Every year the local rodeo, called the Omak Stampede, boasts of its main attraction "The World-Famous Omak Suicide Race." The race regularly and routinely kills horses.

Over a span of four days and nights, riders repeatedly send horses off "Suicide Hill" with a 120-foot full-galloping start. Horses plunge more than 210 feet downhill, at a slope organizers have boasted is an "almost vertical…62 degree angle." At breakneck speed horses then meet, with crushing force, the rocky Okanogan River. After a panicked swim of more than a football field in length, the horses face a final, grueling uphill sprint.

These horses, many 'on-loan' for the event, have suffered heart attacks, broken bones and even horrifying death by drowning.

For the past 21 years, PAWS has been monitoring the race and working to raise awareness and evoke action to end it. In that time, 20 deaths have been documented; in 2004, three horses were killed in the first heat alone.

"The most barbaric, inhumane spectacle of the twentieth century... an affront to all cowboys, equestrians and humanitarians." - Dr. Michael Fox, former V.P., Humane Society of the United States.

For background on the race, to view footage taken from the 2002 race
and more, please visit 

http://www.suiciderace.com/

If you would like to help with this campaign, please take the following
action: 

Write to the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association as well as the race's corporate sponsors: 

THE PRCA 
Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association
101 Pro Rodeo Drive
Colorado Springs, CO 80919-2301

Please send a polite letter requesting the PRCA to drop the Omak Stampede as
an official PRCA event until the Suicide Race is permanently cancelled,
pointing out that:

Many of their sponsors neither endorse nor condone the Suicide Race, and it
would be to the benefit of all those involved, but most importantly to the
horses, if it was brought to an end.

On PRCA's website in the animal welfare section they maintain that the care
of the animals is of utmost importance to them.

WRITE TO THE SPONSORS
There are numerous sponsors, some of which have already responded positively
and withdrawn their support of this event. However, there are still many
large corporate sponsors who continue their affiliation.

Each of them needs to be addressed individually. In order to make this as
simple as possible, we have provided links to sample letters.

Please bear in mind that you should revise these letters to fit your own
feelings. Your individual comments making up a unique letter are going to
have the most impact. 

http://www.fund4horses.org/info.php?id=576   U.S. Smokeless Tobacco

http://www.fund4horses.org/info.php?id=577    Coors

http://www.fund4horses.org/info.php?id=578     Pepsi

http://www.fund4horses.org/info.php?id=579   Justin boots

http://www.fund4horses.org/info.php?id=580   Wrangler

http://www.fund4horses.org/info.php?id=581   Pace Picante

http://www.fund4horses.org/info.php?id=582   Jack Daniels

Protest this race with tees, tanks, buttons and more at
http://www.cafepress.com/fund4horses 

Thank you for helping end this brutal death race.

Please email CHDC at  info@defendhorsescanada.org or send a copy of any
response you receive to CHDC, PO Box 26097, Westbank, BC, V4T 2g3,         Attn:Sinikka Crosland.

I've edited/updated the links...hopefully they'll work now.

Please let me know if they don't and I'll give it another try.

Thank you!

hconley

It is encouraging to hear that the PRCA does not sanction the Omak race.            Thank you for setting the record straight on that. 

In my opinion, it would still be worthwhile to write to them (politely) and let them know that some people are under the impression that the PRCA sanctions the Omak race. 

I am always cynical and suspicious of people who 1- get important facts wrong and 2- trying to stop other people from doing something they don't like i.e- imposing their will. 

While this to me seems kinda of stupid, I am not about to tell other people what they can and cannot do with their horses. They want to race off a drop off, go ahead. if they own the horses or have people willing to loan them a horse to do thsi with, then I am not about to step in and they them they can't do it. Why? Cause I don't want people to tell me what i can't do simply because they don't like it.

There was a debate recently about the slaughter of wild horses. many people chimed in telling us that there was a wholeslae slaughter going on and by gosh it has to stop. turns out this was alot less than the truth but it did get peoples gander up. Apparently, the truth wasn't nearly as compelling as a good lie. So, while I sympathise with your distaste, I respectfully decline.

I've seen footage of this event on the Discovery channel.   Seems pretty stupid, dangerous and destructive to me. But that's my opinion and when it comes to understanding the native American way of life, I'm pretty ignorant.  But if the native American's think it is important, and they are a sovereign nation, you are not going to stop them.  It's part of their culture and heritage.  I'm of the opinion, speaking from a white european perspective, that we have done enough harm and destruction to this land and to the wildlife and to native Americans in general, that we ought to mind our own business. Leave 'em alone. There are bigger things to get yourself all worked up about.

Abuse, in many cases, is a matter of opinion, and in this case it is debatable.  There are many western european equine events that many beleive are abusive.  Horse racing, eventing, 100 mile endurance races, etc.  There are many horse owners that keep thier horses locked up in a 12x12 stall all the live long day, for months at a time.  That's abusive to me. I would be willing to bet money that more horses have to be destroyed or are killed in the various forms or horse racing than as a result of this event. Are you protesting the horse racing industry?  My point is, before we go telling the NA what to do regarding an event that is dangerous at best, and results in far less deaths per year than sanctioned good ole American events, we ought to clean up our own house first. As you pointed out, NA's have the history of protecting the environment and showing good stewardship over animals, at least in times past. 

And please, don't make comparisons to humans being murdered and this particular horse event.  It's a ridiculous comparison. 

