Obviously PETA knows little or nothing about horses. I bet they have never watched yearlings setting up their own competetive "race meet" in the pasture. They don't know that the healthiest and strongest horse in the pasture is sometimes the one to step in a gopher hole while running for all they are worth just for the joy of running. It is tragic when a lovely animal is critically injured, however, if PETA wants to prevent injuries to horses they will have to go much much further than banning racing. It is completely unsafe to allow horses out in green pastures because they do hurt themselves playing. Wild horses will have to be gathered and confined to padded cells, they sometimes stumble running down hills and regularly break legs. Horse racing didn't come to be because someone decided to force horses to do something that wasn't natural to them. If that were so, people would race cattle. Horses are prey animals that have run for safety, freedom and joy for eons. I am a strong advocate of treating animals well...and if I were king, the big races would be for 5 year olds, but PETA is obviously ignorant about the nature of horses. If they had their way every horse on the planet would be locked in a little stall with no way to hurt themselves. There are definitely improvements that could be made in racing such as better track surfaces, age advances and more pasture lay-off time. PETA's all or nothing approach is naive, and ignores the nature of equines. Thoroughbreds LOVE to run. Work on safety issues, but don't ban the sport of kings for the sake of the well-meaning, misguided and uninformed.

I am the niece of Larry and Cindy Jones. Cindy is my godmother. This out lash over what happened to our precious baby is disgusting. Yes, there are corrupt and greedy people in the sport of horseracing, but there are also those that devote their wholes lives to the sport because of their passion for these amazing creatures. I used to exercise for my family, and I can’t explain how much our horses love, love, love to run. The second they see their saddle or get out onto the track, they come alive. This is what they love and live for. My uncle and aunt would never ever race a horse that didn’t love the sport.

PETA is out of line. First, you are right on in what Gabriel did. He is a talented, amazing rider. Belles had the tendency to pull towards the rail. When you have over a hundred thousand people to your right, naturally she was going to pull towards the left. Gabriel was avoiding injury. Second, Belle crossed the finish line happy, alert, and no where near exhausted. What happened is a horrible tragedy but NO ONE’S Fault.

I am disgusted with the people coming forward with all these assumptions, yet no facts to support their argument. Sadly, PETA is an agency fueled by emotion. They feed off of what affects people and uses that to further their cause. Half of my family is vegetarians, others are vegans. We have supported such animal organizations for years. Yet, because this opportunity gets them into national headlines, they turn their backs on their own. If a horse is angry you will know. If a horse is upset you will know. You will be kicked, thrown, stepped on, bitten, etc. If 8 Belles had been upset with Gabriel’s actions you would have seen it; Gabriel would have known that. If she has been distressed or in pain you would have seen that. Her ears were up, her strides long when she crossed the finish line. She was not in pain.

People have also questioned why she was euthanized so quickly. The vet made the decision on the spot to put our baby down. Neither my family nor Mr. Porter (whom we were with right after the race) knew about this decision until we got down to the track. This wasn’t a matter of insurance money, etc. It was the fact our Belles was suffering and we stand 100% behind the vet’s decision. These uneducated questions seem to come from people VERY unfamiliar with the anatomy of the horse. We all hope one day equine sciences will discover a successful way of mending broken legs, yet unfortunately horses’ legs are the Achilles heal of this wonderful animal. We also stand by NBC and their decision to not air our baby’s last moments. Do people really need to see the agony, suffering, convolutions, and bleeding out of 8 Belles to understand this was the correct decision?

Let’s use this tragedy to focus on the ways we can change this sport to make it safer for the animals and riders. Let’s focus on the beautiful, talented 8 Belles and not on her awful end. Let’s not point fingers or try to find fault in an accident that WAS NO ONE’S FAULT, but see this as what it is. A horse tripped. She fell. No one has ever seen anything like this. Let’s not crucify the one’s that devote their lives to this wonderful animal, but question those that drug and use other cruel methods for personal gain. Let’s focus on improving tracks and not over breeding.

Hmmph. I'll just chime in here with my usual PETA statement. Unless and until they come up with answers to what really went on with the "euthanizing" of all those pets in Virginia and North Carolina, they should have zero credibility with any of us. For good measure, they can also make public their actions and stance with regard to service animals such as guide dogs for the blind.

I'm convinced that their agenda involves our having no domesticated animals at all. No dogs, cats, birds or horses for companionship. No cattle, sheep, poultry, or pigs to provide food. We're supposed, somehow, to revert to our pre-agricultural days.

