Am I the only one who doesn't agree with horse racing?

Rowreach said:
Well I'll stick my neck out and say that I adore racing and only wish I was still as involved in it today as I used to be. I have been charging through my work just so I can watch Aintree this week, and nothing will tear me away from the telly tomorrow afternoon (we have rearranged pony club round it).

I have over the years been involved in almost all horsey disciplines, and I've seen far more cruelty and unnatural things forced on horses in, say, dressage yards than I've ever seen in racing. No, I don't like seeing fallers either, and I dread hearing that any horse has had to be pts at the end of a race - but horses break down hooning round the field too. And the National is safer today than it used to be - but it is still the ultimate test, otherwise it wouldn't be the National.
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You do have a valid point there. I think that at all spheres of professional equitation, from racing to dressage to jumping, the animal becomes a commodity - something that makes money for the owner, and I don't personally think its nice to see a horse living its life like that (however acclimatised to it it becomes). Once it stops making money, it is cast away. As Hebe said, its an attitude.

I'm not against racing per sé, but detest the Grand National. As has already been mentioned, it would be fine if the conditions were tweaked. The horses are very experienced, and well trained, its just the conditions that make it so deadly. Do the general public enjoy the thrill of the race being so dangerous that the horse might die?

Yes it may be hot tomorrow, but the ground should be good - we've had some rain this week and now its dried up well, so hopefully that might help (she says optimistically!)
 
For me , I don't mind low level -the ones I've seen ; the horses are more valued because they don't have the money to go and buy a ton more and its more because the people and horses enjoy it . As you go further along , its more about the betting,the horses mean almost nothing and the fame, they have the ability to shoot one horse and replace it and people are there for the glamour. I think the GN is one of the worst for this. Aintree is running today , what about that , is that so bad, in your opinions
- BUUUUUUT - IMHO - i would rather watch the GN and all those terrible falls and breakages than seeing dressage horses forced into rolkur.
 
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Tricky one. I love watching racing, its exciting, thrilling, beautiful, glorious fun for the people watching and involved. Would the horses rather be at home in the field eating grass, or at least doing something a bit easier and less likely to end with them hitting the deck? Probably.

So dangerous for the jockeys too. I feel the same way about eventing - thrilling and fun, but dangerous and a bit nuts when you are talking about testing horses and riders to their limits.

I'm getting fluffier as i'm getting older and I won't be surprised to find myself in the anti group in a few years time, but I'm still guiltily entertained by it for now.
 
Wagtail said:
I think last time the ground was so dry and hard, there were four horses that died in the race. Faster ground but harder falls.
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We must have been watching a different race then - because the Grand National I saw last year had no horses die in it. And the going was very good, not hard.
 
But i love Red Rum .He lived til past 30, so he kinda was the proof racehorses could be happy and healthy and successful . They buried him just past the first post, i loved that :D
 
stacey_lou said:
I go to the races and I enjoy the racing but when it comes to the Grand national its a different story.
So many Horses and injuried at this race simply beacuse I feel there are too many horses racing at one time. There isn't enough space over each fence for each horse to jump safely and also I dont feel horses can comfortably jump that height at the pace. But thats my own opinion.

Also at work they are doing the same thing but I cannot and will not entertain it.
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That's exactly my feelings on it too, I've never supported the Grand National and I couldn't actually watch it
 
stacey_lou said:
I go to the races and I enjoy the racing but when it comes to the Grand national its a different story.
So many Horses and injuried at this race simply beacuse I feel there are too many horses racing at one time. There isn't enough space over each fence for each horse to jump safely and also I dont feel horses can comfortably jump that height at the pace. But thats my own opinion.
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I agree with this.
 
AshTay said:
I think there should be a fee associated with each and every horse that leaves racing, be it through injury, retirement or for those that don't make the grade. That fee should go to rehab/rehoming centres to cover their costs which may include PTS horses that are unlikely to thrive as regular riding horses or which cannot be found homes.

Would take some admin though. Do all racehorses, and potential racehorses, have to be registered somewhere before they can race? (numpty question)
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Yes, they all have to be registered with Weatherby's. And Weatherby's will only allow natural covering too, no AI allowed which is ridiculous!
I like racing but the industry needs some serious shaking up, overbred, pumped full of food to speed up growth, stabled 22-3 hours per day with a few small handfuls of haylage then dumped on the scrap heap when not fast enough or broken down. And they're the lucky ones, never mind the ones who have a really hard time!!
 
i do think horse racing is cruel, i thought with the race horses getting electrocuted would slow it down a bit but obviously not. it seems like people hae just forgotten about the electrocutions. its a shame because by the time the race orses are retired they get brought but peopel dont want race horses straight from the races so they end up being put down. :'( also all the drugs they use to boost their horses performances i dont like the eventers using this either, i mean if you have paid probably alot of money for and eventer (SJ or DR whatever you want) then you dont need to boost thier performance just train them and keep them happy, calm and natural :'( but then again i do horse drawn wedding and funerals and i suppose people could say that is cruel pulling carriagehes along the road, but my horses do get turned out and are given no drugs and perfectly happy :)


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maggiesmum said:
Yes, they all have to be registered with Weatherby's. And Weatherby's will only allow natural covering too, no AI allowed which is ridiculous!
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I dont think that is ridiculous,several mares could be inseminated out of one draw, thus flooding the market with more stock via AI , Not a good thing for keeping lines exclusive.
 
