sportsmansB
Well-Known Member
I am so torn on this.
I have a lot of friends involved in racing (mainly NH and pointing) and I have had many a good day out at the races. But my heart breaks when the screens come up, knowing that one of those horses won't be coming home.
I DO feel that by the time we are watching those horses on telly, they must have demonstrated an enjoyment of it or they simply wouldn't have got as far as that meeting- several horses just don't want to race.
I don't like to see jockeys whipping a tired horse to the line, and thats one area that I think could be improved.
I keep my horse at a professional yard which probably averages 60 horses through it per year. We've lost 4 in the last 4 years - one broke its back out hunting, one slipped coming off the walker and broke its pelvis, one was my mare who just dropped in the field, and one got a kick from another horse on the gallops and fractured a leg. They were all as a result of us riding them and not keeping them out on the field 24/7 like nature intended, so is it all wrong? They had happy lives and wouldn't have been alive if it wasn't to serve our interests - so where does the fluffy bunny stuff stop?!
I have a lot of friends involved in racing (mainly NH and pointing) and I have had many a good day out at the races. But my heart breaks when the screens come up, knowing that one of those horses won't be coming home.
I DO feel that by the time we are watching those horses on telly, they must have demonstrated an enjoyment of it or they simply wouldn't have got as far as that meeting- several horses just don't want to race.
I don't like to see jockeys whipping a tired horse to the line, and thats one area that I think could be improved.
I keep my horse at a professional yard which probably averages 60 horses through it per year. We've lost 4 in the last 4 years - one broke its back out hunting, one slipped coming off the walker and broke its pelvis, one was my mare who just dropped in the field, and one got a kick from another horse on the gallops and fractured a leg. They were all as a result of us riding them and not keeping them out on the field 24/7 like nature intended, so is it all wrong? They had happy lives and wouldn't have been alive if it wasn't to serve our interests - so where does the fluffy bunny stuff stop?!