Commentary: One Death Too Many

Steve Haskin, senior correspondent for The Blood-Horse, shares his thoughts on recently retired racehorse Intense Holiday’s death, injuries and deaths in horse racing, and laminitis.
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Steve Haskin, senior correspondent for The Blood-Horse, shares his thoughts on recently retired racehorse Intense Holiday's death, injuries and deaths in horse racing, and laminitis.


There comes a breaking point in every person’s life when you ask yourself if your passion in life is worth the heartache that accompanies it. As a lover of animals first, and someone who has been involved in racing since 1967, I have come to that point.

But I have come to it before, and I know that the death of Intense Holiday and the deep sadness I felt reading about his tragic demise will soon pass and get stored away in some dark recess of my mind, where I keep the memory of Ruffian, Go For Wand, Prairie Bayou, Barbaro, George Washington, Eight Belles, and so many others who lost their lives on the racetrack or as a result of an injury suffered on the racetrack.

I can understand why people ask themselves, “How many tears must I shed before I start drowning in them?” We grieve over deceased Thoroughbreds as we do friends we feel we know in some intimate way, even though we are well aware they are not friends in the human sense. Perhaps it is closer to grieving over a beloved pet, who had become such a major part of our family and our lives. I can offer no reasonable comparisons, only to say that the bonding between humans and horses is something that will forever remain a mystery, just as it has throughout history

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Steve Haskin is Senior Contributor to The Blood-Horse magazine, sister publication to The Horse.

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