The Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders announced Barbaro as Horse of the Year.
News article about the announcement can be found here - news.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=38598
Although I can not take away from this horse’s resilience or determination, or even his electric persona in the media which brought a lot of attention to the racing world. However what I am taking away from this announcement that although he may deserve to be Horse of the Year because of all the things said about him, one fact remains, he died because of racing. The racing industry is promoting a horse that died because it could not hold up to the rigors of the sport.
Racing is a double edged sword, it is fantastic to see these magnificent animals in all their glory doing their favorite thing - galloping! The double edge comes from at what price? Many of these magnificient animals can not stand up to the pressures of racing at such a young age, their joints and bones (as in the case of Barbaro) can not handle the pressures of such training and tough competition. It begs the age old question, are we racing these animals at too young of an age and pushing the limits too hard? The answer to both is yes.
Will this ever change? Maybe, it depends on how strong the animal activist groups are, in comparison, to the money and political pull of the racing industry. This may be the one item that I actually do side with the likes of animal rights groups because I personally consider this an animal welfare concern.
Barbaro will be known for his determination and he has provided much needed information about the treatment of broken legs and laminitis in horses, it helps when there is an open checkbook with almost limitless cash flowing out of it to do research like this because it is expensive! We have learned a lot from him and I hope I am not the only one to point out that Barbaro as Horse of the Year for the racing industry is an excellent example of why the racing industry should not be racing horses that young.
animal welfare, barbaro, horse of the year, sport racing