This is a horrible day for the Preakness. The weather is terrible, two horses have died and it's a fricken mud hole over there.

Lots of mud! Is Belmont next?

I just read about the two horses dying on Huffington Post website....One had heart attack after the race on his way to the barn. The second one broke his leg and had to be euthanized. I would assume there was higher risk due to muddy track and then there was talk of the drug abuse in horse racing so I made my little comment about how some practices need to be improved in this "sport." Another poster replied saying some horses liked to race and they wouldn't race if they didn't like it. You can't force a horse to race if it doesn't want to race...O.K. I didn't know that. I did not know it was the horse's choice. I just thought she was another Trump supporter.

Interesting story on CBS this evening. Two hour special about development of terrorist groups, role of CIA, FBI, etc.....Bush's staff is admitting what we already know...and that is that if they had paid attention to the intelligence they received before 9/11, it would never have happened, compounded the disaster by sending troops to Iraq....The FBI and CIA did not work together and one agency lacked all of necessary intelligence to find and stop Bin Laden and his thugs....Story actually started at time of first attack (the basement bomb in WTC in 1993 and the subsequent mistakes made in intelligence....The US had the necessary information to prevent ⁹⁄₁₁ according to this story and most of the research I have done reaffirms this....they mentioned having information re attack at least 2 weeks before 9/11...really upsetting and devastating to know that even though they had the resources, they weren't used and people died very painful, horrific deaths and hopefully, not in vain.....Program started an hour ago (8:00 p.m to 10:00 p.m) AZ doesn't change time so we are same as Pacific time....it is 9:00 p.m. here now.

(05-21-2016, 10:03 PM)Maggot Wrote: Lots of mud! Is Belmont next?

Some horses perform well in the mud, others not so much. I would imagine they all had on special shoes yesterday, just like football players would wear special footwear to grip a wet field better.

Yup, the Belmont is next, it's on June 11^th and the winner of that gets $800,000.00.

Each race of the Triple Crown is longer than the race before it. The Derby is 1 ¹⁄₄ miles, the Preakness is 1 ³⁄₁₆ and the Belmont is 1 ¹⁄₂ miles.

(05-22-2016, 12:02 AM)blueberryhill Wrote: I just read about the two horses dying on Huffington Post website....One had heart attack after the race on his way to the barn. The second one broke his leg and had to be euthanized. I would assume there was higher risk due to muddy track and then there was talk of the drug abuse in horse racing so I made my little comment about how some practices need to be improved in this "sport." Another poster replied saying some horses liked to race and they wouldn't race if they didn't like it. You can't force a horse to race if it doesn't want to race...O.K. I didn't know that. I did not know it was the horse's choice. I just thought she was another Trump supporter.

There's a ton of drug abuse in horse racing, it's sickening. Most of the drugs come out of Canada. You can't develop a test for a drug unless you know what the drug is. All winning horses are tested immediately after racing.

BH, these horses are bred specifically to race, it's in their blood. Bloodlines are everything in horseracing. Every now & then you'll hear of a horse with much success that is basically a nobody, that's an exception to the rule, a lucky strike, it's not the norm. There are also horses with very good breeding who don't make a good racehorse but you find that out long before it would make its way to the racetrack.

A good race horses retirement is utter bliss. They are fed the best grain, get groomed, get to roll in the mud, get groomed again and get to fuck twice a day for 200,000 a whack to the prettiest filly's that can be found. They get another chance later in the day after supper if they want. Life is good for a stud horse. I wish I was a race horse.

Some stud horses have a very good life indeed but many retired racehorses are discarded like yesterday's trash. Once they no longer make money they are gotten rid of, some are sent to the killers, some are sold to the Amish where they are used as a tool, the lucky ones find a home with people who turn them into a riding horse.

I know they like to run and can sometimes be more of a handful than some expect.

