For the second time in a week, photos of a horse fatally injured in a sporting event have presented themselves for publication. And as before, again after much discussion, I have decided to share them with you.
On Saturday, Eight Belles collapsed with two broken ankles after finishing second in the Kentucky Derby and was euthanized on the spot.
The previous Saturday, two horses fell while jumping on the cross-country course at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event and were put down.
While the initial response was more negative, readers who have contacted me in recent days have generally been supportive of the decision to publish the photos of the accidents at Rolex.
Horse lover Jack Martin of Lexington wrote: “The safety of the sport is a clear and present issue. Perhaps seeing the horror on the front page will somehow cause an outcry that will create a mandate to make it safer.”
Comments such as Martin’s influenced my choice to publish photos of the breakdown of Eight Belles. Her death follows the ultimately fatal injury of Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro in the Preakness almost two years ago. Early results from an ongoing survey for The Jockey Club found that about 2 horses die for every 1,000 starts on dirt tracks and about 1.5 die per 1,000 starts on synthetic tracks.
Some readers commented that they didn’t need to see the images to know that equine sports can be dangerous. Action News 36 photographer Lauren Ashe wrote: “I feel, as a fellow photojournalist and horse enthusiast, that showing a picture of an animal fatally injuring itself is about the same as showing a picture of a bullet entering someone’s head. What exactly does printing this accomplish?”
Ashe’s comment reminded me of Eddie Adams’ photo of a South Vietnamese colonel executing a Communist Viet Cong prisoner. The picture, which shows the exact moment the bullet enters the prisoner’s head, earned Adams a Pulitzer Prize in 1969 and is credited with helping turn American public opinion against the Vietnam War.
As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words, and images can move people more readily than words alone. So, again on the front page Tuesday, there are photos of horses injured at sporting events. More graphic photos of Eight Belles are inside the paper and in a slide show online; both carry a warning that the content may be upsetting.
As before, I invite your comments on the publication of these images.
Linda Austin
Editor
People need to see the truth, even and especially when it’s not pretty. Good taste and avoiding offending anyone never fixed a single problem, and never will. One who can’t handle the kind of pictures shown here, which are not even particularly graphic, simply can’t handle reality.
The shock value on some of these pictures is too overwhelming. Before publishing any photo of this nature, especally in this area, you have to be sure that you are not going to be opening any wounds. I worked with this filly for a year, and as if seeing her meet her end wasn’t enough, I get to relive it as do the other 5 people who worked with her every day. This is enough of an event in itself, but sometimes you must let sleeping dogs lie. You don’t know who’s connected and just how close they are.
Photos are recommended.
It’s a rough world, and the sooner we see it for what it is, the better.
I agree with Joe. People need to know and see the truth no matter how hard it may be to do so. Too many times we take the “easy” way out by not looking thinking it will go away. Just as with the pictures and video of the WTC on 9/11, we need to keep these images fresh in our mind so we can learn from our past.
Having a debate over showing a picture is like concentrating on Rev. Wright .
We should be debating how to improve the sport and
what steps should be immeduately taken before breakdowns become pervasive.
Horse racing needs to clean up its act.
Let’s start by banning all medication pre-race.
But, of course, you won’t hear that from
Pletcher,Asmussen or Dutro-the last 3 winning Derby trainers who have ALL been suspended in the past for illegal drug use.
Ed H
I have owned and loved horses all of my life. It broke my heart to see Eightbelles break down, I had picked her to win. I barrelrace horses and an injury is all too common. I think we all take care of our horses very well and want them to excel in their work, are we going to stop driving because of wrecks, stop taking medicines because of side effects? Our horses have jobs and we try to see they are equipped to handle that job to the best of our ability. We cannot foresee tragedy, we would be shut in our bedroom at home afraid to leave if we could.
The thing I thought was unusual was that no news outlet I could find actually indicated how the euthanasia was carried out. If your voluminous coverage did, apologies for missing it. Would seem to be a salient detail, much like mentioning the method of execution of a condemned prisoner.