I have to agree. I don't think we need to end horse racing, but horses are getting injured all the time. And too many are dieing. Something needs done and this (despite it coming from PRTA) seems like a good place to start. I did my duty and completed the email form. Seems like I should do more.

My niece had a horse she rode in horse shows when she was little. Guess what: it was a former race horse, a cast off that at least had a decent second life. A lot of her friends had former race horses too. Some had hoof, knee or other problems that "went with the territory". Now I understand why.

Don't give up this fight!!

I watched the Derby "just to watch" and my 3 kids were with me. When I saw what they did to Eight Belles, I ran from the room crying. I could not believe what I had witnessed. Are these beautiful creatures that disposable??

They must put a stop to this. For Eight Belles I pray. Don't let her life be for naught. Rest in Peace without whips or pain...Pretty Girl.

Eight Belles is the only loser! Her owner may be upset at the lose of future earnings, but a horse like that is insured. He probably made more money for her death than he would have won that day!

What happened Saturday was a tragedy. As a responsible horse owner, I can tell you that it is not the rider, but the industry and culture which is at fault here. They must change.

Anyone who knows Thoroughbreds horses knows that they do not reach peak maturity until they are between 4 and 5 years of age. Their bones and muscles have not completed development at this age. What happened Saturday is an all too COMMON event in thoroughbred rings. It should be stopped - but stopped through clarity and understanding of the real problem.

Horses are simply not developed enough to handle the stress of a rider, let alone high-impact racing at this age. In this case, the horse was slowing which added even greater stress to its front legs. HERE is the problem!

I reviewed what film that was available and saw no signaling of pain or distress from the horse until its collapse. Naturally, this is not to say that it did not have any, but jockeys know this and do pull horses aside in most cases.

Regardless of what anyone thinks about horse racing and the fact that horses most certainly prefer a life in open land, the fact that the industry itself creates an atmosphere that encourages racing of under-developed horses is what is at the root of Eight Belles, Barabaro and thousands of other horses' needless and reckless deaths every year.

In most other areas of equine sports, horses are restricted to what they can perform until the age of four and sometimes five.

The relationship between horses and humans is legendary. However, if we have the honor of owning them, we have a more powerful responsibility to protect them.

Unfortunately, horse racing is here to stay. I hope you will raise your voices to the real issues at hand. If more people knew about this, clarity and common sense would force change to this industry in need of awakening, IMHO.

While certain changes need to be made, be very careful insisting on the artificial, softer tracks. California switched to these a year or two ago and many trainers are pointing to a rise in certain leg injuries, attributable to horses running, but not getting the traction they need.

Further research needs to be done.

Race horses live the best possible lives. They are better cared for than most people. The are not indescriminately killed if they lose a race or get injured, as the real money is typically made in breeding after the horse's racing career is over. Owners and trainers want their horses to live. These people have tremendous affection for their animals.

Less talented thoroughbreds are sold to use in hunter/jumper, eventing, or just pleaseure riding.

Horse racing gives lots of pleasure to kids like my daugher, who follows racing and also rides hunter/jumper. Domesticated animals are bred by man to do what they do and are contented doing what they have been bred to do.

In any event, horses--and animals generally--have no rights, as they have no duties. People have rights and duties, given by God.

To equate horse racing to dogfighting is unbelievable. Show me one case where a horse that can't "cut it" is brutally drowned or electrocuted. These horses are treated as "kings and queens" and live a better life than many people in the United States.

Get over yourselves. Get to actually know how the horse are treated and then spout off. Don't do it based on the knowledged you have "gleaned" from the 5 minutes you watched on Saturday.

I love horses, my wife and I cried when Barbaro was pulled up, and we cried when we saw Eight Belles collapse.

Whipping a horse towards the finish line is not abuse. If you start attempting to blur the lines, you tell me where it stops. Smacking a puppy with newspaper, letting dogs play with each other because sometimes they bite each other, or anyone that keeps a bird in a cage (that's inhumane if I ever saw it)?

Just to recap, dogfighting is bad, but when you start trying to equate a horse getting whipped and then being euthanized because it can no longer walk does not in any way equal drowning, beating, electrocuting and the sheer combat imposed on dogs in the dogfighting world.

Come to Kentucky and watch how these horses are kept and treated on an everyday basis. There is not one person connected to horse racing today that is not saddened and hurt by the loss of Eight Belles. Not one.

Steven, thanks for your comment, but I think you may have missed or misinterpreted the point of my post. Specifically, I said that horses should not be trained/raced until their bones are developed; that they shouldn't be raced on hard dirt tracks when technology offers alternative materials that help absorb bone and joint trauma; that most horses are raced too frequently, especially in view of their incomplete bone development, further contributing to breakdown; and that whipping any animal IS abusive - would you like it? - and even unnecessary if no one else on the track does it.

