Ever since ESPN did its 50 greatest athletes special I've been giving serious thought to a specific topic: horses and humans. I'm sure most of you remember the bit ESPN did when they counted down the fifty greatest athletes of all time and the equine species was included in this countdown of human athletes. Horses compared to humans in sports legendry? Horses compared to humans in any manner?
I tried to sweep this bothersome idea under the rug, but I'm unable to shake it. Now on the front page of foxsports we come to find out that the legendary Barbaros valiant battle with a debilitating injury has ended in utter tragedy. The legend is dead. I suppose someone crunching numbers decided they had wasted enough millions of dollars on this prize, multimillion dollar horse to say enough is enough. Could this money have been more well spent? How are we legitimately able to give the term athlete to a horse and put them in the same sentence with legendary humans like Babe Ruth, Jackie Joyner Kersey, and Michael Jordan? I certainly hope that athletes aren't being compared to animals because it is utterly foolish to compare animals to people.
Now I'm not a cold hearted person. I have a dog, and I love her: If she got killed that would be terrible. In fact I'd risk my own personal safety to keep her from harm. Just the other day I ripped her away from a pit bull who had her by the throat. Now that sounds pretty stupid, but I did it and I walked away unscathed, as did she other than a few minor scratches and a scar. I did sacrfice my own personal safety for my dog, but I didn't go around bragging to all around that I'd done it, and I didn't spend my childs college fund doing it. My wife saw it and now you people know it. I'm certainly not proud I risked myself doing it, but my wife loves that dog.
The point of that story is to say that I empathize with the loss of a very important animal. Its terrible when you lose an animal so close to you it feels like you lost part of the family. But, to raise an animals death to such noteworthiness as if we lost Roger Clemens or Hillary Clinton? Seriously these animals are pumped with steroids, trained to no end, whipped and whipped and whipped somemore, taped up, muscled up, and pushed to the limits. Then it brakes its leg and it is so unbelievable that it got hurt. It must be euthanized, its a forgone conclusion. Quite a sad story. It stinks for the person who stood to make millions off of its exploitation. Now another horse must be found to make up for lost revunue.
Seriously, like minded thinkers. Does this not bother anyone else?
Sportthink, I'm with you. I was actually going to write something on it, but you put it much better than I would have.
I couldn't give two [craps] that Barbaro died. Wow, some rich family's horse died, let me go get my Kleenex.
It's hilarious when they give human qualities to the horse, such as "He was an athlete," or "He fought a brave battle with a debilitating injury." It's a freakin' horse.
I lose my faith in the human race at times like this.
I think everyone knows the difference between horse and man but not everyone recognizes spirit and courage and worthy as qualities shown by animals too. The fact that this horse did win races and was obviously loved for itself and not just the monies it earned is what prompted the efforts to save its life. It was obvious already due to th gravity of its injury that it would not race again. But its value was more than that and its team including the owners did all possible to keep its life with the hope of Barbaro bing able to live out his life in comfort and ease in green pastures.Neither was at foremost the reason for him to mate and therefore pass his genes on to offspring but the want simply was to preserve his life. The decision to allow him to pass was made not because a limit was put on the monies required but to spare this courageous horse further pain.No one wants those we love , including our beloved animals to suffer indefinitely. You should know that animals are pure in spirit and undergo no judgement when they pass,as we humans do but pass from here straight into heaven.You should Read "the Rainbow Bridge" a lovely poem whih can be found on the web under its title "Rainbow Bridge" Search. Although there are callous race horse owners only interested in the profit value of the horse I just do not think that Barbaro's owners fall into this category but instead are caring ,respectors of all life people.
I disagree with Ultra. More and more science is finding that animals across the board are far smarter than we previously thought. We tend to equate the abilty to speak with intelligence. And yet, the only reason animals can't speak is they don't have vocal chords. How many times have you seen someone with Cerebal Palsy mumbling inchoherently. Most people think their mind is gone fromt the disease. Not true. Their speech is gone or nearly so. Their mind is still working behind what we see and I'm firmly convinced this is the case with many animals.
I'm also firmly convinced many animals are superior to most humans. I knew a horse once that was far far more intelligent than many humans I knew. She communicated quite well and had a sense of humor that was definable. All due respect Ultra, gotta disagree with this one.
