World's deadliest horse race plunges on

[Truth2Tell]

Just got this update from the Progressive Animal Welfare Society. I thought I'd pass it on to DU:

From PAWS E-newsletter:

Washington’s deadliest horse race still plunges forward

Once again, a small town in Eastern Washington will become the spotlight of animal welfare discussions over the next few weeks. Omak, Washington, is yet again choosing public amusement and profit over reckless animal and human endangerment by promoting the “deadliest horse race” in the world—the World-Famous Suicide Race, part of the Omak Stampede. The race’s title is no play on words—it’s potential suicide on riders and murder on horses.

The World-Famous Suicide Race
Over a span of four days and nights in August, riders will repeatedly race their horses off Suicide Hill with the goal of crossing the finish line first. In a disturbing display of brutality, riders will push horses to plunge more than 210 feet down a slope that event organizer’s boast is an "almost vertical… 62 degree angle." At breakneck speed, both horse and rider then meet the Okanogan River. Entry into the river is narrow, often causing bottlenecks and horrendous multiple-horse collisions. If horses do make it down the hill into the river upright, they face a treacherous, panicked swim about the length of a football field. The final sprint is an unrelenting 500-foot uphill climb to the finish line.

snip- Horses have suffered heart attacks from over exertion, broken knees, legs, necks and pelvis from collisions or from tumbling several hundred feet downhill. Some have suffered gruesome deaths by drowning. Scenes after the night races depict an eerie sight of exhausted, limping horses guided through the darkness—an end to a race that would appear unethical to any animal lover.

Since PAWS began monitoring the race in 1983, at least 20 horse deaths have officially been documented. It is unclear how many horses or people have died in the race since it was founded in 1935. Reports cannot be obtained from early events, nor can we confirm the number of horse deaths in the months following the qualifying runs once the horse has been eliminated due to injury or weakness. In both 2005 and 2006, the Humane Society of the United States reported 50 percent of horses and riders were eliminated by the fourth day of the race. Already, on the first weekend of the 2007 qualification trials, one horse nearly drowned.

More at: http://www.paws.org/about/emailnetwork/archive/actionline/2007_07_27.html

Edit to add this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4pig67unHo&mode=related&search=

And to add this contact info for the Omak Stampede. Can't hurt to let these guys know what you think:

[e-mail]
Office: [phone]
Toll-Free: 1-800-933-6625

PO Box 2028
Omak, WA 98841

:)

Who is PAWS?

A Northwest leader in protecting animals since 1967, the Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) shelters homeless animals, rehabilitates injured and orphaned wildlife, and empowers people to demonstrate compassion and respect for animals in their daily lives.

PAWS' Mission
PAWS advocates for animals through education, legislation and direct care.

More at: http://www.paws.org/about/mission/index.php

I'm not affiliated with these guys, but I like them and contribute to them.

[alstephenson]

1. Ridulous! What are these idiots thinking???

[hobbit709]

3. Idiots don't think by definition

Anyone who wants to do this ought to do it on foot-let the horses watch.

[mcg]

23. Another article with a picture of the race showing a man in the air.

Omak Suicide Race - It's Murder for Horses
http://www.fund4horses.org/info.php?id=573

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. If it were idiot humans running the course on their own,

I wouldn't be as upset, because adults have the right to do idiotic things and take the chances. But to subject animals to such a thing......

[The Stranger]

4. Why does this continue?

[Truth2Tell]

7. Maybe becasue they don't hear from enogh folks who care?

I think I'll call and email :)

[e-mail]

Office: [phone]
Toll-Free: 1-800-933-6625

PO Box 2028
Omak, WA 98841

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

15. For the same reason the Kentucky Derby continues?

I think there's something like 800 thoroughbreds put down yearly due to injuries sustained in a race.

[Truth2Tell]

16. Well, Hunter S. Thompson did say the Kentucky Derby

was "decadent and depraved"

And that was just in the club house.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

18. I suppose he'd know.

[Fridays Child]

5. How can this be legal!

What a sick, fucking bunch of assholes. :mad:

[glitch]

9. There seems to be an endless supply of them. Way past time for that evolutionary leap

we've all been waiting for.

[Swamp Rat]

13. Yeah, how the HELL is this legal???

They KNOW it will kill horses and possibly humans!!!! :wtf:

:grr:

[cynatnite]

6. Sounds like a rerun of the 'Man From Snowy River' n/t

[LWolf]

8. I cannot watch that.

I had to turn off the youtube video when the horse started rolling down hill.