To clear some things up:

Every horse you see in the race tomorrow will get turned out, or have had the option to be. In fact, last year's winner Don't Push It likes to LIVE outside. They are no cooped up in stables 24/7 living dark, abused lives. They are treated like kings. Take a trip up the public footpath by Jonjo O'Neills place and you will see them out enjoying themselves.

Performance enchancing drugs are banned in racing. Instances of them being used are very few and far between, you won't find any horses on them tomorrow.

Whoever said that the higher up the race, the less value the horse is is talking nonsense. The big trainers love their horses, as do their owners - look at Clive Smith and Kauto, Hemmings etc etc. An excellent example is Monets Garden.

The GN is becoming a better and better race, with better horses, better safety and better policing. Obviously it is still a risky race, however it is safer than it has ever been. It is a big, wide course, with chutes for the loose horses, excellent first aiders and obviously a very dedicated vet team. I understand why people don't want to watch it, but the problem with it is that it's a very public race and therefore people who don't really know what they'e talking about like to butt in and have their say, mostly influenced by Animal Aid who seem to rejoice in every equine death and hate a death-free grand National, the more grizzly the story and pictures the better for them. The ground is to be watered tonight and will be perfect tomorrow.
 
I won't be watching the National. I agree there's way too many horses, it almost guarantees there will be fallers. I don't understand why they allow so many - pure greed I imagine by the organisers.

I'm not anti racing, but like others wish they wouldn't break them so young and throw away so many
 
Does anyone know how many horses have incurable lameness and get pts who've been trained for dressage, or showjumping? The issue with National Hunt racing and eventing is generally horses that have their deaths publicised will go dramatically in front of an audience.

How many dressage horses of the thousands bred on the continent actually make it? How many dressage horses have had neurectomies due to tendon issues? How many showjumpers quietly disappear from the circuit never to be seen again. How many dressage horses and happy hackers get passed from pillar to post, buted up, sold, found in markets, found abandoned. A horse dying in a race has a better end than a horse dying of starvation. Catastrophic lower limb fractures almost never hurt - the nerves run so close to the bone that they are destroyed as well. I've seen horses with fractured legs more or less detached happily munching while all is made ready for them to go (winded horse at same fence meant that shooting was not an immediate option - the risk of the winded one thrashing at the sound and damaging itself or those helping it would have been too great).

Tbh maidens at point to points are much scarier than the first couple of fences of the national - at least the national horses jump in a vaguely straight line not across half the width of the fence!
 
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0ldmare said:
I won't be watching the National. I agree there's way too many horses, it almost guarantees there will be fallers. I don't understand why they allow so many - pure greed I imagine by the organisers.

I'm not anti racing, but like others wish they wouldn't break them so young and throw away so many
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Agree 100%.

In fact I don't like any wastage or heartless and thoughtless profiteering 'on the back of' any animal. Horses and greyhounds live the life of Riley whilst they are returning dividends, but far too many are cast aside or fall into neglect and end their lives in a miserable fashion one way or another. THAT is the criminal side of it for me.

Racing is no more or less cruel than any mounted discipline or casual activity, really.
 
amymay said:
We must have been watching a different race then - because the Grand National I saw last year had no horses die in it. And the going was very good, not hard.
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Didn't one die last year? Or was that the year before? Cannot remember it's name but the One Show were backing it/showing it in the run up to the race. Obviously didn't do it much good!
 
Wagtail said:
I think last time the ground was so dry and hard, there were four horses that died in the race. Faster ground but harder falls.
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amymay said:
We must have been watching a different race then - because the Grand National I saw last year had no horses die in it. And the going was very good, not hard.
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I think Wagtail means - the last time the ground was as hard as it is this year, not actually reffering to last years race.
 
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Wishful said:
Does anyone know how many horses have incurable lameness and get pts who've been trained for dressage, or showjumping? The issue with National Hunt racing and eventing is generally horses that have their deaths publicised will go dramatically in front of an audience.

How many dressage horses of the thousands bred on the continent actually make it? How many dressage horses have had neurectomies due to tendon issues? How many showjumpers quietly disappear from the circuit never to be seen again. How many dressage horses and happy hackers get passed from pillar to post, buted up, sold, found in markets, found abandoned. A horse dying in a race has a better end than a horse dying of starvation. Catastrophic lower limb fractures almost never hurt - the nerves run so close to the bone that they are destroyed as well. I've seen horses with fractured legs more or less detached happily munching while all is made ready for them to go (winded horse at same fence meant that shooting was not an immediate option - the risk of the winded one thrashing at the sound and damaging itself or those helping it would have been too great).

