Ferndale Horse Deaths Prompt New Rules from Racing Board
Stock photo of horse racing. [Image via WikiCommons. CC BY-SA 3.0]
According to the Jockey Club’s Equine Injury Database, the average rate of racing-related fatalities is 1.32 per 1,000 starts, but Ferndale’s rate exceeds five times that figure. This alarming statistic has caught the attention of the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB), which has characterized the deaths as preventable. In a previous interview, CHRB spokesperson Mike Martin noted that Dr. Gregory Ferraro, the board’s chair and an experienced equine veterinarian, is investigating the circumstances and considering new regulations for under-regulated state fair racetracks. While horse racing fatalities have decreased by 55% over the last two years, Martin stressed the need for continued improvements.
At the September 19, 2024 Board Meeting, which faced challenges due to an unexpected power outage that disrupted live coverage, Dr. Ferraro emphasized the need for improved horse welfare in light of the recent fatalities. He remarked that the injury rate at fairs has been unacceptably high this year.
“The injury rate at the fairs, unfortunately, in my opinion, has been too high this year. A lot of reasons for it, but a 12 year old horse that breaks down at Ferndale doesn’t do racing any good. So if you’re going to go forward as an institution of racing, you need to have this welfare of horses front and center, because the continued rate in which you’re losing horses not acceptable to the sport,” said Dr. Ferraro
The meeting was held amid internal strife within the industry, divided between northern and southern factions. One commenter described it as a “civil war” within the industry, with mounting concerns about the closure of the Bay Area track, which had operated for nearly 90 years, and the financial implications for the $2.5 billion horse racing industry in the state. Even at Del Mar, one of the state’s most well-known commercial racetracks, betting is down 7.8 percent, leading many to speculate that public interest in horse racing is waning.
While the overall industry struggles, local racing in Ferndale is reportedly thriving. James Morgan, special counsel with the Humboldt County Fair, announced a substantial increase in contributions to purses, rising from $400,000 in 2023 to over $1 million this year. He highlighted a significant rise in horse participation, with 240 horses competing this year, 160% rise in the horse population compared to last year.
However, Morgan’s remarks did not address the two horse fatalities, which have raised concerns about the safety measures in place.
Dr. Ferraro indicated that new regulations will limit the eligibility of older horses to race, with those over ten years old no longer permitted.
Jeff Blea the CHRB Equine Medical Director, spoke about the situation. “Regarding a comment made earlier in this meeting about an aged horse that was euthanized in Ferndale, there was quite a bit of discussion after that occurred,” he explained. “No horse over 10 years old is eligible to race. Los Alamitos has also agreed to follow this policy.” He noted that the horse that died had a seven-year layoff and had only recently returned to racing.
The death of Arctic Fire was not addressed during the meeting. Speculation arose that Ferndale may have violated CHRB’s Inclement Weather Policy by permitting races on the day and 24 hours after Humboldt County received over an inch of rain, which broke a 27-year-old rainfall record. KMUD News reached out to the fair for comments regarding the safeguards in place, but did not receive a response.
Both of the deaths of Arctic Fire and Visual Display have sparked criticism from animal welfare advocates, including the group Kill Racing Not Horses, which is calling for an end to horse racing altogether. Martha Sullivan, a representative of the group, emphasized the lack of public interest in horse racing, citing declines in wagering for two consecutive years. In addition she argued in an “No legitimate sport would tolerate the death of two of its athletes in just two weeks of competition,” she argued.
California has reported 59 equine fatalities in the past 35 weeks. Despite ongoing scrutiny of the horse racing industry and declining wagers, all eyes will be on Ferndale, which, despite challenging industry conditions, is experiencing increasing revenues and is set to host additional racing events in 2025.
KMUD News will continue to provide updates on this evolving story below is their audio piece:
Earlier: Two Horses Euthanized at Humboldt County Fair, 2024 One of the Deadliest Years on Record
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A ten year long lay-off? At 2 years old? That’s a story that is extremely unusual. Could what have happened to that horse is that a newbie incidently had a horse that had retired a decade ago and got excited by the chance to have a race horse? Not knowing how or even if it should it be done? I saw such a thing happen decades ago when the idea of owning a race horse took hold of a very inexperience owner. Luckily for the horse, the person could only afford to keep it at a trainer for a couple of months.
The fact that the emphasis is on revenue not really “sport” speaks volumes that the value of horses it about $$$, and not about the welfare of a living, SENTIENT being. It’s shameful that increased regulation must be made (much less enforced) to protect these noble creatures from being used solely as a commodity, to be disposed of when no longer profitable.