I have 2 beautiful horses, with another on the way next spring.

They, and their family, have been part of my family since the 1940s.

I go down steep inclines. When I do, I allow my mare to pick her way down, and if she says she's not comfortable with it, we don't do it. We've worked together all of her life, and we trust each other.

I ran downhill a few times on my old mustang as a kid. I don't recommend it. Even then, it wasn't that steep, and I wasn't pushing her. I just let her go as fast as she wanted. Since we were headed home, she was in a hurry, lol.

I go across rivers. Same as above. My mare has no way of knowing how deep, or what the footing is like, or how strong the current is. So I evaluate it carefully, and if I'm not comfortable, we don't do it. If we do, I allow her to pick her way across at her own pace.

I understand risking injury in a competitive sport. Human and equine athletes who push physical limits. I don't understand "sporting" events that abuse animals.

Watching the beginning of that race reminded me of a conversation I had just this week:

I was leading my grandson around on my mare just this week. She is so much bigger than he is! We've had the conversations about keeping his feet and legs still, not poking her, etc., because pressure from leg or foot is a signal for other action from her. He asked me, "Do you ever go "YEE-HAW" on her?" I said no. I said that not only do I not go "YEE-HAW," I don't know any responsible horse person who does. He said, "What about cowboys?" I replied that a real cowboy is working. Doing a job. He needs his horse to be attentive and on-task, and he has to be focused, as well. Real cowboys are too busy to do "YEE-HAW."

So he asked me, "Well, who does?" I told him that people in movies do that sort of thing, and people who don't know much about horses or riding, or people who see animals as machines, not living things.

[Desertrose]

14. I won't watch it either.

I remember all the steep trails I'd ride on I always let my horse pick his or her own way.

This is just horrible...reminds me a bit of some of the Amish I sued to see trotting their horses full speed down the very steep hill by our house. I saw many a horse slip and lose footing and have the buggy push them and make them stumble or fall. (I actually used to go out and tell them they were being cruel to their horses). Problem is, thes kind of people consider them as beneath them and as just dumb animals.

This whole idea is untenable...not to mention unbelievably cruel. The human has a choice, the horse does not.

:cry:

On a happier note...congrats to the new horse to be LWolf...and the grandson is riding?? How cool is that!! :hug::loveya:
DR

Great explanation about the cowboy btw :)

[LWolf]

24. Hi, friend!

I know that many people don't consider their non-human relations to be worthy of consideration.

Empathy for living things is just part of me. I can't, and won't, leave that behind.

Things are finally looking up and evening out with the grandboy; it's been a long, difficult road, but we are finally seeing some light and hope for the future. I expect that he will be riding more frequently in the next couple of years as he gets bigger, and as he continues to grow in empathy.

:hi: :hug:

[Truth2Tell]

25. My step daugher

began riding about five years ago - when she was 9. Now - at 14 - it's the highlight of her life.

I never much liked horses before - I thought they were just big stinky beasts. But watching my daughter's relationship with the horse she rides - and getting to know the horses at the school where she rides - and seeing how they have affected her life in such a positive way - well, it's changed my outlook a million degrees. They are spectacular, empathic animals - and they can change lives.

[LWolf]

27. It's really all about relationships.

I have different relationships with my horses than I do my dogs and cats, but it is still a relationship.

My young mare and I did about 10 miles up in the mountains yesterday with a couple of friends. We climbed, we negotiated narrow switchbacks, we threaded our way through narrowly spaced trees, over logs and rocks, over streams, and maneuvered down some steep inclines. We had a picnic dinner at a lake, and made it back to the horse trailer by dusk.

It takes a great deal of mutual trust and respect between us to do all of that safely and without stress. That is just one of the many lessons to be learned: trust and respect. How to give them, and how to earn them.

[achtung_circus]

10. There is an Arabic saying.

A horse that cannot carry a man up a hill is no horse.
A man who would ride a horse down a hill is no man.

[WilliamPitt]

11. I have an idea.

Get me one of those high-speed six-barrel rotating Miniguns and 500,000 rounds.



I'll bunker in above the race and cut everyone and everything in it to ribbons.

The horses will be out of their misery, we'll be out of our misery, and the race will never happen again.

[Truth2Tell]

12. It seems the angry is back today

Good on ya

:) :hi:

[byronius]

17. Will, I'll load fer ye.

Best use of weaponry I can think of.

