The filly Eight Belles sustained a double injury at yesterday's Kentucky Derby and had to be euthanized. We at The Whiffle Tree NYC extend our sympathy and prayers to the jockey, trainers, owners, and all who worked with and loved Eight Belles.
Horse people love their horses. It doesn't matter the capacity - from trail riding to barrel racing to jumping to the circus to racing to carriage driving - any horse person feels the loss of a beloved horse deeply. It's maddening and outrageous that people choose this sad time to malign and rail against the very people who lost the most. The blogs are abuzz with calls for everything from suspending the jockey to outlawing horse racing. Cynical sneers and accusations of greed and mishandling abound as these ghouls exploit the death for their own ends.
The fact is, Eight Belles would never have even been born if it weren't for horse racing - she was born and bred to do just that. So the argument is pared down very quickly to an almost existential philosophical question: is it better to be born, live a good life with risks while delighting people - or never to have been born at all? We think the answer is clearly the former.
ALL equine pursuits have inherent risks, as do most pursuits in life generally; eliminate anything with risk, and there would be very little left.
Here's to you, Eight Belles, you were all heart.
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1 comment:
Nicely said!
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