I suspect that the average racing horse is not profitable at all. Only the very elite are and then most of the profit comes from stud fees after retirement. “Yes, you can make money owning a racehorse, but it takes patience, luck, and knowledge of the racing industry. However, most racehorse owners don’t make money and use their losses as a tax write-off.”
If you want to stop horse racing, it would behoove you to learn why people throw money into the sport. And racing them is mostly incidental. Changing the tax law would be more effective although, since money is not the point of racing a horse, probably not that much.
https://horseracingsense.com/can-you-make-money-owning-a-racehorse/
Thank you, smjjanus. This “sport” has resulted in so much suffering and cruelty…whether it is the horses who have had golf balls stuffed up their nostrils in order to kill them so that owners can collect insurance money, or another horror perverse humans have thought up.
gambling is a sin. The horses pay the price. Lets not forget why they are racing around the track.
Any sports that involve animals racing, fighting or doin dangerous stunts are animal cruelty for the benefit of deranged sadistic humans, like wannabe cowboys, little jockeys or other compensating sock people. That includes the folks betting and hollering in the stands, many of them the righteous lefties so keen to portray themselves as the good guys but getting all excited about making a few dollars at the cost of a horse’s life… it is sickening how few humans actually value life in the real sense of the term…
Thank you for your thoughtfulness.
If 20 football players a year died on the field football would probably end. If 20 boxers died in the ring boxing would be over.
END HORSE RACING NOW
Upped the number from 2 to 20 since the previous “awful” human stat of 2 humans dying each year offer was laughable short? Well still 16 did die last. And a further 32 lived but have serious injuries that certainly would have been thought too cruel not to euthanize had they been horses. Unfortunately horses are a lot harder to save and much more prone to injury. And prone to injuring each other too.
Probably more show horses than race horse per capita, who do no more than canter slowly around a ring, are put down each year. Put any animal in the clutches of competitive humans then add money or prestige, and a lot of animals suffer. I agree that racing immature horses accounts for a lot of breakdowns. At least that comes from knowledge and experience rather than ignorance.
But it’s not a one way street. Horses kill lots of people each year and injure many. Just handling a horse is dangerous. More dangerous than skiing or riding a motorcycle. Those who don’t understand simply can’t understand.
https://www.npr.org/2024/08/28/nx-s1-5091883/middle-high-school-football-players-deaths-august
https://nccsir.unc.edu/reports/
https://horsesonly.com/horse-riding-accidents/
Horses do not have choices; humans do.
Ha! Horses do make choices. Especially in racing which requires the horse to compete with other horses. Some simple refuse. Some object in violence. Some will only race if crowds are there getting them excited. Of course, if natural behavior were controlling, some would also choose to fight with those trying to pass.
As to humans having choices… I suppose people who have exercised their right to never work or do disagreeable things might also think they have a right be fed and housed at other’s expense. That is the way of the human.
You are right about one thing, many horses, if given their choice, would also not choose to do what they find unpleasant at other’s insistence and would move in small herds from grass patch to grass patch, fighting for dominence and choosing who is tolerated and who is not. But then not expecting others to feed them too. That is the way of the horse.
Thank you.
End Horse Racing, total animal cruelty to benefit the greedy!
Horse racing is a disgusting sport and belongs right up there with bull fighting. It would not bother me one bit if both were outlawed in the US. Want to watch bull fighting head to Mexico.
I agree with you. I recently read that four high school football players have died in August and September. Two died of over heating in Alabama and Georgia and two from concussions. Three boxers died from being punched. One race car driver died from a wreck and one from in a MMA fight. That doesn’t sound like very many unless it was your brothers or husband or daughters who died. How do you overcome that loss? And nearly 60,000 young men died in Vietnam average age 19.5 years old. I once read that over one point five million men and women have lost their lives in Wars and millions more were wounded that have lost their arms or legs or eyes plus more with PTSD. What in the hell are we doing our young people? And Trump wants to push the nuclear war button. Seventy seven thousand Japanese were killed when we dropped one nuclear bomb on Hiroshima. And we dropped two, And we still glorify the sports and Wars. What’s a life worth? Apparently not much………….
A racecar driver died in an mma fight?
People can make these choices for themselves. Animals cant.
But Hey- we just rebuilt the viewing bleachers! For the twisted sickos who thinks it’s fun to see animals abused while they get drunk and bet…soon we will look back at this and it will look almost like slave auctions. How did we ever think it was okay?
Thank you.