There was once a horse here for therapy and when the big dutchdoor on the back of the stall was opened so he could look out upon the land he freaked the hell out. He was terrified. Come to find out he had never seen wide open space like that before, if he did, there was no memory. His life had been spent going from one racetrack to another. He didn't know what it was like to run in a field, he may have grazed upon grass but it was always surrounded by buildings. His exercise always consisted of running around the track. This an extreme example but it's not all that unusual. Many people only see the charming human interest kind of stuff when big races, like the race for the Triple Crown, are happening. I have a lot of mixed feelings about the racing industry.

How many horses do you have on your property?

The racehorses fluctuate. They come & go, depending on their therapy, I think there are 6 in the barn right now and there are 5 in the fields. The field horses are mine, the one I ride almost exclusively was bred here and the others are rescues. Rescues are a dime a dozen, there is always a retired racehorse somewhere who needs a home.

It amazes me that people who dislike your politics insult you, you don't see us insulting you personally about your choice of candidates. Plenty of assholes on either side of the aisle. I'd rather live next to a cool Democrat than a jackass Republican.

(05-22-2016, 04:13 PM)sally Wrote: How many horses do you have on your property?

Wow, thanks for all the information on horse racing. I knew you had horses and liked riding, but didn't know the extent of your involvement...I learned a lot. I don't think I like it because of the abuse whenever money is involved for the owners. .....e.g., pumping up horses with drugs. We know that has been an age old problem. Do you think the horse who had heart attack was a result of overdose or is it too early to speculate? At any rate, it is so sad....

My gdaughter was a horse lover; she rode and was trained at a horse ranch in Kansas. The owner selected her to join a group who would travel and compete....We all thought this was an honor and that she would love it, but over a year ago (before she turned 15), she completely lost interest and refused to go back to her training classes...Her fellow riders tried to talk her into continuing but it was like she couldn't deal with any type of criticism from her instructors...I was truly sad when she stopped her riding/training classes.....

Thanks again for the education.

I don't understand what this hostility is all of the sudden. I guess horse talk pisses people off.

(05-22-2016, 04:32 PM)blueberryhill Wrote: My gdaughter was a horse lover

I can't remember a time when I didn't love horses. I say if there are no horses in heaven I'm not going.

All thoroughbred racehorse's birthdays are on January 1. No matter when they were born, they are another year older on that day. A foal born on Dec. 31 would be 1 yr. old the following day. You don't want that, you want to breed them to foal as close after January 1 as possible. Certain ages are only eligible for specific races. For example, stake races like the Kentucky Derby only allow for 3 yr. olds to run.

As far as just having a horse for a pet and riding are they harder to take care of than a dog? Does it require a lot of work and expensive vet bills? I ask because I'm thinking about buying a property where I could have some barnyard animals. A horse, a few cows, a pig, some chickens and maybe a goat. I'll care for them, but I don't want to dedicate my whole life to those bastards if that's what it involves.

(05-22-2016, 05:35 PM)sally Wrote: As far as just having a horse for a pet and riding are they harder to take care of than a dog? Does it require a lot of work and expensive vet bills? I ask because I'm thinking about buying a property where I could have some barnyard animals. A horse, a few cows, a pig, some chickens and maybe a goat. I'll care for them, but I don't want to dedicate my whole life to those bastards if that's what it involves.

Horses as a pet and for riding are very easy to care for and are not a big expense, it's when your horse is a professional that time and money are needed. Racehorses are as needy as any professional athlete would be, they require much different resources than a pet horse would. Having a horse as a pet would not put a hurtin' on you financially.

I would love to have about 5 acres with a nice big house and a few farm animals, but I don't want to have to drive for miles to get into the city either. I saw a property for sale today that would be perfect. We're definitely building another house so it's going to be either something like that or something on the golf course like my husband wants. I'd rather wake up and pet my horse and collect chicken eggs for breakfast than jump on my golf cart and play boring ass golf.

I love farm living, love it. Spring is especially nice because all the wild critters are having their babies. I like having woods to walk through and it's downright magical when it snows. If I want culture, like museums & shows, I have to travel quite a distance but grocery stores, departments stores, home improvement, etc. are only about 9 minutes away.