Winter is Coming: Regulating the Whip

"No sport that unnecessarily whips animals will survive the 21st Century. And it shouldn't" --Will Brewer- Father o' Cats, Lord of the Man Cave, Keeper of the Roku.

INTRODUCTION

Most of you are currently rolling your eyes. Maybe you will stop reading this immediately. Don't. Try to allow for another view point. I will certainly listen to yours. Try to imagine 10 to 20 years down the line and what people's views on animals will be then. I've been in love with horse racing for 30 years. In that time I've changed my views on many things. I still learn something new about our wonderful sport every day. I know 5% of what I want to know about our industry. The challenge and the unlimited amount of knowledge that can be gained from our sport is what keeps me working and thinking about it every day. 

Because I am still learning, I challenge my opinions on things. However, I am confident in one thing: If we want to survive, we have to make serious changes and soon, WHETHER WE LIKE THE CHANGES OR NOT. WHETHER IT HURTS YOUR POCKETBOOK OR NOT. 

I also know that I've had a harder time defending this passion of mine more than any other time in the last 30-years. The reason is simple: people's views on animals are evolving for the better and, I believe, our industry's mindset is stuck in the first half of the 20th Century, if not the 19th Century. 

From the get-go let me say this: I have no affiliation with any organization in Washington. These views are my own. I don't get paid to work in the industry. I don't make any money off this sport. I don't have a horse running this year. I'm no longer breeding horses in Washington. 

I spend an ungodly amount of time on this industry because I love horses. I also care about the people in our industry (well, not Clark Jones). I mildly like the barn I'm affiliated with and the people who are part of that barn. I would love to be involved in this sport 24/7. I'm not. So I have no selfish agenda except to see this industry succeed (Industry means "industry", not just Emerald Racing LLC). 

Most of my friends at the racetrack will disagree with my views on the whip deabte. Cool. That is fine: we can agree to disagree. Differences of opinion spark meaningful debate. I learn a lot talking to people who have been in this industry longer than me. I learn from talking to Bob Cappelletti, Tom Wenzel, Flavor Flav, Roy Brewer (the lesser of the Brewers), Darrin Paul and Jody Pee.....nevermind. They have different views and I respect that. Lots of them are much smarter than I am too. 

I would love for people to discuss this issue with me. I am willing to listen to your side and have a reasonable talk with people about this issue. Hopefully discussion will lead to a consensus and we can move towards creating a better public perception of our sport. 

BIAS NOTE: I am a vegetarain who doesn't buy leather products because of my love for animals (I can hear you calling me an AOC-commie-liberal-educated-Seattle elite. Ok fine, but I take offense to you calling me educated!).  So maybe I am a little different than the average person. However, it should be noted that I dislike PETA. They frankly have no idea what they are talking about and use most of their time and money to get media time, rather than saving animals. It is a misguided organization that should have never been let in the door at Santa Anita. However, they may come knocking on our door some day. Are we ready? 

I would never take drastic ridiculous views on horse racing that PETA takes but our state needs to take reasonable and proactive measures to solve the perception problem with our sport. Of course,  whipping does not lead to breakdowns (if there is a correlation it is probably minor and hard to prove). However, when a stretch of breakdowns comes knocking on Emeralds door, will we be ready? Will we have done enough before hand or are we just going to react like The Stronach Group? 

Why don't we have a press release from the Washington powers that be before the season starts of all the active things we are doing to stop breakdowns and how we are taking active measures to treat our horses kindly. Better yet, why don't we pass some sort of meaningful rules to make it seem like we are actually doing something, rather than just some basic PR. For instance, our rules on whipping.  

