After watching the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, I wanted to drive right back to the barn and give Dude and Bestie a big hug. The breakdown and euthanization of filly Eight Belles right after the race was just so sad.
I always watch the Derby, actually any race, with trepidation. On the one hand, the horses are so beautiful going to the gate, and galloping down the home stretch. But I absolutely hate the whole part as they come out of the gate and start fighting for position. I watch it with my heart pounding, willing everyone, horses and riders, to stay upright and safe. And now, after watching--actually 'imagining' is more like it since they didn't show it on camera--Eight Belles' breakdown right after the race, it makes me want to never to watch a race again.
It's that powerful combination of athleticism and beauty cut down by lightening-quick blink-of-an-eye tragedy that makes me feel so sad. The vision of an animal giving its all, and then dead a few minutes later, the victim of a horrible accident. It seems like her death is generating a lot of questions about horse racing (again). I just hope that everyone involved in the sport from breeding to training to facilities to races tries to make it as safe as possible for the horses and their riders.
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