What Kind of Hit Will Racing Take If Barbaro Dies?

[Downthestretch55]

Originally Posted by eurobounce

All points of eating are good ones. But we all know the horse that is in racing condition is underfed to keep him fit and light on his feet. Horses will overeat if given the opportunity. If you think that race horses are treated like kings, try living the life of a horse for 1 year. Move into a room that is 10x10 and spend 20 hours a day there, be fed when someone tells you to be fed, be whipped when being trained and then come back to me and tell me how you like it. Sure most horses have a better chance in captivity but sometimes nature has to take its course.

Euro,
You and I have chatted before.
I'll tell you, horses are not underfed, nor are they overfed...if they are being closely monitored.
To have energy, the food must be put in and shoveled out later. In the real world, nobody will do anything to compromise any chances for putting out the horse's best effort.
Have you ever been on the backstretch? If you have, you might have noticed that they have fans blowing cool air when it's warm, feed supplements, on and on....
Heck, they're better treated than some of the folks that live in nursing homes.
Yes, there are heavy handed training methods. Some people get freaked and escalate difficult situations when the horse is just plain scared...and problems result. Just remember, most of the people that are around horses, day in and day out, know them pretty well...and the last thing they want to do is be cruel, mean, or inhumane to them. Most of these people love horses. If they didn't, they would have chosen a different form of employment.