THE EVOLUTION OF OUR VIEWS ON ANIMALS

A. Washington

In Washington, people's views on animals are changing at an even more rapid rate than other parts of the country. The Animal Legal Defense Fund did a study and placed Washington #10 on its list of pet-friendly states: 

"The Pacific Northwest proves to be one of the best places to live for people and their pets. Although some of Washington’s cities ban pit bulls, a lot of the state welcomes pets in parks, restaurants, hotels, and more. Washington has the 13th best anti-cruelty laws and takes animal abuse very seriously. With so many animal lovers, Washington makes a wonderful place for people and their fur babies." https://www.safewise.com/blog/safest-states-pets/

In addition, the ALDF put Washington #9 in the country with respect to Animal Protection Law Statutes:

1. Illinois
2. Oregon
3. Maine
4. Colorado
5. Massachusetts
6. Rhode Island
7. Louisiana
8. California
9. Washington
10. Indiana
11. Texas
12. Michigan
13. Florida
14. Virginia
15. Pennsylvania

Clearly, Washingtonians, our customers, care about animals. This is not Fake News. Hannity or Anderson Cooper can't really disagree with it. Alex Jones sucks so who cares what he thinks. And I think we can all agree, we love our animals in this state. It is one reason I love being a Washingtonian (besides the Seattle traffic, of course).  

B. Seattle

Seattle, where a fair portion of our current owners and future owners come or will come from (think Amazon and Microsoft employees with stock options) also love their animals:

AMERICA’S BEST VEGETARIAN-FRIENDLY LARGE CITIES

1. Portland, Oregon
2. Seattle, Washington
3. San Francisco, California
4. New York, New York
5. Atlanta, Georgia
6. Washington, D.C.
7. Minneapolis, Minnesota
8. Austin, Texas
9. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
10. Chicago, Illinois

How is the racetrack in Portland doing? 

Seattle is the second most pet-friendly city also: http://seattlerefined.com/lifestyle/seattle-is-the-2nd-most-pet-friendly-city-in-the-us

A lot of us consider horses like pets. 

C. United States

Even from a global perspective, the United States ranks high on being animal friendly. From Veganbits.com (yes, that is right, I purposely made a non-corrollary argument so I could include something from veganbits.com to piss you off just because you called me an AOC-Commie-liberal a few paragraphs ago) here is where the largest concentration of vegans are from:

1. United States
2. Japan
3. Germany
4. Poland
5. United Kingdom
6. Israel
7. Italy
8. Sweden
9. Spain
10. Finland

CURRENT RULES 

Before we talk about where to go, we need to understand where we are. So, it is important to understand our current whip rules before we form an opinion on what needs to be done. Washington's whip rule is WAC 260-52-045 which you can find here: https://apps.leg.wa.gov/wac/default.aspx?cite=260-52-045

The relevant parts are as follows: 

(5) Prohibited uses of the riding crop include striking a horse:

(a) On the head, flanks or on any other part of its body other than the shoulders or hind quarters except when necessary to control a horse;

(b) During the post parade or after the finish of the race, except when necessary to control the horse;

(c) Excessively or brutally causing welts or breaks in the skin;

(d) When the horse is clearly out of the race or has obtained its maximum placing;

(e) Persistently even though the horse is showing no response under the riding crop; and

(f) Striking another rider or horse.

(6) The riding crop should only be used for safety, correction, and encouragement. All riders should consider the following when using the riding crop:

(a) When using the crop the rider should give the horse a chance to respond;

(b) A chance to respond is defined as one or more of the following actions:

(i) Pushing on their horse with a rein in each hand keeping the riding crop in the up or down position;

(ii) Showing the horse the riding crop without making contact; and

(iii) Moving the riding crop from one hand to the other.

(c) Using the riding crop in rhythm with the horse's stride.

The language highlighted is important and we will get back to it later. 

ARGUMENTS FOR/AGAINST THE WHIP

There are a two main arguments in favor of using whips in horse racing: Encouragement and Safety. The best argument is clearly safety: 

A. Safety

The best argument is that a whip is needed for the safety of the rider and jockey. Absolutely. No question. If there is a safety concern for other riders and horses in a race, a whip should be allowed to prevent greater injury and pain from occurring. To correct a two-year old veering out. The people who work at the track every day are putting their lives in danger. I would never advocate a change that would make their situation worse. I have people I care about on the back of these horses so these arguments matter a great deal to me and I think that the safety of a person on top of the animal is paramount. Make no mistake about my intentions.

