January 25, 2008
Memorial Statue of Barbaro, Not Exactly Balto
We were encouraged to hear a statue would be unveiled in Central Park memorializing the racehorse Barbaro, the Kentucky Derby winner who remained undefeated in all of his races before tragically breaking a leg in the Preakness Stakes (video).
The sculpture by Daniel Edwards - whose Paris Hilton and Britney Spears sculptures are familiar eye-openers - is scheduled to be unveiled on April 30th to coincide with this year's Kentucky Derby. Unlike the beloved statue of Balto, the heroic sled dog who saved a town by delivering medicine through an Alaskan blizzard, parents may want to steer their kids clear of the Barbaro statue.
According to The New York Sun, "the sculpture will be located where a carriage horse was killed last year. It will depict Barbaro on his back, with his hooves in the air." And not just hooves up, Barbaro is depicted writhing in agony. And amNew York adds that Edwards hopes the sculpture will assist with efforts to ban carriage horses and would like a Congress member to "sponsor a bill that would make horseracing tracks nationwide post the injuries and fatalities that have occurred there."
So this is not exactly the novel "My Friend Flicka" material. Perhaps not so strangely, the sculpture is connected to the Death With Dignity and Right to Die movement, which is a proponent of euthanasia. The sculpture will later be shown at the Leo Kesting Gallery, whose director said, “A suffering horse cannot call Dr. Kevorkian for an assisted suicide because, like Terry Schiavo, the ailing horse cannot speak for itself."
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Does the Parks Department know about this?
For more information on the efforts to ban carriage horses please go to:
http://www.banhdc.org/
NYC City Council Member Tony Avella is working on a bill to ban the horses and needs support from fellow Council Members. Please let your respective City Council Members know that you want them to support the ban on carriage horses.
Cant wait to see what he's cooking up for a Heath Ledger memorial.
That's sick.
This has got to be a joke. Considering it was in the Sun, there's reason to suspect.
As for banning the carriage horses, yes, these animals have a very difficult life, but sadly that's the life for horses of this ilk. I was asking some of the old school horse folk at the barn my daugher rides at (grooms, owners, barnrats, the real deal folks) about this movement, thinking they would be all for it. It was somewhat the opposite. There's very little role for these horses other than what they are doing. Horses are expensive to keep, and if they are not doing anything to earn their keep (school horses giving lessons, for example) then there's not going to be much left to do with them except ship them you-know-where.
I think I've taken one carriage ride in my life, promised my wife one, then renegged on it because I didn't want to support the business. And I'm not sorry I made that choice. What I would caution everyone on is that the situation is apparently much more complicated than I'm sure Councilman Avella thinks it is.
It is tragic that carriage horses are treated so inhumanely, but Barbaro was a tremendously gifted race horse. To depict him in this manner is an insult to the competitive spirit of Barbaro and lays waste to an undefeated career.
barbaro was euthanized. i'm confused.
Note to self:
Pick up glue on way home from work.
But in all seriousness, wacky statue, good cause. Always felt bad for those horses.
I wish the Brittney Spears statue would go up in central park.
I'm not familiar wih the Britny statue. Does it also have legs in the air?
Banning the carriage horses is a great idea, but this statue of some stupid race horse is a lousy one. What connection, other than OTB, does the horse have to the city anyway?
I'm with Toby, WTF has Barbaro to do with the city? Nothing.