As far as your political slap at the current administration, "Kinda like saying "we're going to impose our democratic style of government over the Iraqi people no matter what the costs."  What does this have to do with the current topic?  However, if you are consistent, you would have opposed sending in troops to remove and destroy Hitler's war machine and stopping the holocaust.  After all, didn't we "impose" our system of government on them and Japan?  Are you going to tell me Germany and Japan aren't better off now?  Are you going to argue that Iraq and the middle east would've been better off had we left Saddam alone (so he could continue to rape and kill hundreds of thousands of his own people).  The only ones upset that Saddam is gone and the Baath regime destroyed is fellow baathist and insane religious fanantics.  The kind of people that have no problem murdering women, children and fellow country men simply because they disagree with them regarding how they think the country should be governed.  Our system of government is superior to that we removed, in Germany, in Japan and in Iraq.  That's not a matter of opinion, at least to sane people and those that value human freedom.    

I'd be happy to continue a political conversation with you in private, but this is not the forum for it.  PM me if your interested.

Good discussion here...

I agree with the post that suggested they use bicycles or motorcycles to ride over the cliff onto the river but guess it might pose a problem when it came to swimming across...maybe a canoe or raft would work better...(lol)

Regarding the abuse issue, I agree, there are many forms and ...abuse is abuse is abuse. There will never be an end and it's perhaps impossible to prioritize which forms of abuse 'should' be confronted first.

It's a matter of personal choice whether to get involved or to ignore it. It's also a personal choice which issues to put effort into...just depends on what is important to you.

For me, writing a few letters in an attempt to increase awareness about a situation like this is worthwhile.

RichB... " I would be willing to bet money that more horses have to be destroyed or are killed in the various forms or horse racing than as a result of this event."

So (to clarify) are you saying that since there is abuse in the racing industry the Suicide race (and others) should be ok?

Can't help but wonder if people are also injured in the race.

Can't help but wonder if people are also injured in the race.

If they are it's their own fault.

Hi KarenB,

No that's not what mean.  My point is that before we go wagging our fingers at Native Americans for this equine event, we better have our house in order. Native Americans could point to some of our equine events as more dangerous, and they would be correct.  I am just real sensitive to anglo-americans telling native americans what is right and wrong, what they can and can't do, where they can and can't live and so on.  Especially, when we have our own issues to deal with.  I'm a student of American history, the good and the bad.  I love this country, served in the Marines during the first gulf war.  But our treatment of native Americans throughout our history is appalling.  Given this, I don't think we have any right to be wagging our fingers at them over a cultural event like this.  I don't think any of us understand the cultural significance of this event to them.  I think, in this particular case, we ought to just mind our own business and clean up our own house first. That's all, it's just my opinion.

RichB,

Thanks for the clarification and additional discussion.

 " I don't think any of us understand the cultural significance of this event to them. "

Would you be willing to shed some light on the significance and cultural history of this event? I agree that it is not understood (nor known).

I also agree that historically the NA's as a people have been abused, exploited, robbed, and worse. For me this issue does not seem to be one of NA's or Anglos or a race of people. It's more an issue of questionable human behavior.

But, perhaps if I (we) understood more about the siginificance of the race to the NA's it would somehow explain why the horses are being used this way. I also agree with your earlier post about "NA's have the history of protecting the environment and showing good stewardship over animals, at least in times past. " 

Unfortunate that this seems to have changed (at least for some).

Hi Karen

I don't know what the cultural significance is. Frankly, I don't really care.  I only have so much time and this isn't something I want to spend my time on.  But until I had the whole picture, I wouldn't put forth any effort to stop it. 

However, you have the burden of knowing and understanding this, beforehand,  if you are going to try and gather support to stop it.  

before we get all misty eyed about the native american, recall that most of what we get in the form of "historical perspective", is based on this gulit we have about what happened. I for one, feel no gulit what so ever-  two cultures clashed and one dominated the other. Nothing new here. Since time began this has been the story of mankind. The NA wasn't always so kind to the earth or to each other not to mention the settlers just passin though that got killed for it. But that is neither here nor there. My point is- this thread started with a huge factual error- so what else isn't being told truthfully? I too am familar with the lies of the radical leftist enivronmental wackos-we are dairy farmers and ,as a industry have taken our hits from them. these people simply want to control what we do and how we do it. Most of what these people spread is out and out lies. They know most people will never even try to find out the truth themselves. Most of it goes unchallanged. Like I said, I am always leary of what these groups are saying. this one is no different.

I agree with most of what farmbabe is saying.

As far as "abuse" is concerned, I am really sick of animal rights activists sticking their nose where it doesn't belong. It's okay to disagree with what someone else does and that's one thing, but making a federal case out of it is another. Writing to the sponsors, or whom you think is a sponsor, of the event telling them how to spend their corporate dollars is not appropriate.  If they want to run over a cliff, far be it for me to try to stop them.

If you are worried about the abuse of horses, I agree that it is horrible, but your time could be better spent and used supporting more broad causes. If you are worried about the abuse of God's creatures, why don't you try doing something about the 3 year old child living down the street that is used as apunching bag for their alcoholic parent. You might be able to actually make a difference.

 And on the subject of customs, who in our society decided not to adopt the siesta?

What does that have to do with anything?

Terri:  The thread mentioned "customs and traditions" of the Native Americans.  I've never seen so many upset people on a forum about trying to defend animal rights and telling everyone to mind their own business.  Fine!  But if anyone "messes" with my animals, abuse won't even enter into the big picture.