In addition, I noted that horse racing and dog fighting are similar in that the animals are trained to behave unnaturally at the expense of their health or lives, solely for the enjoyment and profit of humans. And I would venture a guess that, were dog fighters able to find a ready market for used up fighting dogs as have some race horse owners for used up race horses, many would be sold to "good homes" as well. That dogs are electrocuted and horses are not is hardly a logical defense of what I and many others consider abuses associated with horse racing.

Finally, of course you and your wife cried; we all did. But being saddened without seeking to prevent recurrences is meaningless. I've suggested a few things that I believe would help reduce equine injuries and deaths in the future and, will wonders never cease, PETA agrees (in part). If I'm interpreting your comment correctly, you believe things are fine as they are, race horses are treated quite well, and breakdowns are a natural occurrence. I'm hoping you'll respond with something more constructive.

Thoroughbred racing is a beautiful sport, but a dangerous one for the horses. Last year, I attended Canterbury Downs with a friend to watch the races, along with a simulcast of the Derby. In the first race run after the Derby, a horse collapsed down the stretch and had to be put down. Barbaro, as you no doubt remember, won the Derby -- and eventually died after breaking his leg in the Preakness Stakes. And this year, Eight Belles came in second in the Derby -- and died but minutes after.

A couple additional pieces of information your readers may not know, thoroughbreds routinely race on Lasix to prevent nosebleeds, and horse racing has a higher death rate than any other animal sport. It may be beautiful, but it is also brutal.

Good post Doug, tis quite sad. I find myself disgusted by humans more and more.

No, it's ugly, driven by money, and abusive. It would not be dangerous or brutal for the horses if they weren't started too young and badly bred for the sole purpose of being fast at two years old.

Why so many posts today about this celebration of animal cruelty?

Because only by addressing the cruelty can we eliminate the cruelty. I haven't been to a racetrack since last year, and I doubt I'll ever go back; seeing a horse die on the track was enough to convince me that this was nothing I wanted to be supporting.

Rest in peace, Eight Belles. May you find your way to endless pasture without need for halter.

I just watched a documentary this afternoon about Barbaro; I sobbed through the last half hour of it, and now I just blubbered again reading this post.

I love horses; I have pretty much my whole life. I love riding. I love grooming and I even love cleaning the stalls (though I haven't done that since I was a kid).

And I HATE horseracing.

It's not only brutal for the horses, btw. It's brutal for the jockeys, who have to abuse their bodies for the sport, too. (It's an insanely classist and sexist sport, to boot.)

Did I mention I hate horseracing? I hate it. HATE IT.

Stupid horseracing.

Wow. I have never followed horse racing. What a sad introduction into the sport.

It is always sad when animals die, and especially so tragically like Eight Belles.

However, I wouldn't go so far to say that the industry itself is cruel to these horses. Many of them are wonderfully cared for. I live in Maryland, which has an established history of horse racing, and of course next Saturday all eyes will be on us for the Preakness.

Although I do not bet on horse racing because honestly, all the numbers and talk confuse me, my grandfather does and loves the sport and likes to bet when we go to the casinos. He is a good man and I don't think he should be labeled as attributing to animal cruelty.

I notice today that some are drawing a parallel between the excitement of Derby and Eight Belles, and the excitement of Hillary Clinton and the presidential race, saying what happened at the Derby is an "omen" of what might happen to Clinton. The only reason horseracing is "exciting" is because it pushes the horses beyond normal physical endurance. That is not exciting, beautiful or majestic. It is cruel and for the weak and slow of mind. As for Clinton - the only parallel that I see is that a female is also running in a typical male contest that is also for the weak and slow of mind.

Thousands of thoroughbreds enter the "sport" of racing each year. HALF of them are euthanized on the track or sent to the dog food factory. I don't see how that qualifies as excellent care.

I bought a 4 year old TB mare last year who was raced and basically thrown away after she failed to meet her owner's expectations. Before I bought her she was kept in a stall all day and night, except for the hour she spent running on the track under the guide of a whip. That means every day she was beat.

Now, she gets turned out with two other mares for 6 hours, where she rolls around, plays and eats grass, then she gets groomed, she has a re-training session, maybe a bath and then some quiet time in her stall before dinner and sleep. She will never feel a stick again.

God's speed, Eight Belles.

Watching horses running fast across an open field? Beautiful.

Watching horses running fast because they're pumped full of drugs and the guy on their back is whipping the crap out of them? It's hard for me to understand how any "animal lover" finds that tolerable, let alone beautiful.

Steven, are you saying that nothing short of a horse being electrocuted is abuse? I re-read your post a couple times and I am pretty sure that is the essence of your comment except that race horses in Kentucky are well treated and we should all "get over ourselves".

Could you be any more trite? Get over yourself!

A very well written article. I hope we see some positive change in horse racing as a result of this tragic, and needless, death of a beautiful animal.

Sad. Breeders have bred this magnificent animal onto a creature that only knows to run, even with broken legs! It is sick!