[Peregrine Took]

19. Rotten "people"

[Doremus]

20. Thank you, Truth2Tell. Email sent.

"You should be ashamed of yourselves.

This is no race. It's a study in human idiocy and animal cruelty."


Off to make a donation ...

[Doremus]

28. UPDATE: Reply received

Thank you for your recent letter of concern about the World Famous Suicide Race.

We at the Omak Stampede and World Famous Suicide Race share your concerns and invite you to come join us for one of our events, so that you might see first hand the workings of this race.

We strive daily to make this race as safe as possible and are continually upgrading the hill and the entire course to help make it safer for both horse and rider.

The horses that are ridden in this race are trained from birth for this event. When they come down the hill it is not the first time they are doing it. Owners and jockeys make sure that each horse has the ability to run the race successfully. Each horse is thoroughly trained and has to pass a swim test and vet checked prior to and after each race.

This statement has been beaten to the ground, but it is still true that these animals are not just race horses, but part of the owners and jockeys lives. These horses are an integral part of their families.

The Omak Stampede and World Famous Suicide Race Director’s try very hard to put on a safe event every year and for the past two years there have been no incidents that have caused a horse to be crippled or euthanized. That goes a long way to showing how we have made the race safer.

Accidents happen and when they do we grieve for the animal as well. We are animal lovers here at the Omak Stampede and World Famous Suicide Race, and we will continue to make our race safer to ensure the health and welfare of the horses and riders.

Once again, we invite you to come see first hand the care that goes into each one of these horses and the precautions that are taken to ensure the safety of both horse and rider. Then, judge if you will what is really happening at the OMAK Stampede and World Famous Suicide Race.

Thank you again for your concern.

Sincerely,

Brian Ellis
PR Director

This was sent as a pdf attachment. Looks like they're overwhelmed with negative emails and can't send personal replies.

It would be great if a local DU'er could head over there and take them up on their offer to show them around. :evilgrin:

[proud patriot]

21. This is a native traditional race kinda like the whale hunt too

it seems to me the time is right for a movement from within the tribes
to cease some of the more deadly traditions.

tragically outside pressure will just result in a push back for sovereignty.

[Truth2Tell]

22. That would be a more compelling

view if participation was limited to the natives (like the whale hunting). Or if it wasn't run by a non-native organization. Or they didn't sell tickets and T-shirts. Maybe it used to be a traditional native event, but it's become a crass over-promoted tourist dollar-fest for the local Chamber of Commerce. People come from far and wide in the hopes of seeing spectacular horse crashes.

You don't see a list of sponsors like this for the whale hunting:

Colville Tribal Casino, Winthrop Red apple Market, Weinstein Beverage, J & J Smokeshop, Ty Olson Construction, Lifeline Ambulance, Omak Ace Hardware, Unicel, Big R Stores - East Wenatchee, UFCW local 1439, Exxon Food Mart, Concrete Creations, Rite Aid, ReMax Lake & Country, Central Washington Livestock, Burger King, Koala Street Bar & Grill, Edward D. Jones, Safeway, Hamilton Farm Equipment, Valley Lumber, Pizza Hut, Omak Feed & Supply, Beyond Wireless, David E. Judd Trucking, Fiddler Fencing, Havillah Road Printing and Graphics, Washington Army National Guard, Napa Auto Parts, Whitley fuel, Les Schwab, Smith Ranch, Rawson's, Schwann's, DeTro's, Blue Eagle Trucking

[Truth2Tell]

26. true history of the race - nothing native about it

The History of the Omak Suicide Race

First run in 1935, the Suicide Race was the brainchild of Claire Pentz, publicity chairman for the Stampede, after failing to attract big crowds with boxing, trained zebras and stock car racing.

Stampede organizers currently contend that the Suicide Race has roots in Native American tradition but in fact, an Anglo conceived the race as a publicity stunt. Race organizers claim it is a customary rite-of-passage. This can be negated by two facts. One, the races that used to occur among Native tribes of the area were longer-distance, cross-country races on horses bred to thrive on the hard, rocky, desert terrain of Eastern Washington. This is not comparable to flinging a long-legged thoroughbred or quarter horse down a 62-degree slope in the dark of night. Two, a native rite-of-passage traditionally refers to a ritual or ceremony indicating the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Historically, Suicide Race rider's ages range from 18 to well into the 30's. Many have ridden in the race year after year seeking cash and popularity, not cultural fulfillment.

http://www.paws.org/outreach/campaigns/omak_history.php