Ghost of Ruffian

Eight Belles could have - should have - had a long and brilliant career followed by several years of foaling out award-winning babies. Instead, she, like the filly Ruffian before her, lies dead on the infield after a beautiful, glorious, and ultimately tragic run for the roses. She is just the latest victim in a long line of great horses with lives and careers cut short by American racing standards. Remember Barbaro?

American races begin at two years old. This means that most American racehorses are under saddle and in training by the time they are 18 months. Horses are not fully matured until they reach 4,5 or even 6 years old. At 18 months they should be out to pasture just learning how to be a horse, perhaps being taught basic ground manners and farrier etiquette - not under saddle performing grueling workouts. The result of this schedule, as proved by Barbaro and Eight Belles, and Ruffian, are fragile growing legs shattering under incredible stress.

I had a pony once who had foundered before I got her. Foundering, or laminitis, is an inflammation of the connective tissue in the hoof. When a spell passes, some of that connective tissue dies, resulting in a tendency for the coffin bone - the central bone of the hoof - to rotate downward causing extreme pain and lameness. It also make the horse prone to repeated bouts of the disease, and consequently repeated damage. This rotation can be kept at bay with corrective shoeing and extreme hoof trimming, but often (as in the case of my pony and Barbaro) ultimately results in the horse being put down.

Because my pony was under near constant vet and farrier care trying to combat her laminitis, I got to learn quite a bit about the inner workings of horses' feet and legs. One farrier carried with him in his truck the coffin bone and lower leg bones of a racehorse put down at just four years old. The coffin bone was riddled with tiny holes, and the leg bones striated with stress marks. Compare this then, with the coffin bone and lower leg bones of a pony who died of old age at 32, hoof and leg bones still sturdy and smooth.

It is unfair and dangerous to both horse and rider to demand so much of what are ultimately, still babies. Horse racing is a grand sport - I don't object to racing per se. I object to horses being run to the ground before they have even had a chance to grow up. The average age of Olympic sport horses is 8-12; what makes racing stables believe that their colts and fillies are at the peak of their game when most of their energy should simply be put into growing up? I object to racing, because when they are started so young, so many fine horses wind up being auctioned off for meat before their eighth birthdays, when they should be just hitting the peak of their game. I object to racing for all the horses sold carelessly, lost easily in claiming stakes, and sent to questionable homes because they just aren't quite fast enough. So much in the industry is inhumane, in large part because it is just that -an industry - where chasing profit trumps the well-being of the lives in its care - both equine and human.

That said, I don't think racing should end, just be dramatically modified. In England, colts and fillies do not run until they are 4 or 5, giving them an extra year to grow and get strong. As a result, English tracks see far fewer injuries and deaths of horses and jockeys. Most racehorses have running in their blood. They run because it is what they must do. No great racehorse has ever been borne on speed alone. He or she must have the heart to charge forward into the scrum, to keep running when his heart is pounding and his nostrils flare with the effort. He must have the joy of speed, to love the feel of his hooves flying over the turf.

Eight Belles had that, and more. She stumbled in the first turn. It is believed that that was the moment her legs cracked. She went on to battle her way forward, only falling back after the last turn, and even then maintaining her second-place position behind one of the finest colts of her generation. This filly, a long shot both by virtue of both her sex and colour (the last filly to win was in 1988, and grey horses almost never win the Derby), ran the race of her life on two broken legs. She ran on heart alone. As soon as the race was finished she literally collapsed, unable even to stand. The equine ambulance was brought, but, perhaps with the memory of Barbaro's fight still fresh in their minds, the decision - and I believe the only humane decision - was made to put Eight Belles down. Thus the equine world lost what could and should have, been one of its shining lights, and the potential mother of a long line of winning babies.

Big Brown ran a great race. He deserves all the accolades coming to him, and I believe he can take the Triple crown. But this was Eight Belles' race. She proved some of what I love most about horses - their grace, their strength, and above all, their heart. I hope her death, following so closely on the heels of Barbaro's inspires necessary changes in the racing industry. I hope that Big Brown does not break down in what will certainly be a gruelling next few years. I hope that when the time comes, he is granted the years in green pastures and progeny that were denied his compatriot and so many other promising young horses. Above all I hope Eight Belles is remembered. She may not have won the Derby, but she proved, over and above any reason, her greatness.