B. Encouragement of the Horse

People bet on horses. Owners put huge amounts of money into horses. Jockeys make a living on how well a horse runs. Understood. You want your horse to run as fast as possible so you want them to be "encouraged." However, I've seen numerous races where a horse has been unnecessarily whipped (I'm sorry, I guess the word is still "encouraged") when they are a distant last or they are way ahead at the finish. This is completely ridiculous and looks bad even if the jockey is fined. And don't tell me that is not true. I've seen it all the time over the course of 30 years. Lets take a famous example as explained by well-written paper on whipping called Changing Human-Animal Relationships in Sport: 

"Public interest in animal welfare has been influenced by media coverage of racing events. For example, the image of American Pharoah being whipped 32 times during the running of the 2015 Kentucky Derby was transported into the private spheres of millions of people, creating intense debate in the media about the appropriate use of the whip in horse racing. Currently there are no limits to the number of times a whip can be used in thoroughbred racing in Kentucky."

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4880849/#B6-animals-06-00032

These two reasons to use the whip are outweighed by the two most important words of all right now: PUBLIC PERCEPTION 

C. Public Perception

I understand all of the pro-whip arguments. But not one of them, not one, is able to deal with two little important words: "PUBLIC PERCEPTION." Let me repeat that in case you prefer lower-case words: "public perception." Any argument made that is pro-whip during a race, where safety is not an issue, completely misses the point. The public is the customer. They are the bettor and the owner of these horses. They don't like that we whip horses. If you have been going to the races for a long time, you have come to accept it and it "part of the game." Understood. But the future generations won't be drawn to this sport if we have a terrible public perception. They don't want whips just like they don't like, for instance: 

The Circus - Gone 

Greyhound Racing - Soon to be gone because of a ballot initiative in Florida.

Bull Fighting - Hopefully gone soon. Terrible public perception 

Dog Fighting - Illegal (I just put this in here because Michael Vick sucks and shame on the NFL and he should not have a job announcing NFL games!)

Frankly, it is really hard to see people say "I love my horses." or #IAmHorseRacing and then have their horse whipped. I love my cats but I don't get home from work and pay the neighbor 10% to whip them. So you can see how the "I love my horses" can ring a little hollow sometimes to the public. 

D. God Made the Crop So the Crop Don't Hurt

And for those who argue that the new "crop" don't hurt and that they are more friendly than the old "whip":

(1) Calling it a Crop doesn't do anything - It certainly still looks like a whip to the untrained (i.e., Public) eye. The new fan doesn't ask me about what I think about the "crop" being used on a horse, they ask me about the whip being used on American Pharaoh. The word whip cannot just be redefined easily like "race day" or "shall" (which I guess means "may"). 

(2) It doesnt matter that it doesn't leave a welt or any marks on a horse: It looks terrible to the public and children coming to the track for the first time. AGAIN, ALL THAT MATTERS IS PUBLIC PERCEPTION. You can make any excuse you want, but people don't want to see that and future generations are going to like it less and less. 

(3) If the crop doesn't impact a horse as people say, why do we need it? You can say the whip makes a sound that encourages them to run. Ok, find an alternative to that "cracking" sound that makes them run. You don't need a whip to do that especially in the face of negative public perception. 

E. The Public is Wrong About the Whip (I mean "Crop") Argument

While the industry is keenly aware that some people believe that the whip hurts horses, the often-used response is "well, the public just does not fully understand the whip doesn't hurt and why we use the whip. So the public is wrong and their perception of our game is false and they are not educated about horse racing." 

Ok, but that IS OUR FAULT (underlined, italicized, highlighted and bolded for emphasis), not the public's fault. It's our job to educate the public if we want new people to come to our game. We need the public to grow the game, so we have to cater to them and explain the whip to them. However, our "leadership" has done an awful job of educating the public about our sport. They've failed us at almost every level. And when I say leadership, I am not talking about just the Jockey Club. Don't point the finger at other people. I am talking about all of the alphabet groups, all the tracks, all of the people who get an income from horse racing. Your job is to protect and move the sport forward, not just protect your job. 

