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“I can’t imagine the pain this horse endured.”

From HorseracingWrongs.org
January 2023

The cheek piece of his bit was IN HIS MOUTH. I can’t imagine the pain this horse endured. His teeth probably got banged, his cheeks and tongue possibly pinched, and then I thought, again, a $3.55-million horse gets treated like THIS?

The following on the Hejazi pics from yesterday comes from a former racehorse owner with a lifetime of experience working with horses. (This person prefers to remain anonymous.) I’ve reposted the photos and another showing the bit in question. Again, this was Sunday at Santa Anita. Jockey, Mike Smith; trainer, Bob Baffert.

“When I first saw the article about Hejazi in a racing publication, the number in the headline caught my eye: ‘$3.55-million Purchase.’ Craziness. The next thing I noted was the picture included in the article. I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with it. Then I zoomed in, and as I looked closer, I thought, wait, where’s the bit?? What kind of bit does he have?? As I enlarged the photo, I realized the cheek piece of his bit was IN HIS MOUTH. That poor horse – and his expression, with his ears pinned, shows it.

“After some research, I determined that this is a Dexter Ring Bit. The Dexter [below] has a ‘spoon’ hanging off the O-ring cheek piece. The spoon, it says, is ‘to prevent the bit from being DRAGGED through the mouth.’ Sure failed this poor horse! All I could think was the sheer force that Smith exerted to pull all this hardware into this poor horse’s mouth. And with his tongue tied down, Hejazi had no way to protect himself.

“I have never seen this happen before, not with eventers, not with jumpers. I can’t imagine the pain this horse endured. His teeth probably got banged, his cheeks and tongue possibly pinched, and then I thought, again, a $3.55-million horse gets treated like THIS?? He’s from a million-dollar barn and they couldn’t ensure his bridle cheek pieces were fitted properly?? If that’s what happens to the elites – what kind of treatment do you suppose the low-level claimers get?”

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