And I think the owners of Barbaro did care deeply for the horse. I wish he'd of made it. And while you can be callous and mean spirited about it, every time I've had to put my pets down over the years, every one is still in my memory and my heart. And that's more than I can say about most people I've met.
I understand where you are coming from sportthink, I just don't agree with you. Some animals develop "heart" or spirit; whatever. They go on to do something heroic or unusual and why???? I think the ones (including me) who feel bad about the death looks at it as a life cut short, no matter what.
As for you UM........ No comment on your humanity.
People always make a big deal when celebrities die (I'm sure we'd all agree that Barbaro was a celebrity).
Remember Kirby Puckett? Hardly anyone has spoken a word of him since around the time he died. When you die, your popularity skyrockets for a little while and then everyone forgets about you. The care that people supposedly have for these people (and Barbaro) is fake at best because no one will talk about them in a month.
When's the last time you talked about NASCAR's Bobby Hamilton or MLB's Jose Uribe or Joe Niekro?
Dusty, I'm aware that humans aren't on the top of the food chain. Barbaro wasn't an athlete, he was a slave to an elitist family that had rooting interests in horse racing.
Some people lay around collecting welfare and playing video games and think they got the good life.
Others go to work everyday and could no more lay around the house for any amount of money because they are "doers".
Other have the drive and bodies tol become professional athletes.
How is this any different than with animals? My dog was also attacked by a pit bull and two women drove off the Pitbull. I wrote a blog about it. The point? Two WOMEN drove of a pitbull in a fit of "rise to the occasion" Now they might have been killed but that was not a consideration in their minds. They just acted automatically. How is that any different from a dog pulling their master from a burning house? We're just not that much different or better than most animals such as a dog or cat or horse or pig.
Last edited by TheReturnOf on January 29th at 4:58 PM.
Dusty, I'm not saying that humans are any better than any other race, though we do have them thoroughly dominated with our technology. If it was just mano a animal, 9 times out of 10, the animal would win.
What I am saying Mega is I do enjoy your intelligence battling the clique on here from time to time. It's like every segment of life has it's clique, the evil empire, the power structure. And I enjoy the outlaws against the clique. You're one.
But you're wrong when you say that animals don't have the "human qualities" people put on them. It's being proven over and over by scientists that many animals do "think". A pig is far more intelligent than most people think. They're generally smarter than the smartest dog. They been taught to count and can do puzzles a 5 year old can't do. How we can slaughter these animals for food is beyond me. But that's not the point. The point is that You say they're not that smart. Oh yes they are.
Dusty, I never said that. I think I clearly said that I'm with you in that humans are inferior to a lot of the animal kingdom aside from our advanced thinking and technology.
oh Jesus Jumping Christ - can we make it thru one blog without this #### Dusty bringing up Kobe Bryant or Welfare slaves? ultra, i urge to not waste time with this ####.
whenever i see one of his aliases, i dont know whether to click Back or throw up all over my keyboard.
Sport,
i agree with you, its just a horse. it doesnt matter how smart it was. i wouldnt give a damn if it could speak and read latin - its still a horse. its like a race car or a really sweet golf club: a means to millions. if the sport was about racing, if anyone really gave a damn about that horse, they wouldnt put it in such a dangerous position. racing is so natural that horses do it in the wild... wait, no they dont. theyre slaves to our entertainment the same way cows are slaves to our guts. if that horse could read and speak latin, but was hella slow and tasted good - he'd be marinated in Dales sauce before he could say 'WTF'.
Last edited by demonicume on January 29th at 6:43 PM.
You're reported Demon. I don't go around talking about you and you have no right to start in on me. I have every right to my opinion and I'm going to continue to report you until they do something about you. You don't represent Fox, you don't represent me as black man and you don't represent the black community. There are rules of behavior here and you need to grow up.
Ultra - The horse angel, now that got me to laugh! I was going to add something about the afterlife and horses but I figured I wanted to keep the conversation somewhat tasteful. I am definitely irritated and it blows my mind that people give this much regard to animals. Thanks for the complimentary comment.
Alfie - This isn't the movie "Dreamer." I respect your love for horses, but I just don't like animals on the same level as humans. Thanks for stopping by.
