not have any music or teenage graphics that would remind you of "pretty ponies".
Both of the trainers that I mentioned are not trainers from hell but are just not aware that the internet can work for them as well as against them. Just think how many clients Tommy has lost because he has not bothered to interact with his blog visitors. How many clients did Deb not gain because of the lack of information on her site? If potential clients can't find the good horse trainers out there then they are sometimes forced to use the mediocre or bad ones that do advertise and get the word out. How many times have I heard someone say "I only wish I had knew about (insert name of horse trainer here) before I sent out my horse to that idiot horse trainer down the road." It then becomes the jobs of the good horse trainers to undo the work done by the bad ones. You might say that bad horse trainers make good horse trainers have a secure job future, but with the economy as it is today those horses that have had bad horse training will more then likely sit in a pasture for the rest of their lives (if their owners can afford that) or end up as dog food.
Of course I was mostly referring to the backyard trainer that usually has no liability insurance or even a business license to do professional horse training. Those two little items has never stopped them from putting up a sign and getting people to pay them for "horse training". What about the big name professionals? Are they just as dumb as the backyard trainer when it comes to the internet? Yes they are! I found one trainer that has a big following and probably has someone do his website for him. It seems that Tommy Garland joined the band wagon to have a blog (just like everyone else on the planet) but failed to realize that you need to write in it to make the blog worth while. His blog was started back in February 2008 and ended the same day. The man has over 16 comments left on the blog, most of them wanting his advice. I can't blame them for leaving comments like that after all the blog is named Horse Training Help. The top of the blog reads "Welcome to our site. This site was created to help horse lovers solve some common problems in training their horses." My guess is the only help he is giving is to himself with the links in the blog to his website so you can "purchase" his help.
Another horse trainer named Deb Bull in Virgina has fairly decent website but I found her review of her own website more interesting to read. In her review she admits that she has not gotten many calls for her services from her website. Looking at the website again I noticed that she does not mention her fees or have pictures of her place which would be a huge deciding factor in sending a horse to her for training. Since she claims to specialize in reining training, a few photos of her in action might be appropriate. It looks like her "website" is just a one page affair that was done for her (evidenced by the "designed by" at the bottom of the page). At least the website did not have any music or teenage graphics that would remind you of "pretty ponies".
Both of the trainers that I mentioned are not trainers from hell but are just not aware that the internet can work for them as well as against them. Just think how many clients Tommy has lost because he has not bothered to interact with his blog visitors. How many clients did Deb not gain because of the lack of information on her site? If potential clients can't find the good horse trainers out there then they are sometimes forced to use the mediocre or bad ones that do advertise and get the word out. How many times have I heard someone say "I only wish I had knew about (insert name of horse trainer here) before I sent out my horse to that idiot horse trainer down the road." It then becomes the jobs of the good horse trainers to undo the work done by the bad ones. You might say that bad horse trainers make good horse trainers have a secure job future, but with the economy as it is today those horses that have had bad horse training will more then likely sit in a pasture for the rest of their lives (if their owners can afford that) or end up as dog food.
Horse training gizmo
This new fangled contraption for horse training showed up while I was doing some research on horse training equipment. The Roush Horse Trainer is available in Turkey and I wonder how many horses it has to help train before becoming cost effective. More pictures of the contraption can be found here. The "car" is designed to hold 3 people with state of the art monitoring devices. The full description of the "car" including weight (4 tonnes), specs and it's official press release is here.
This has got to be the ultimate in lazy horse training. I can see the want ads now "Wanted horse trainer for large farm. No experience necessary, must be able to drive equipment and monitor computer screen."
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