Barbaro Updates: 526
updates are now here.
Update 3161: Steve Haskin, who does appear somewhat frustrated with the West Coast synthetic track racing, provides his weekly 3yo assesment leading up to the Derby: Ky. Derby Trail: The Cat and the Colonel.
Update 3160: A lovely morning spent at Fair Hill catching up with friends. Its odd but this is the longest time I have been away from Fair Hill in the 20+ years I have lived in America. And things have changed a little. There is now a bank. A barn is being reconstructed and Mark Shuman has moved into his barn. I caught up with the gate crew, and we chatted about the different types of gate crews I had experienced from the five tracks I had worked at to date. I watched Tim gallop (slowly) Who's Happy. About half of those out there galloping were familiar faces. I caught up with Chuck, the vet who got me my initial freelance job at Penn National, Liz, who I ran horses for when she shipped them up to Presque Isle, and Sue who works for Graham Motion. After running around Fair Hill, and visiting my house (and my cats Punch and Judy) I had breakfast at Prizzios and then caught up with a few people at the University of Delaware. All fun catching up with people.
Here is Penny's Monday update from timwoolleyracing.com:
Today is quite bright and sunny which makes this monday morning a bit nicer. Saturday was a busy work day. Bubble Gum and Saar had their first little breeze and we have it all on tape. If I weren't a ludite you could view it on this website. You will just have to believe me when I say the girls did great. Both recovered fine with no problems. Gator Nation breezed well and is progressing nicely towards his first race of the year. As I left the barn this morning he was tacked up and waiting for his rider. Rose Campbell and Powdered Donut worked together on Saturday and they wen't fine. The addition of a tongue tie on Rose Campbell helped Robbie hold her steady with Donut. Rocky continues to look the part of a racehorse and is such a gorgeous Rock Slide colt. I don't know what the other Rock Slide's look like but Rocky sure is nice. Diva is such a calm cool girl in the barn but when she is on the track she is all business. If I get more of an update from the trainer I will update later.
Update 3159: I arrived safely in the North East Sunday late evening. I am now about to head out to Fair Hill and other familiar locations to catch up with old friends and will report back later.
Please keep calling and writing. Americans Against Horse Slaughter events begin tonight.
Morning skritches to the BBH, Sir JH, Gorgeous George and the rest of the stellar gang in Equine Heaven.
To help:
MORNING POST, SHELLEYA, DEBRA, WI
STRATEGY FOR MONDAY (and TUESDAY and WEDS)
We will be following the strategy as posted by Daniel of Habitat for Horses during the event in DC. Safe trip to all those traveling. To those that will be helping from the homefront, we will keep you updated on the happenings!
Thanks,
Shelley and Deb
Watch for a target list of Reps/Senators to call/fax in the second phase of this strategy).
URGENT ACTION ALERT!
LAST CHANCE TO END HORSE SLAUGHTER IN THE US!
IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED TO ENSURE PASSAGE OF THE AMERICAN HORSE
SLAUGHTER PREVENTION ACT
Dear Friends,
Since it was reintroduced in January 2007, the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (S. 311 - HR 503), a bill to ban the slaughter of US horses and their exportation for slaughter abroad, has been waiting to be brought up for consideration in both the Senate and the House where it was denied due process by a group of pro-slaughter legislators who believe the profits of three foreign-owned horse slaughter plants outweigh the welfare and safety of American horses and horse owners alike.
This group of legislators, led by Senator Larry Craig (R – Idaho), has successfully blocked the bill in the Senate, preventing it from being
even debated on the floor using procedural means and hiding behind a plethora of myths and fabricated stories to support a “need for horse
slaughter” while tens of thousands of American horses continue to be exported for slaughter in Canada and Mexico under appalling conditions.
As the legislative deadline of mid-September set up by the upcoming elections approaches, the need to get the AHSPA passed increases dramatically, making necessary to launch an all-out counterattack to break the pro-slaughter blockade on the bills and proceed to their consideration
in the corresponding chambers. If the AHSPA is not at least passed by the Senate before mid-September it will die since there would not be
enough time in the brief “lame duck” session taking place after the elections to move it through the rest of the legislative process, forcing us to start all over from zero next year and spelling doom for tens of thousands of additional horses that will be cruelly slaughtered abroad until we have another chance.
To this end, horse owners and enthusiasts from all over the United States will gather in Washington DC next March 4 and 5 to lobby their
elected officials in a desperate effort to break Sen. Craig’s blockade on the AHSPA and expedite its passage in both chambers.
In order to be effective, we need to show a massive grass roots support for those lobbying the legislators on Capitol Hill and let them know
that Americans want the AHSPA passed as soon as possible to end this sordid trade. It is extremely important that as many people as possible contact their Representatives and Senators urging them to cosponsor S.
311 and HR 503 if they have not yet done so and requesting them to press the Senate leadership and to set S. 311 free from Sen. Craig’s
blockade.
How you can help
During next Tuesday, March 4th and Wednesday, March 5th please contact as many times as possible both your two US Senators and all the
Representatives of your state requesting them to:
a) Cosponsor S. 311 (Senators) or HR 503 (Representatives) in case they have yet done so.
b) Ask the Senate Leadership to do everything possible to break Sen. Craig’s blockade on S. 311 and expedite its passage in both chambers.
If they are already cosponsoring the bills, please praise them for doing so and request them to keep their support commitment to the end.
Also, please forward this action alert to all your contacts, relatives, friends, work and school partners asking them to follow it and contact their respective Congressional delegations in support of the AHSPA. The more people contact Congress the more chances we have to get the AHSPA passed!
Please see the DB for an updated phone and fax directory for the 110th Congress showing
information about whether they cosponsored or not as well how they voted in the past on legislation to outlaw horse slaughter in the US
You can also find your legislators and additional information on horse slaughter and the AHSPA on the Strategy for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday thread of the DB under Anti Slaughter.
Please remember this is virtually the last chance we have to lobby Congress to get the bill passed before it is too late: If S. 311 is not at least passed by the Senate by mid-September we can take it for dead, forcing us to start from scratch next year and dooming without recourse tens of thousands of American horses to horrible, agonizing deaths in Canadian and Mexican slaughter plants. Therefore, it is vitally important we employ all the resources we have available to flood Congress with a continuous stream of calls and faxes during those two days. Their lives depend on us.
Thank you for your help.
Daniel Cordero Fernández
Posted by: ShelleyA at March 3, 2008 1:28 AM
Cheers,
Friar Tuck
Posted by: Friar Tuck at March 3, 2008 11:37 AM