Eight Belles

Its been a few days now since the running of the Kentucky Derby and instead of talking about Big Brown's tremendous victory the news is saturated with the breakdown of Eight Belles. PETA(two people and a fax machine) are calling for the suspension of jockey Gabriel Saez for circumstances he had no control of. OK so they're mad at him because he didn't stay with the filly and walked away after the incident. I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that maybe he too was injured or at least shaken up and needed to get to the jocks room to be looked at or catch his breath. Granted he did not do a Chris Antely with Charismatic or Edgar Prado with Barbaro, but this was an entirely different situation and breakdown. With the other two instances mentioned the jockeys felt something wrong and instinctively pulled their horses up hopping off to help with their injuries. In the case of Eight Belles Saez was caught completely off guard and went down along with the horse. I guess if you've never been slung to the ground at any type of speed you would not know what that feels like. Believe me when I say it is not something we like to do. Watching the stretch run of hers I never saw any sign of her going bad. She switched leads, was stretching out, and never took a bad step. Unfortunately the worst injuries and worst spills come from the soundest horses. When a horse is lame or has an injury it will try its best to take care of that injury. For instance it will run on the lead of the uninjured leg or displace its weight onto the good leg. They will almost pull themselves up before they breakdown lessening the effect of the spill and injury. Horses which are sound run full speed not knowing that something is going to happen. When they breakdown they are caught completely off guard and go down harder than others. This was a tragic event, but it was nobodies fault. I feel for all the people involved, but PETA needs to get a life and leave horse racing alone. Race horses are the most pampered animals alive. They have someone constantly looking over them taking care of them and in some instances sleeping a few doors down from them.