Barbaro made me do it

I am starting this blog, much earlier than I had planned, because of Barbaro. It’s tragic that he hurt his gorgoeus self, and it’s wonderful that his investors are willing to continue to invest in him by paying for his medical treatment. And it’s heartwarming that people who’ve never met him are sending him carrots and apples and well-wishes.

Though I’m certainly not happy to see that Barbaro has suffered a life-threatening injury, I’m hoping that this event might lead Americans to question whether the “sport” of horse racing is something we want to continue to spend our time and money on.

One of the interviews I read with the jockey stated that Barbaro was so excited to run the race that he was just dying (my bad) to jump out of the gate. One question: Do you really think he was happy to run the race? Perhaps he was unhappy to be in the gate, with thousands of screaming people and other noises, and perhaps terror was the emotion he was exhibiting, not excitement.

Perhaps he recently found out that most unsuccessful race horses are slaughtered in the US, processed in the US, and sold to other countries as food.

If people love horses so much, why is it that 90,000 horses were slaughtered for food last year, right here in the USA? Where were all of the horse lovers when Congress passed the Commercial Transportation of Equines for Slaughter Act in March of 1996?

I implore people fond of horse racing to put themselves in a race horse’s hooves for a day. If you really want to challenge your personal ethics, put yourself in Barbaro’s hooves.

Take a moment to ponder whether horses were put on this Earth for our entertainment, use, and abuse.

UPDATE: Barbaro was euthanized on January 29, 2007 after a lengthy and painful attempt at recovery.