The sport of Kings

Off late all my attention was on reading than writing, and as usual I am back after a gap. I am a bit upset when I sit down to write this post and it took me a couple of days to finish this. You would all know why when you have read this. I would be doing injustice to myself if I do not write about this.

Last Sunday, while volunteering for the Irish Red Cross, I watched the first 'Horse Race of my Life'. Horse racing is also known as 'the sport of kings', full of glamour, effort and thrilling competition. Prior to this I have only seen the game on TV.

I'm not a religious right moral values propaganda spewer, but I don't like gambling at all. So, I have never been keen on watching the sport. I especially don't like when gambling is sanctioned by the state. It leads to the wrong type of environment and that's not what people needs. Get these people good jobs for crying out loud. Oh, and I don't believe in betting on horse races either but alas, that's one that I probably would never win. I don't even like playing the Lotto. Don’t call me a pessimist for saying this. But I do play Lotto at times when I see my wife working her head out trying to figure out the winning combination. Can you imagine if the money people spent on gambling was actually used to fix some of the problems we have? Yeah we would not have anymore millionaires and billionaires but we'd have people with a stronger foundation and a brighter future.

It was still fun, though, and the horses are just beautiful. Pure, solid muscle. So the last weekend was not a total waste even with all the rain. But few of the thoroughbred racehorses that gallop their elegant way around the racecourses of Ireland every week are left to see out their days grazing in golden pastures. For thousands of the thoroughbreds that are too old, too slow or not good enough jumpers, the end is brutal: a bullet through the temple or a metal bolt into the side of the brain.

They call it 'putting the horse down'. I witnessed three horses fall and was told that they would be put down. I know it is extremely expensive for a horse to recover from an accident like this, and the poor animal would need to be put in a sling or something until it had fully healed. I am also aware that it would be extremely difficult to put the horse on its side, yet I'm highly skeptical at the claims that there would have been no way to save it.

We keep humans on life support when they are all but brain-dead... we spend thousands trying to keep the terminally ill breathing as long as possible... We scream and object to allowing people to simply die if they wish to end their suffering.... yet we turn a blind eye to this cruelty. Animals that could live for more than 30 years are put to death before they turn 5 or 10.

These horses earn their owners millions, but the owners do not want to spend money on the recovery of the horse. There's something very wrong about all of this.