Debate-Should a specific amount of the take out go to horses

[Andyc]

So now you want to change it to "most owners?" I thought we were talking about new ones and the fact that what you are proposing will keep new owners away. Or did you forget the subject? You remind me of something my father used to say: "People that make their own facts can never be convinced that they are wrong."
Anyway, I'm not saying owners should not be held responsible for the horses they own. Not sure where you got that idea (but then you are so busy being right, it must be hard to keep track of what is being said). While They Own Them. I am saying it is unreasonable to expect someone who buys a horse to be responsible for it for the rest of it's life, no matter what, as your earlier post suggested. Being responsible for finding placement for it once its is done racing, yes. But once that is done the responsibility ends. Requiring owners to do otherwise as a condition of ownership, as your post suggested, will drive away prospective owners and many of the ones that are already involved in the sport.
Buying a horse, any horse, at any point in it's life does not make you responsible for anything that may happen to that horse once it leaves your ownership. It makes you responsible for it while it is yours and it makes you responsible for finding it a good home when it is time for it not to be yours any longer. Horsemen on the track, as a rule, do everything they can to find homes for horses once their racing days are done. Be it at a retirement facility, through re-training, "adopting", and selling them. Once they have done that, the horse is no longer their responsibility. According to your earlier post, you believe, that once a person buys a horse, they are responsible for it for the rest of its life. That is just unreasonable.

Please do not assume I wrote something when I didn't. I merely stated that the person who owns a horse should be responsible for the horse. If I sell my horse to you or somebody else the responsibility transfers with the ownership. It would be ridiculous for the first owner of a horse to be responsible for a horse after it has become the property of someone else.

[Trackmomma]

Silly me. I believe that if you buy a horse you should be responsible for it's care while racing and after racing. Owners that don't should be banned from future ownership.

This is what you said. No assuming needed. Considering "after racing" can cover a lot of years that idea is unrealistic. Which is what I have been saying all along. Quite clearly, I might add. This is the first time in this whole thread you have indicated that is not what you meant. A short "I didn't mean for the rest of their life" after my initial post on your comment would have saved us both a lot of time.

[Andyc]

Silly me. I believe that if you buy a horse you should be responsible for it's care while racing and after racing. Owners that don't should be banned from future ownership.

This is what you said. No assuming needed. Considering "after racing" can cover a lot of years that idea is unrealistic. Which is what I have been saying all along. Quite clearly, I might add. This is the first time in this whole thread you have indicated that is not what you meant. A short "I didn't mean for the rest of their life" after my initial post on your comment would have saved us both a lot of time.

I thought that you could figure out that once you sold your horse that the responsibility would transfer to the new owner. So upon retirement the current owner can sell the horse or provide for the horse for as many years as he/she owns the horse.

[Trackmomma]

Andy,
You obviously enjoy making inflammatory comments and arguing. That is your prerogative.
For me and others in the industry, this issue is reality not just a talking point. Public perception of our sport and the industry as a whole are fueled by people such as yourself who enjoy stirring the pot. They are loud and drowned out all the logical, fact based information provided to them because they like the attention. We deal with people, every day, that make statements like the one you made and actually expect us to be responsible for these animals forever, and call us callous, cruel, selfish, people who should be ashamed of ourselves for "throwing away" our horses, because we sell them or place them in other homes after racing. I can't count the times I have been told that I am responsible and should be held accountable for anything bad that ever happens to a racehorse I have ever owned at any future point in its life because I "used it for my own enjoyment" and should have never thrown it away. They never say sold, or given away, or retired. Always something dramatic like disposed of or tossed away. Do some research on the internet and you will find vocal groups advocating this crap and a whole lot more who support it, agree with it, and contribute money to the idiots that are spouting it.
The racing industry is the equine world's red-headed step child. Who is blamed when an ex-racehorse ends up in the kill pens? The racing industry. Who is the monster in the closet when ex-racehorses are found abandoned and neglected? The racing industry. Who has been painted in the public eye as a group that sees these animals as a disposable commodity and nothing more? The racing industry. No one cares that the horses were sent their by people not at all associated with horse racing, or that ex-race horses make up less than 8% of horses sent to slaughter every year (the majority are mixed breeds), or that most retired racehorses are intentionally placed in homes off the track when they are done racing not "rescued" from the track.
I just spent considerable time discussing this point with a lady who runs a horse sanctuary in New York. She wants to put together a foundation, paid for by horsemen to fund her sanctuary and others like it. She informed me that she currently houses 50 horses "many of which are your industry's throw-aways." After speaking to her for several hours, the facts became clear. Not a single one of the TB ex-races horses she had came to her from the racetrack. She knows nothing about the former owners, the horse's race records, or their history before they came to the person she "rescued" them from. She knows nothing about the circumstances of how or why the horses left the track, but automatically assumed they were "racing's throw-aways." These horses are, without exception, older horses which had been through multiple owners before being rescued by her and her organization. Yet, she, and others like her, hold the racing industry responsible for the plight of these horses. Not the people that bought them, owned them, enjoyed them, and used them in between. She thinks the breeder should be responsible or whoever raced the horse. Not the a**hole who sent the horse to the killers 5 years later. Pointing out to her that the horses ended up in need of her services due to the actions of people outside the racing industry had no impact on her. She believes what she believes and logic has no place there.
So excuse me for not being able to guess if you were being logical or not. God knows you couldn't be bothered to mention it after my first response to your post made my interpretation of it clear. I deal with far to many people who are completely illogical and impractical about this issue to be able to tell. Of course it helped fuel the misunderstanding that my assurance that the majority of owners do take responsibility for the post racing placement of their horses, was something you completely ignored. Acknowledging that fact wouldn't have provided you with any opportunities to argue. Well, I'm happy I could accommodate you.

[TheGoose]

Crissakes hoochie momma if I wanted to read War and Peace I would head to the local library.

[Trackmomma]

Goose,
I am not a "Hoochie Mamma." And the fact that you would refer to me or any woman you have never met or seen in that manner is offensive and insulting. I was under the impression that this type of disrespectful name calling was not allowed in this forum. No Class!

[MaryS]

Boys risking being sent to their rooms without dinner!