Do abuses exist? Certainly they do. We see them in the racing industry, in the agricultural sector, and certainly in the arena of pets. People of good will need to work together to expose and correct those abuses wherever they are found. I just don't think PETA is entitled to carry the banner until they clean up their own act. There are plenty of other organizations, starting with the Humane Society and the ASPCA, that have a much more reliable credibility.

When it comes to horses, I'd like to hear a lot more about that choice fountain-of-youth drug, Premarin. Anybody want to go over how it's produced? Hint: It's a lot worse than anything going on in horse racing. Or we could take a good look at what's being done to the wild horse populations out west. That would be edifying.

Jessica, I am sorry for your loss. She was a lovely horse, and I'm sure she had a bright future. The vet's decision was a compassionate one and should not be second-guessed by anyone, especially PETA.

There is a difference between young horses/horses of any age running joyfully in a field together, and putting a jockey on top of an immature horse and forcing it to run. True, horses in a field may sustain injuries, but you can be sure there are far more injuries to racehorses, who are continually the victims of minor hairline fractures in their underdeveloped bones. I have a 30-year-old semi-retired horse who still loves to go on outrides and she loves to run, so much so that its hard to get her to stop. So, yes, horses love to run, but its simply not fair to put so much pressure on such young horses.

I'm not saying I agree with PETA's methods. A lot of the work they do is good, but they can be somewhat extreme.

We currently have a 3-year-old who we aren't even considering backing until she is 4 and we have done plenty of ground work with her to build her muscles for taking on a rider.

But as the horse racing industry is unlikely to stop running such young horses, i do believe that more safety measures need to be put in place, breeding needs to be looked at etc. Which fortunately the racing community is taking seriously and hopefully things will drastically improve.

My aunt has been a horsewoman all of her life. I have seen how badly these horses want to run. It is what they live for. You can see it in their eyes.

I am in full support of animal's having jobs. Dogs, horses, etc. We do not give them enough credit. They get satisfaction out of working too. They are exuberant when they win a race, take down a criminal, or make a positive sniff on drugs. Yes, there are always dangers. As there are dangers in the wild. Bottom line is that animals go with their instincts and don't worry about the consequences. They live in the moment, and for those of us who take the time to realize it, it is what we love most about them.

Racing is a horse's passion. To take that away is cruel.

I'm getting pretty sick of PETA's rediculous and very uninformed opinions. The obviously know little about horses, and even less about horse racing. I think their calls to ban the sport is nothing short of idiotic....horse racing in no way can or should ever be compared to dog fighting. The purpose of dog fighting is to see which dog can kill the other one. Horses aren't raced to see which one dies. Sure, the horse racing industry could make some changes. On the foremost front I support the chaging of the way the industry is currently breeding horses (for speed rather than duriblity) and the banning of drugs and steriods within the industry, but that is all. I do not support the banning of whips, changing all dirt surfaces to syntheic, banning 2yo racing or spacing out the Triple Crown races as some PETA members have suggested that the industry change.

First off, PETA claims that the horses are "whipped to deah" and "abused"...I'm sorry, they're not. A whip is just like a choke chain or spike collar for a dog, if you use it right it can be good, but it can be taken to the extreme. However, most jockies don't take whipping to the extreme, and unlike PETA's claims, Eight Belles jockey did NOT "whip her excessively to the point of death". I'm on the fence with whipping, I could see it go, I could see it stay, but I don't think banning it would make horse racing "safer" it would just make animal activisits like PETA shut up. I'm not a fan of synthetic surfaces....they've been around for only a few years and we don't know much about them. Are they really safer in the long run? I'd prefer to do more research of synthectis before doing something as exteme as overhauling every dirt track in America. As for 2yo racing, yes, I know their bones are not fully developed at this age...but horses have been racing for hunders of years as 2yos, and yet we only start to see massive problems with breakdowns starting in the 80s. Something went wrong somewhere aroudn this time, but I don't think it was racing horses as 2yos. Perhaps, there needs to be a cap on the number of races a horse can run as a 2yo, but not an all out ban.

Yes, there are bad characters in racing, Some horses may be abused, some have gone to slaughter...but the majority of the industry does not work this way. As I said, some changes need to be made, but as a whole the number and types of changes PETA is suggesting is rediculous. PETA wants to ban horse racing, they want to ban rodeo and they support BSL (the banning and euthanasia of specific dogs because of their breed; ie pit bulls, rottweilers, dobermans), they've euthanized thousands of pets they supposedly "rescued", I've heard of an instance of one member trying to seal someones dog from their own yard because "all animals should be free".....PETA needs to go back and take a look at themselves. At one time they might have been a good organization when they protested dog fighting, cock fighting or puppy mills, but they've turned into an over-the-top extremist group that is bordering on the line of imbecilic in thier actions.

why don t all you peta haters get a life