They now want to suspend the Jockey

As a kid growing up I spent a lot of time with my dad at Santa Anita and Hollywood Park were he worked, and I can tell you all from what I saw and remember 96% of the jokeys had respect and love for everyone of the horses. PETA always take thing too far and need to stop trying to make big things out of nothing, most people do not want to see any animal abused. My heart goes out to EIGHT BELLES she ran a great race and was also pulling away from the pack so to say a filly should not be in that race lets not forget Regret 1915 with a time of 2:05 Genuine Risk 1980 with a time of 2:02 and Winning Colors 1988 alos 2:02.

I know about nothing about horse racing but here are some "observations" about the race and aftermath.

As far as the above post saying she might have injured her ankle during the race I heard one "expert columnist" say if the ankle was broke she would have caved during not after the race. As she put it, could you run with a broken ankle. I think probably not.

The whole she was underdeveloped arguement was pretty much shot down when they showed her standing next two the horses that were months older. She was just as big. Would a couple of more months made her any bigger. Furthermore, if they raced an older horse and they got injured would we here "you should run them after there 5 years old"?

Im guessing if the horse was not ready they would not have raced her. Really do not all of you believe that. One expert said that the horses that race earn the spot, that tells me she had every right to be there.

Just my thoughts on a sport I really know nothing about.
 

The answer is "No. Those kids' bodies obviously are not mature.  They are still growing and developing."  Little league teams are supposed to have strict rules about how many pitches a pitcher can throw per game, in order to prevent overuse injuries, which can alter normal development in growing kids.  Gymnasts start at really, really young ages--and there are consequences of that.  Early onset osteoarthritis, and early hip replacements are not unusual.  Gold medalist Mary Lou Retton underwent hip surgery at age 38--that's 20 to 30 years earlier than from "normal" wear.  Early hip surgery is also not uncommon in figure skaters.

I understand your point that humans get into sports early too, and before they are physically mature.  It is important to know that there are consequences for humans too.

I enjoy horse racing and always have, but growing up with horses I have always wondered why they are run competitively so young.  Examine the stresses placed upon the legs of rodeo horses (horses used for roping events, steer wrestling, barrel raceing and cutting).  The forces are huge due to quick starts, stops and direction changes...but I've never seen a horses leg shatter in any of these events, despite a heavier saddle and heavier rider, with resultant significantly greater forces on bones and joints.   But no one would dream of using a 2 or 3-year-old horse for those events either.  The horses begin training, but there is a big difference between 'beginning training' and performing in intense competition.

As I said previously, I enjoy watching horse racing.  That being said, I think it would improve the safety of the sport and reduce the risk of catastrophic injuries if the horses were run at four years instead of three (or two).

--Cat