Current debate on BBC 1 ref racing

I think Bob Champion slipped up when he said "but thats equivilant of being a 65 year old" when they were on about the 12 year old horse that died of a heart attack this week.....
 
Just caught the end of it, the usual arguments, what the anti racing people do not get is that without the racing industry there would be no racehorses bred, obviously, but they do not think that far they see horses living a lazy life in a field not being "forced" to race as they see it.
 
I had animal aid argue with me on twitter, apparently I do not love my horse because I said if he was younger and had appropriate training I would enter him in the Grand National despite knowing the risks.
Well my horse hates being a field ornament and he loved his racing career, I think he would rather die doing what he loved most than standing depressed in his field. As that is what animal aid clearly wants me to do with him. And to say that I don't love my horse.. Who the hell do they think they are?! They are all so narrow minded I just can't stand it!
 
be positive said:
Just caught the end of it, the usual arguments, what the anti racing people do not get is that without the racing industry there would be no racehorses bred, obviously, but they do not think that far they see horses living a lazy life in a field not being "forced" to race as they see it.
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That's not true though and it's an argument often made.

Much, much better to point out that like everything else that is banned in this ever increasing "PC" country, the industry would just move elsewhere.

The insular, little Englander attitude that if the UK were to ban racing, the rest of the world would follow suit should be pointed out to the anti numpties.

I sometimes wonder what kind of self righteous bubble those people live in.

At least in the UK, it can be far better regulated and horse welfare attracts attention.

But I suppose they operate on the same "out of sight, out of mind" attitude that has done so much damage to British farming.
 
What a load of rubbish. Not worth watching again.

The woman on the left is Emma somebody, one of those TV vets and it was so obvious she feels horses should not be ridden full stop. It was a shame Bob Baskerville did not speak in a better fashion.

The subject is being discussed on ATR at the moment.

I really need to get well more quickly, I am watching far too much TV !
 
Perhaps now is a good time to share some comments I have spotted on various websites over the past few days. You have to laugh otherwise you'd cry :o :eek: :mad:

Horses should be kept in stables as nature intended.

Horses only ever die on a racecourse, they never die anywhere else.

On seeing the details of Auroras Encore, number 35, age 11, weight 10st3…OMG I weigh more than that horse.

The Topham is not a race, it’s where the horses that are going to run in the National have a practise the day before.

Horses should not be used to make money.
So you include things such as showjumpers and horses used in riding schools?
No because they don’t make money.

Do you have a working knowledge of horses?
Yes, I know everything about them because I protested outside Aintree one year.

On Katie Walsh and Battlefront…Why did she take her horse in that race? She knew it was going to die.

No animal should be domesticated.
What, including cats and dogs?
No because they were never wild to start with.

On Auroras Encore (a gelding)…It should be retired to stud to have babies now.

Horses never refuse to race.
(Someone adds link to video of Mad Moose and his antics).
That’s not real, it’s made up.
 
Tell that to all the horses that hooney around the field especially when the are cutting it up.
 
leah_x said:
Best one I've heard is they are running with fear!

Fear from what exactly?
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Now if we are to have a sensible "educated" debate - I fear - it has to be so on BOTH sides.

It is a well known and accepted fact that horses along with many other animals are firmly on the side of fleeing rather than fighting danger. Indeed, there has been some fairly detailed scientific research that tends towards horses having more of the area of their brains hardwired to running first and thinking why later.

Be that as it may. We all know that most horses have one sort of behavior while on their own ( some will play up but even those are settled when in a "family" herd ) but can become more and more excited when in a large group - let's call that a cavalry charge eh?
In the wild - it's a case of "devil take the hindmost" as most predators only take the ones that can't run well and the prey don't care about their weaker colleagues.

By sitting on them and taking them to specific places to race - after a period of training to condition them to it - there's no DOUBT whatsoever in my mind that we ARE latching into the horse's natural fears - and don't even start me on "the whip" issue ( but it was heartening to see yesterday's winner bearly shown one).

However; whether this is "cruel" or needs banning is a completely different debate and a gross exaggeration with many of the anti's having serious class and status axes to grind and see this as an easy target for a pop at greed, avarice and the pursuits of the idle rich.

To my mind, most horses in Racing (please don't call it horse racing anywhere let alone here!!!) are in the world ONLY because they were bred to race - they are well looked after - though the failures it could be better - I don't see anything which I would describe as cruel. Yet, I expect many of the same antifolks do not discriminate their animal tested products and eat meat - I will only accept criticism from complete Vegans - but they are still wrong!
 
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