Tbh maidens at point to points are much scarier than the first couple of fences of the national - at least the national horses jump in a vaguely straight line not across half the width of the fence!
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You do have a point there...:rolleyes:

Yes I seem to remember reading a story about a dressage trainer who tied her horses down with a bit and side reins to set their necks... in the stable... all day.

I've also see a few broken sj horses and ponies at sales go on the meat lorry... that is so sad to see.
 
I dont like it either. I event, so I cant exactly moan about the "danger" factor. My issue is really the age at which they race, they are far too immature and as a result so many are ruined so young.
 
I find this a very difficult question and reading this, I've found myself agreeing with arguments on all sides.

I *think* that I don't have a problem with racing per-say... many of my none-horsie friends have asked whether sj/eventing/dressage are cruel and whether the horses enjoy it, and I tend to always return to "if the horse doesn't want to do it, good luck trying to make him."

So I don't have a problem with the sport as such (although some things I've seen haven't particularly enamoured me to it e.g. Galway races last year and a drama trying to get one horse into a stall), and I don't know enough about the industry to judge whether the conditions that the horses are kept in are any better or worse about those in other sports (I know a professional international eventer who runs a yard which doesn't even have fields for turnout, and an ex-int showjumper whose current horse he only allows into the sand arena for an hour a day). I don't even have a problem with the 'danger' element - not that I like to see horses have tragic accidents, but accidents happen in the stable/field/hacking. Like many others, my real problem is what I perceive to be the irresponsibility of the industry to the post-racing lives of the horses.

I understand that animals in the commercial world have to serve their purpose... I was taught at a very early age that when the hens stopped laying, they'd have to be necked etc. But some (many?) of these horses could surely be retrained and I feel that the racing industry should contribute more to aid this process, be it financial support for established centres, or maybe even setting up their own centres or attempting some sort of regulation for what happens to horses when they retire from the track.

That said, I completely understand that it takes a huge amount of patience and ability to retrain a racehorse - a woman at our yard has a gelding off the track since last November and she hasn't yet ridden him... she has the absolute patience of a saint and, to be honest, it's not something I think I ever want to do.
 
Another not a fan here, although I acknowledge it does a shed load of good for the equestrian industry as a whole, so I view it as a bit of a necessary evil.
 
On the BBC's coverage today of Aintree they were behind the scenes at a yard and a grey racehorse who is in the Grand National was having a roll in a very muddy field with no rug on, resulting in one very muddy grey horse for someone to wash off.
 
They were doing a sweep stake at work too today, and asked if i wanted to take part, i said no i dont agree with horse racing and they were like oh arent you horsey tho, and i was like yeah but its the only thing i dont like because of the amount of horses that get hurt and some of the time get put down due to usually leg injuries :( :( I hate watching horses fall its awful :(
each to their own tho :)
 
I have mixed feelings about racing. I hate them being broken when they're just babies and I hate it when anything happens. However, without the racing industry I don't think we would have the advances that have been made in the equine medical world. Apparently Newmarket is the best equine hospital in Europe?
 
I cant watch it or even listen to it on the radio!! I dont live that far away from the course and have the constant reminder of private jets, helicopters flying over my house all day long!!! Racehorses are such beautiful creatures and they dont deserve to die on a racecourse cheered on by drunken yobs!
 
Its truely tragic when a fatal fall occurs but as I have said before you cant make 600kg of horse do something it doesnt want to do.

I agree with others that say these horses are treated like kings - were not talking small time trainers who have their horses in this race.

In all honesty I think the flat racing scene is far worse than national hunt racing. At least these are physically mature animals which are running.
 
MissCandy said:
I think there are certain aspects of it that should be changed - may be a restriction on how many horses can be bred each year, a change in the age the horses are broken in and more responsibility to retrain the horses that are not suitable for racing but could still be useful elsewhere.
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^^This.
Completely agree there, also the jockeys crops, I'm sure tere used to be a limit on how many time you can use it? :confused: everytime I see it now (very rarely) I see the jockey use it atleast 10 times before the finish, if not, more!
 
GypsyTheCob said:
^^This.
Completely agree there, also the jockeys crops, I'm sure tere used to be a limit on how many time you can use it? :confused: everytime I see it now (very rarely) I see the jockey use it atleast 10 times before the finish, if not, more!
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There is a limit, very strictly enforced. Often they are not hitting the horse, just waving the whip.
 
I would personally like to see all racing banned, but that aint gonna happen. There is to much money involved, because of human ego and greed horses are always gonna suffer. But not only horses, and not only racing. Horses are excerted WAY to far for me, in eventing, jumping, dressage too. Not to mention the horid bits and gadgets used in these disciplines.
But again, if there is money, greed and ego at stake, this will always happen, people will always exploit animals, in any way that they can. Unfortunately this is the way the world works now, and only a radical shift in our conciousness, for all people, will actually make people put animals before money.
 
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