The sad sad thing about horse racing is that it is a multi-billion dollar a year industry. It is one of the most dangerous sports known to man. And one of the saddest of all things about horse racing is that horses are started in training long before they are physically mature and all too often way too much is asked of them way too soon.
Our senior breeding stallion was owned by one of the foundation Quarter Horse breeders. He was put on the track and was injured in training but was raced anyway. Even before Staint was a mature horse his legs were damaged for life from the carelessness of the track trainers. He has proven to be an incredible breeding horse and a good friend, but his usefulness as a "riding horse" ended before it began.
The very first filly born on our farm was a grand-daughter of the infamous Three Bars. Although she gave us every indication that she would be a great runner, we refused to give her the opportunity - we were unwilling to put her at risk in the hard training before her body was mature enough to withstand the heavy pounding. By the time she was mature enough, I loved her too much to let her go. |