I’m an avid barrel racer at a high level and very knowledgeable about horse racing! One thing you guys need to realize is these horses are given better feed and vitamins then you feed yourself! My average monthly cost without including hay is about a 1,000 dollars on supplements alone on 4 horses! These horses are checked by lameness vets religiously! What you need to understand is the Humboldt county fair grounds does not prepare the ground appropriately to have top level athletes run! They mix the shaving in from the livestock show in with the dirt what messes with the dirt and how it clumps together and binds. This isn’t about horses racing, it’s about the facility that’s under ran and has under educated people running it.
Rodeo is even worse. Check out S.H.A.R.K.
https://www.youtube.com/@SHARKonlineorg
This year, two horses were euthanized at the Humboldt County Fair, raising the total number of horse deaths in Ferndale to 24 since 1994. The six-year-old mare Arctic Fire and the 12-year-old quarter horse Visual Display were both euthanized after suffering serious musculoskeletal injuries during their races.
While the overall industry struggles, local racing in Ferndale is reportedly thriving. James Morgan, special counsel with the Humboldt County Fair, announced a substantial increase in contributions to purses, rising from $400,000 in 2023 to over $1 million this year. He highlighted a significant rise in horse participation, with 240 horses competing this year, 160% rise in the horse population compared to last year.
However, Morgan’s remarks did not address the two horse fatalities, which have raised concerns about the safety measures in place.
Dr. Ferraro indicated that new regulations will limit the eligibility of older horses to race, with those over ten years old no longer permitted.
Jeff Blea the CHRB Equine Medical Director, spoke about the situation. “Regarding a comment made earlier in this meeting about an aged horse that was euthanized in Ferndale, there was quite a bit of discussion after that occurred,” he explained. “No horse over 10 years old is eligible to race. Los Alamitos has also agreed to follow this policy.” He noted that the horse that died had a seven-year layoff and had only recently returned to racing.
The death of Arctic Fire was not addressed during the meeting. Speculation arose that Ferndale may have violated CHRB’s Inclement Weather Policy by permitting races on the day and 24 hours after Humboldt County received over an inch of rain, which broke a 27-year-old rainfall record. KMUD News reached out to the fair for comments regarding the safeguards in place, but did not receive a response.
Jeff Blea the CHRB Equine Medical Director, spoke about the situation. “Regarding a comment made earlier in this meeting about an aged horse that was euthanized in Ferndale, there was quite a bit of discussion after that occurred,” he explained. “No horse over 10 years old is eligible to race. Los Alamitos has also agreed to follow this policy.” He noted that the horse that died had a seven-year layoff and had only recently returned to racing.
According to the Jockey Club’s Equine Injury Database, the average rate of racing-related fatalities is 1.32 per 1,000 starts, but Ferndale’s rate exceeds five times that figure. This alarming statistic has caught the attention of the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB), which has characterized the deaths as preventable. In a previous interview, CHRB spokesperson Mike Martin noted that Dr. Gregory Ferraro, the board’s chair and an experienced equine veterinarian, is investigating the circumstances and considering new regulations for under-regulated state fair racetracks. While horse racing fatalities have decreased by 55% over the last two years, Martin stressed the need for continued improvements.
At the September 19, 2024 Board Meeting, Dr. Ferraro emphasized the need for improved horse welfare in light of the recent fatalities. He remarked that the injury rate at fairs has been unacceptably high this year.
“The injury rate at the fairs, unfortunately, in my opinion, has been too high this year. A lot of reasons for it, but a 12 year old horse that breaks down at Ferndale doesn’t do racing any good. So if you’re going to go forward as an institution of racing, you need to have this welfare of horses front and center, because the continued rate in which you’re losing horses not acceptable to the sport,” said Dr. Ferraro
The meeting was held amid internal strife within the industry, divided between northern and southern factions. One commenter described it as a “civil war” within the industry, with mounting concerns about the closure of the Bay Area track, which had operated for nearly 90 years, and the financial implications for the $2.5 billion horse racing industry in the state. Even at Del Mar, one of the state’s most well-known commercial racetracks, betting is down 7.8 percent, leading many to speculate that public interest in horse racing is waning.
Both of the deaths of Arctic Fire and Visual Display have sparked criticism from animal welfare advocates, including the group Kill Racing Not Horses, which is calling for an end to horse racing altogether. Martha Sullivan, a representative of the group, emphasized the lack of public interest in horse racing, citing declines in wagering for two consecutive years. In addition she argued in an “No legitimate sport would tolerate the death of two of its athletes in just two weeks of competition,” she argued.
California has reported 59 equine fatalities in the past 35 weeks. Despite ongoing scrutiny of the horse racing industry and declining wagers, all eyes will be on Ferndale, which, despite challenging industry conditions, is experiencing increasing revenues and is set to host additional racing events in 2025.