My point is being overlooked. Everyone gets up in arms over horse racing, yet worse things happen every day but not many say much of anything about that...my point was to point out that it's a much bigger problem in the horse industry than horse racing alone. My point is, eveyrone cries poor Eight Belles, poor Barbaro. Yes poor Eight Belles, poor Barbaro, they died too young from accidents, a misstep, that could happen to any horse, even one out in pasture; but poor old spot down the road with rain rot and no hay, poor ill paint left to starve to death in a pasture, poor mangled pony left to fend for itself in a stall full of manure up to is knees, poor horse with overgrown feet so long it can't stand up anymore. It's not the horse racing industry that is to blame for horse abuse, it's human beings in all forms of horse sports and even just horse ownership, that are responsible.

Lot of people who argue horse racing is cruel don't actually know much of anything about it, just what they see sensationalized on TV, the good and the bad. You know Big Brown won the Preakness yesterday and his jockey didn't even raise a whip to him? He obviously wasn't being forced to do it.

I never said bad things didn't happen in racing, but unless something tragic happens on TV, nothing much is said. Nobody mentions the hundreds or horses who come home safely to their warm stalls, even the 10k claimers. You are misinformed if you think only the highest level of race horses are cared for.

My point was to show you that MUCH worse things happen every day, but why iare so few all up in arms over that? Eight Belles lived a pampered life, well cared for, and though she died young and tragically, it was quick and she didn't suffer like the millions of horses across this country do every day. There are many more horses pumped out by back yard breeders every year that get no training, poor care, and are sent to slaughter than there are thoroughbreds. Is it a problem, yes, but the problem lies much deeper.

I'm not asking you to agree with how I feel about horse racing. How I feel about it has no bearing on how you feel about it. The title of my thread was rhetorical. I was making a point of showing you that it's not just about horse racing.....but a much larger picture.

Irescue you are incorrect in your statements about thoroughbreds who don't make the racing cut. Say whatever you like, but it's not the truth. You make a blanket statement saying only the 1%, not sure where you got that number, of thoroughbreds able to race are well cared for. First of all there are lots more than 1% that make it to racing, and secondly, there are thousands of thoroughbreds who are used as jumpers, eventers, backyard owned pets, those used in dressage, or even just trail riding, some of whom I know personally, who are very well taken care of and are 100% Thoroughbred and born on a racing breeding farm. If you are going to make blanket derogatory statements, please at least be informed about what you are bashing. Yes some end up in bad places, but more horses raised by BYB end up in bad places than that.