Marty - I'll check it out. I'm sure if its that bad I won't stay very long. Plus, I'm kind of on a boycott of anything Foxsports contributes to the site in terms of postings.
Return - Thanks for the comments, in my opinion though a horse is still an animal, and we're still humans. Animals may be smarter than us for all we know, but last time I checked we make the decisions around here.
Please be nice!
steeler - I am lucky, I just hope my dog doesn't make it over to those pitbulls again. I can't say I wouldn't do it again if I had to; clearly an example of insanity.
Last edited by sportthink on January 30th at 6:00 AM.
Demon - A horse is a horse of course of course! It sure is tough to keep track of Dusty when he has a new name everyday but his vengeance will never die.
great post sportthink. i am completly disgusted that america makes such a big deal about a horse, when we have people over in iraq fighting and dying for our freedom, yes they say something that it on the news but i dont hear them announcing the name of every single solider killed in war. those people deserve much more recognition then an animal.
Last edited by njgamecock11 on January 30th at 7:05 PM.
NJ - That poses an interesting political/foreign policy argument, I'm not sure I'm willing to fight. Although I'm sure you would get some response. I appreciate your comments. Hopefully I'll see you on here again soon.
Sportthink - I agree. It's just a horse. Some people need to keep that in mind. The only person who should be sad about this is the guy who owned the horse, and only because now the horse can't earn him the big bucks. The rest of the people need to move on and remember: It's just a horse.
JBall - Thanks for the comment. Did you read horsegirl's blog? I feel sorry for her, cuz there's no compassion in this place. People are saying things I'm thinking. You have to be careful around these parts.
Well since you put it that way, i don't think that animals should be put before a human. But just as any sport people watch horse racing and enjoy it. I think that he was a very special horse, and was was an Athlete, so he should have been given the recognition that he recived. Lets not forget he wasn't just a horse he was, the horse.
I'm starting to think that you people who find it necessary to go on a blog hating on people who made an emotional connection with a horse have something sadly lacking in your brain. You talk about my "vengance" when in fact it costs nothing to have a little soul in your soul. It cost nothing to allow those who did emotionally attach themselves to this beautiful animal have their moment. I just wonder about people whose heart is so hard that they find it neccesary to disrespect others emotions about something like this and then turn around and talk about another's "vengance'. try a mirror.
Last edited by TheReturnOf on January 31st at 1:02 PM.
Dade - There have been a lot of the horses over the years. Haven't you seen Braveheart and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy??? A lot of those horses died too.
I respect your opinion Return. I know you don't hate me, I was just commenting on your dislike of demon, but it was mostly a joke. Sorry if I offended you.
I totally agree with you. It bothers me too. For society to put a horse in higher regard than an human is in insane so are we putting horses ahead of our best human athletes or take it a little further are we holding horse at a higher regard even above our service men and women who risk their lives everyday and this story about a horse having to be put down because of a leg injury what is society coming to.
I agree with sportthink. Its sad that the horse died but its not as big of a deal as we are making it. People die everyday and most go without most of the world knowing. Its an animal and we shouldn't think of him as a legend but as a horse that was a great racer.
I gotta say that I see your point sportthink. The fact that an animal was placed on the "50 Greatest Athletes" is absurd in my opinion. Horses, especially race horses, are breeded to be the fastest. When do you hear of two great athletes coming together and "breeding" a super athlete? You don't see Ronaldinho and Mia Hamm getting together to make a super soccer player. That would just be ludacris. We gave those athletes recognition for feats that the normal person could not go out and do.
I just think that if Barboras was some of the things people have said about him, like him being "brave and legendary", his broken leg was truly a "tragedy". If I can think back, horses have been breaking their legs in these races for quite some time now. Why is this case so special?
Last edited by SokrBalla on January 31st at 9:40 PM.
Published sports column contributor, but I'm about the 560th ranked blogger on this site. I'll keep most of my posts sports related. My sense of humor exists to amuse myself. This has happened by default because I rarely seem to amuse anyone else. I'm ashamed that my favorite professional sports teams are from the city of San Francisco.
Favorite sports listed from favorite to least favorite: duck-duck-
goose, red-light green-light, freeze tag, marco polo, and hop-scotch.