I am on the hook for it also. I was the President of our breeding association for a year. I failed in convincing people that Washington-breds mattered. I failed to change the sport for the better so I moved out the way. I am still going to try to promote the sport I love, but just taking a different path. That doesn't mean I agree with everything our industry is doing, but I still love it. I am going to continue to advocate for the industry I love, but I won't if we stick our head in the sand about everything that is going on. 

SOLUTIONS 

I am not saying we ban the whip, let me make that clear. It is important for safety. However, can't we have a sensible transition to a more gentle way of dealing with our horses that does not look as bad. Calling the whip a "crop" does nothing for the public. It still looks like a damn whip. Some potential solutions: 

(1) Educate the Public - I wouldn't count on this. Again, the powers that be aren't doing a good job.  But I have an idea which may help Washington with this and other public perception issues which I will present in a later blog post. 

(2) Alternative to the Whip - So this is above my pay grade, but we created Space Force and beat all of our enemies in Space so we can certainly come up with a whip alternative. But this isn't likely to come about before racings demise.  

(3) Eliminating Words from WAC 260-52-045 - Back to the WAC rule I discussed above. This may be the easiest solution but what about eliminating the words "correction" and "encouragement" from Section 6 which, again, states:

The riding crop should only be used for safety, correction, and encouragement.

What if the the riding crop was allowed to be used but only for purposes of "safety"? Or what if only allowed for "safety and correction"? Sure, we have to define safety and correction better and we would have to rely on our Stewards to do it. But what is wrong with being able to tell the public we took some action to eliminate whipping unless in cases of safety? That we decided to be kinder to our horses? 

As you scoff at me for my suggestion, remember you are part of a sport in which the status quo is failure. So keep laughing while your industry is losing. 

I will provide you with my very favorite quote about the current state our industry when I see stupid small measures being taken or we fight, again, about race-day medication or something else irrelevant at this point in time: 

"You are rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic."

That is what we are doing. Certification, what stall you get at a sale, Lasix, whether the proper silks are being used on your horse are all meaningless in the face of the oncoming tsunami. The only thing that will save us is substantial change. Lets start with a public perception issue about the whip.

CALIFORNIA

While drafting this, California started to discuss and change some of its rules regarding whips. Many people have maligned the idea in the last week but I disagree. Here are some articles on California if you want to educate yourself:

https://www.ocregister.com/2019/03/28/whip-use-banned-in-horse-racing-in-california-except-as-a-safety-measure/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/board-weighs-new-rules-after-22-horse-deaths-at-santa-anita/2019/03/28/a9854346-5129-11e9-bdb7-44f948cc0605_story.html?utm_term=.06d2bebe1866

https://www.thoroughbreddailynews.com/chrb-bans-whip-use-in-california-racing/

I have other thoughts about California but I will get to that in a later post.

CONCLUSION

Why are we reactive in Washington, instead of active? Why not get on top of this? The Washington public will not stand for a sport that unnecessarily whips animals.

We survived Barbaro and Eight Belles, but our image took a blow each time. However, Winter is Coming. But instead of the Night King it is Late Gen-Xers, Xennials and Millenials. If you think these generations of people will continue to put up with this, especially in Washington, and it will "just go away", think again. Just look at your wagering statistics, look at your horse population, and look at your purses. We are one Kentucky Derby breakdown or one Academy Award Winning documentary (see Blackfish) away from being in deep(er) shit. We are trying to be told something by the public. Listen.

Sure, I could sit in my man cave betting low-host-fee tracks collecting rebates for the next 25 years but I would rather be out with my friends at the racetrack.

If we are proactive instead of reactive we prevent problems from coming up. I have some other ideas on how to be proactive which, again, will be one of my next few pieces I write. My goal is not simply to complain, but to provide some sort of solution to these problems, even though I am still learning. This is something that should be considered as a small step in the right direction. 

Or we can stick your head in the sand and continue to see numbers like this: 

Source: Jockey Club State Fact Book.

I welcome any discussion.

CHANGE. WE ARE LOSING THE BATTLE. CHANGE. 

Will