This is Barbaro, Kentucky Derby winner. You may have seen him in the news lately, especially if you’re a fan of the Triple Crown horse races. In case you’ve been living under a rock this past weekend, Barbaro was injured during the Preakness Stakeswhen his back right leg fractured. This caused many people at the race to start crying, and rightfully so; they probably lost a lot of money when Barbaro neither won, placed or showed. But, when watching the local news today (WNBC), I saw this picture (or something like it…)
Now if this isn’t the epitome of idiocy. “Thank you Barbaro”? Thank him for what, running fast? Good job, Barbaro, thank you for doing exactly what you were bred to do, and thank you for responding favorably to that 5 foot nothing, 95 pound man striking you with a leather whip, and thank you for the $500 you got me for my $2 trifecta a couple of weeks ago.
It’s like people look up to the horse, which is idiotic for many reasons. You don’t see kids say “when I grow up, I want to be a champion race horse.” (Granted, when I was a wee lad, I aspired to be hung like a horse [which I am now], but that’s neither here nor there.) Race horses can’t do public service announcements, they can’t drive a car, they can’t even vote, and they can’t speak English, which, of course, means they have no right to be in the country*.
If you’re sad that a horse broke his leg in a race, that’s fine. But, once you invest any amount of money or time in trying to make the horse (which you probably have absolutely no connection to except for those 2 times you saw him on TV) better, it’s time to reevaluate your priorities. I would suggest stopping global warming or maybe curing AIDS for starters.
* Standard footnote about knowing when and when not to take things I say seriously