Seeking understanding and tolerance

It is said that a thoroughbred is born and then spends the remainder of its life attempting suicide. This is not far from the truth.

A highly strung nature and an inborn desire to run fast on fragile legs is often a volatile combination. A horse is not only born to run, it is born running.

A newborn gamboling in a field breaks a leg. A veteran gelding takes a bad step during an otherwise routine morning gallop. The exuberance of a yearling propels him toward a crash into a pasture fence. A horse, cast in a stall in the middle of the night, is injured in blind panic. A startled horse on the set of a cable series rears, falls backward and is fatally injured. A burst of speed in a morning workout, the strain of racing -- catastrophe is never removed from the life of a racehorse. It haunts each one from the moment of birth, making no concession to age, pedigree or human connection.

Yet among animals, the thoroughbred horse has no more dedicated an army of advocates than those involved in racing, and the screed of uninitiated animal-rights activists is becoming tiresome.

The cancellation of "Luck" by HBO in the aftermath of what amounts to a freak accident is but a small if significant defeat for racing at the hands of animal-rights activists, who would happily serve as witnesses to the sport's death. The entertainment industry exists heads-bowed in the shadow of craven political correctness while at the same time unabashedly serving blindly the cause of vulgarity. "Jersey Shore," for instance, remains. There is a disconnect here, and though many viewed "Luck" as something less than positive for the image of the sport, its cancellation is more damaging if only for the perception it fosters.

Dozens of not-for-profit organizations are involved in horse-centric welfare from humane retirement to health-care research. While some in Congress may support the legal slaughter of horses for human consumption, those intimately involved with horses work tirelessly and without tangible reward toward improving the animals' quality of life both during and after their athletic careers.

Organizations devoted to the retirement, care and retraining of thoroughbreds span the width and breadth of the nation, and their numbers are growing. Last week, the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, New York Racing Association and the New York Thoroughbred Breeders -- representing those who own, train, race and breed horses in the state -- joined forces in an endeavor to develop second career opportunities for retired thoroughbreds.

"The welfare of our equine athletes, both during and after their racing careers, is of the utmost importance to the owners and trainers competing at NYRA's tracks," said NYTHA president Rick Violette Jr. "NYTHA and NYRA have long offered financial support to organizations such as the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, but we are now expanding our initiatives. We want to give our retired racehorses the opportunity to find new vocations in different equestrian disciplines. This is our jobs program. Thoroughbreds are healthier and happier when they have jobs to do."

During the same week, the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation's board of directors approved funding for 16 research projects in 2012 for a total of $845,646. The board selected eight new projects to be launched in 2012, and funding will cover the second year for the eight projects that started in 2011. The new projects cover a wide range of problems that can affect horses of any breed or discipline: foal pneumonia, laminitis, vitamin D's role in immunity and stem-cell therapy.

No domestic animal is treated with more attention to detail than a racehorse, whose role in life demands constant veterinary care, nutrition, training, grooming, therapy and, in most cases, acupuncture and chiropractic attention. Their career lives are not unlike those of human professional athletes, mansions and expensive cars notwithstanding. Those involved in their development and management shoulder great expense and sometimes lengthy tests of patience.

Any endeavor has its bad seeds, and racing is not immune. There are owners interested only in money, and not every horse is responsibly managed. But the industry at large goes to extremes to police itself. Among those who love and respect the horse, inhumanity is not consciously tolerated.

Every backstretch has its share of scoundrels, but they are vastly outnumbered by those whose devotion to the animals' welfare is unadulterated. People, admittedly with a profit motive, breed, own and train horses largely out of a love for the animals and the sport. Healthy, happy horses perform to the best of their ability, and expense is seldom spared. Other people of pure heart stalk slaughter auctions to save horses that have fallen between the cracks at the hands of those who should be purged from every American racetrack.

It is unclear what led to the deaths of two horses during the first season of "Luck." Were they already at risk when their owners decided they would be more productive as actors? If so, their owners should be banned from participation in racing. Were they injured on take one or take 10? Depending on the answer, the blame would fall to others. Knowing personally some of those involved in "Luck," it is inconceivable that horses were knowingly placed at risk.

The final incident, a horse rearing and flipping backward during production of a second-season episode, was obviously an accident similar to many unfortunate, heartbreaking incidents attributable to nothing beyond the inherently suicidal nature of the beast -- unfortunate but not the result of mistreatment.

The cancellation of "Luck" may be viewed as a setback or a turning point in racing's battle with animal-rights activists who know nothing about the sport and have no interest in the acquisition of understanding. Their worldview is humans abusing animals.

Given the chance and a tolerance implant, they may enjoy an afternoon at the races.

Paul Moran is a two-time winner of the Media Eclipse Award and has received various honors from the National Association of Newspaper Editors, Society of Silurians, Long Island Press Club and Long Island Veterinary Medical Association. He also has been given the Red Smith Award for his coverage of the Kentucky Derby. Paul can be contacted at pmoran1686@aol.com.

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