Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people." Many thanks to all the "great minds" who took part in the meetings that were held across the province on April 8, 9 and 10th. The CTHS Board of Directors has had an initial look at the feedback and on Tuesday, June 17th will be spending time working on a proposal to present to the membership. To read the collated notes on these meetings please click on Membership Meetings (Posted May 28, 2008)
News continues to arrive regarding the problems with unwanted horses in the U.S. An article written by Pat Dawson, entitled, "An Epidemic of Abandoned Horses" was posted at http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1809950,00.html and looks at the growing crisis of unwanted horses which are due in part to the current U.S. economy. Another article posted at http://www.thehorse.com/ entitled "Rescues Consider Cost of Equine Welfare Cases" looks at the financial problems rescue agencies are having in covering their rising costs. Although we might be celebrating our horse industry, the horse industry south of our border is struggling with some difficult issues. (Posted June 2, 2008)
Synthetic track surfaces are in the news again with the seventh annual Track and Superintendent Field Day conference being held at Keeneland on June 2 and 3. One of the discussions on synthetic surfaces addressed the difficulties being experienced by Santa Anita's Cushion Track surface. For the full article entitled "Track Superintendent's Talk Synthetics", check www.thehorse.com (Posted June 3, 2008)
According to an Associated Press article posted at www.thehorse.com, PETA is asking that Eight Belles' trainer, Larry Jones, be charged with animal cruelty. The results of Eight Belles autopsy showed no diseases or pre-existing bone abnormalities before her injuries and results for steroids came back negative. PETA appears to be basing their call for charges on an admission from Larry Jones where he said that he had administered an anti-inflammatory drug to Eight Belles less than two days prior to the Derby. (Posted June 5, 2008)
Several articles posted online at USA Today in the sports section may be of interest to Thoroughbred breeders. Gary Mihoces has an article entitled, "The Breeding Debate: Born to Run or Sell?" which takes a look at some of the concerns raised about the breeding of Thoroughbreds. The other article, "Big Brown's Breeder Relies on Math, Not Magic" by Jeffrey Mcmurray talks about how Gary Knapp, owner of Equix, uses biomechanics to match up breeding stock. Knapp is the breeder behind Big Brown. Both of these articles can be found in the sports section of www.usatoday.com under the heading, "Horses". (Posted June 6, 2008)
Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development (ARD) is consulting with the Alberta Equine industry on the merits of adding neurological equine herpes virus type-1 (nEHV-1) to the Designated Communicable Diseases Regulation under the Livestock Diseases Act. The discussion paper is attached, (just click on the blue type on discussion paper) and has been developed to provide you with background information about nEHV-1, the legislation and the possible regulatory amendment. Any responses to the discussion paper are to be responded to in writing by July 15, 2008 to the address and e-mail listed on the last page of the discussion paper. (Posted June 12, 2008)
A hearing on "Breeding, Drugs and Breakdowns: The State of Thoroughbred Horseracing and the Welfare of the Thoroughbred Racehorse" has been scheduled for June 19th by the U.S. House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection. According to a online posting at www.thehorse.com the hearing will be looking at "commercial breeding practices that emphasize speed and percocity over durability, the prevalence of performance-enhancing drugs and other medications, track surfaces and maintenance of the tracks." Stay tuned, this could get interesting! (Posted June 13, 2008)
The NTRA (www.ntra.com) has a posting regarding a recent announcement by the Thoroughbred Safety Committee. According to the posting, the committee will be recommending the elimination of steroids, a ban on toe grabs and whip related reforms. Over the next couple of months the committee will be making other recommendations and on August 17th will be reporting at the Jockey Club's 56th annual Round Table Conference on Matters Pertaining to Racing. (Posted June 17, 2008)
The website at www.thehorse.com has further information from Stuart Janney, chair of the Thoroughbred Safety Committee regarding the recommendations that the committee has made regarding steroids, toe grabs and whip related reforms. There is also a second article on this topic posted on the site entitled, "Ban on Racehorse Steroids, Toe Grabs Recommended". Under selected resources the www.thehorse.com site has posted the document, "Catastrophic Injuries Special Report" which owners and breeders may find of interest. (Posted June 18, 2008)
Last week CBC aired a report called, "No Country For Horses" which addressed the topic of horse slaughter in Canada. They used a hidden camera to get footage of the horse slaughter practices used by Natural Valley Farms in Saskatchewan. Within the last twenty four hours this story has been picked up by other media. The main group behind the story appears to be the Canadian Horse Defense Coalition and Toronto lawyer, Clayton Ruby. Further information including the original news report aired by CBC can be found at www.defendhorsescanada.org (Posted June 19, 2008)
The U.S. House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection began hearings yesterday on "Breeding, Drugs and Breakdowns: The State of Thoroughbred Horseracing and the Welfare of the Thoroughbred Racehorse". They have suggested using the 1978 Interstate Horseracing Act as a way to create a national governing board which would be responsible for overseeing horseracing. Jess Jackson, owner of Curlin, was just one of the individuals who spoke to the subcommittee yesterday however representatives of both the HBPA and TOBA were not present in the standing room only hearings. For a quick overview of yesterday's hearings try www.thehorse.com for the online article, "Hearing Shows Thoroughbred Racing at Critical Point". (June 20, 2008)
In a New York Times report out this morning, Big Brown's owners have stated that their stable will be drug free by October 1 of this year. Michael Iavarone, co-president of I.E.A.H., has said that if any of the fifty horses owned by them fail the drug test, I.E.A.H. would return the purse money. Iavorone is also suggesting that racetracks and Daily Racing Form programs list that horses owned by I.E.A.H. and anyone else adopting this policy be listed as drug free. (Posted June 23, 2008)
Even though the Belmont Stakes have long been over, people are still trying to explain what happened to Big Brown. Close-up photos have now been released which appear to show a loose right hind shoe. Photos can be found at the ESPN website under the title of horseracing or also at www.thehorse.com. (Posted June 24, 2008)
