The upside of down · 1.03.09

The current economic correction uncertainty meltdown may actually have some positive effects on the sport of horse racing. Jay Cronley at ESPN reflects on the best way to catch a break these days:

The best break from cutting back is a trip to the horse races, either at a live meet, or at a simulcast venue, characters welcome at either location.
There’s nothing funny about a lame economy, or living on a budget.
There’s a lot to laugh at, at the horse races….
[I]magine a horse going into the gate, first-time gelded.
He is apt to think: Might as well run, there’s nothing else to do.

Or how about this: out of the ten Eclipse Award divisional champions for 2008, eight are returning this year. Noted Grade I winners Champs Elysees and Red Rocks are also still in training, where in previous years they would have been sent to the stud farm. Stud fees are being reduced, which means that in some cases it is becoming more profitable to keep successful horses on the racetrack.

Finally, consider the environmental, political, and social costs of Western civilization being dependent on oil and the internal-combustion engine for almost everything — fueling and lubricating your car, fertilizing the fields where your fruits and vegetables are are grown, making the plastic for Junior’s latest toy — and the plastic credit card which helps you pay for all that. If you know about "peak oil", and/or read about James Howard Kunstler’s theory of The Long Emergency, these concerns should resonate even more. With all that in mind, shouldn’t we at least consider the possibility of switching back from motorized “horsepower” to natural horse power?

I will make a bold prediction: as vehicle fuel and maintenance costs continue to rise it will become more economical to utilize horses again in at least some sectors of the economy, and we will see horse-drawn wagons again in our cities within the next twenty years (just as they were still widely-used in urban areas up to the mid-twentieth century). The only limitations to this paradigm shift will be local by-laws regarding the use of animals in urban areas (easily fixed given the political will to do so), and the general lack of familiarity with horses in modern society (a broader issue that can be addressed through training and education).

What does this have to do with horse racing? First, the Thoroughbred is even today used in breeding programmes to improve other breeds, or even create new ones. As horses become more important to society and the economy, such improvements to draft and other breeds will become more important. Second, one of the reasons commonly-cited for the decreasing popularity of horse racing is the increasing lack of familiarity with horses among the general public over the past half-century. Only the oldest of today’s horse-players can remember when horses were still a part of the rhythm of everyday life, both on the farm and in the cities — seeing the fleet-footed cousins of the familiar work-horses had some attraction in those days. As horses again become important to our society and economy, the idea of seeing them at their best — on the racetrack — may become important to Mr. Joe Public again.

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What do you think?

  1. As much as I would like to see the return of the horse, I can’t see it happening. Several generations have passed without a working knowledge of how to keep a horse. Two, I have done extensive research on the many health hazards that accumulated horse manure spread into a large metropolis. The amounts of horse manure removed each day from city streets in New York at the turn of the century was enormous
    http://www.enviroliteracy.org/article.php/578.html

    — Dr. TImothy Yatcak · Mar 2, 09:46 AM · #

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