|
|
| All Around Town
|
|
|
|
|
| My love for all athletes and a commentary on the Derby |
May 27,2008
|
 |
Email |
|
 |
Print |
|
 |
Share |
|
Del.icio.us
Digg
Newsvine
Facebook
Reddit
StumbleUpon
Technorati
|
 |
Comments |
|
|
|
I love athletes and great athletic performances. My passion for athletic performance started with triple crown winner Secretariat. I had his poster of his powerful body coming down the stretch mounted on my wall. Later, it was Eric Heiden and his phenomenal wins at the Olympics. What I loved about his American Express ad of his body in skating posture wearing only a speedo, was the art and the moment captured of what his muscles did to win. Being an athlete of that calibar is hard work, mental physical and spiritual. And a win is synergy between mind, body and spirit.
My home was filled with history of great athletic performance. My grandfather had been a medalist in the 1920 Olympics for 800m. My brother was a swimmer at UCLA and my sister in law competed in 1976 Olympics. A close friend of my brothers Brian Goodell was another 2 time gold medalist in swimming. Athletes tend to respect each other, they understand the effort it takes to compete.
I grew up riding in one of the equestrian centers of the country, Unionville PA, home to many famous riders and farms. I spent years foxhunting and riding in 3 day events. I started riding when I was 6 and my first teacher will be remembered for her uncanny ability to spot talent of both horses and riders. I was fortunate to have had that opportunity because a coach like that is hard to find and she fostered my ability to see horses as amazing athletes that needed us to guide them safely so they could offer you their maximum potential. She took some amazing leaps of faith with horses and I watched her turn out one incredible performance after another.
Horse racing is vastly different from my experience. I left the horse world because many times it felt like the soul of the horses was at the expense of human entertainment. I took my love of equines and used massage therapy to help them. My hard work and interest in equine health caught the attention of New Bolton Center, where Barbaro spent the last months of his life. I spent time learning about equine perfection and imperfections at that center while they studied the effects of massage on these great athletes!
Over the years, I have moved away from watching horse racing. There is a part of me that worries and doesn’t like it for some of its behaviors toward horses. This past Kentucky Derby, my eye was not on Big Brown, but on Eight Belles. The commentator saw her a not a great bet and offered that filly’s often don’t do well at the derby. As she gained distance in the race, I had one comment, “Her head is not flat to her withers, she’s holding back.” I feared she wasn’t sound and then suddenly she was down. When the two emergency vehicles circled her, I knew exactly what they had done. And as the story broke, my disinterest in the sport was reaffirmed.
I refused to watch Belmont, too worried about the noise of Big Brown. My husband was feeling confident that he was in good shape because of the announcement for how relaxed he was the morning of the race. But as I watched the rerun of the race, I caught a glimpse of inconsistency in his stride and I pointed it out to my husband who couldn’t see it. When they showed him walking back to his stall I saw just a split second of his head bobbing when he would step with his left front. A sign of something tender. In the rerun of the race I pointed out that he changed leads every few strides and I told my confident husband, there is something sore on him.
Today, Memorial Day, the front page of the Post’s sports section read: Big Brown Injured: Triple Crown hopeful has a quarter crack in left front hoof. Big Brown has the willingness to give everything and he has clearly showed a triple crown is in his reach, but the question is should he? There is no doubt in my mind he is capable of a triple crown win if healthy. But the fact remains a quarter crack is dangerous to the longevity of his life.
http://www.diabetesselfmanagement.com/articles/Diabetes_Definitions/Biofeedback
A horse’s feet are complicated structures, and if they can not walk on all four they often will not survive, which is what happened to Barbaro and Eight Belles. With the technique that they will use to bind his wound, the question is how soon should they return him to training and racing.
Let’s hope for the sake of this fabulous athlete that he has an owner, trainer and blacksmith who will see him as a super star with a right to heal his injuries first and not be the golden goose! I don’t want another burial at the field for a great athlete who gave it his all because human consumption for profit and entertainment overshadowed the “heart of the matter”.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
All Around Town Archives |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Loading..
