In response to Nancy Evans' reaction to the Barbaro article, I believe the horse racing world has blinders on. They refuse to see the reality that Jonathan describes because they are having fun and they truly like horses in their own unenlightened way. The fact that they like or love horses does not take away from how wrong it is to do this to a horse. I dont for a minute think that Dr. Richardson didnt have a place in his heart for Barbaro. The man was truly torn up. The Jacksons are some of the most caring horse owners Ive ever heard of or read about. But it is still a business for them. I will agree that they have gone above and beyond what most would have done (or could have afforded to do) for Barbaro except for choosing to race him and support horse racing.
The only way I know to explain what Im trying to describe is that when I was young it was easy to just accept the status quo of the world around me without questioning. When I got to a place where I really started to think about things, I found there were so many things that I passively accepted in the past that I could no longer tolerate and had to speak out about. I remember one day sitting in a lodge in the woods with the head of a deer mounted on the wall above the fireplace. I grew up seeing these things and never ever even questioned it. All of a sudden I looked at it with new eyes and the harsh reality struck me that some person thought it was entertaining and a sport to kill this animal and hang part of its dead body on a wall. How could I not have been appalled at this sight? Why did it take me this long for it to register what it represented?
I do understand those who kill for much needed food, use all the animal parts and bury the rest (although I could never do it). I dont understand applauding the killing by hanging a head on a wall. I dont understand the killing of an animal for pleasure and sport. I dont understand racing a horse in an environment where it is routine to put horses down on a regular basis from the deadly injuries this racing thing causes. I just dont get it. If you truly loved horses wouldnt it eventually dawn on you that abuse isnt love?
Susan Brown