Gordon Elliott

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Elf On A Shelf

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bonny said:
Losing these horses but especially Envoi Allen is a huge blow to Gordon Elliot, I’m beginning to think this is all getting out of proportion.
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I am not surprised Cheveley have moved them. They really are horse lovers through and through who would have them laying in front of the fire in their living room of an evening if they could. I doubt they wanted to move them before Cheltenham incase it puts them off their game for 2 weeks time but their hand has been played for them by the BHA and the IHRB not sorting this out by today which is the last day they have to register the horses with a new trainer tp be able to run. It's sellers and claimers that can run quickly but just transfers are still 14 days. I didnt expect the horses to stay beyond Cheltenham to be honest.

It has grown arms and legs, especially with the new video out from a guy that works/ed at Cullentra. It is an unsavoury image from someone who should know far better but also never thought it see the light of day.

Britian has taken this worse and are more harsh against it than the Irish are. There is still the mentality that they are there to do a job over there where as over here we are much softer.
 
AdorableAlice

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I think these words from Peter Scudamore say it all. Having watched his and Mick Fitz speak on TV yesterday is was so obvious what the racing world is feeling right now.

Comment from Peter Scudamore:
Source: Daily Mail
A groom called Vicky who works at our stable invariably comes in half-an-hour early and stays long after she is entitled to go home. She goes above and beyond what she is paid to do because she cares for the racehorses she works with every day.
Around stables everywhere, in Britain and Ireland, trainers will have their own Vickys who lavish attention and love on the horses they look after. They do not do the job for money but for all the right reasons.
That was what made me both angry and saddened by the Gordon Elliott picture. It is an insult to all the people who work so hard and maintain the highest equine welfare standards they can in the sport.
Convincing the general public that is the case after the storm caused by this brutal image will be a lot harder now.
That has been made worse by an explanation which many will see as a cock-and-bull story.
My father was a Grand National-winning jockey before he trained and my two sons work in the sport. I was brought up to treat horses with dignity.
Equine fatalities occur in racing, both on the course and on the training grounds. It is a fact of life, just as it is that somewhere in Britain today there will be horses or ponies which probably suffer fatal, self-inflicted injuries in a paddock somewhere.
Our job is to minimise the risks as much as possible. I genuinely get upset when a horse is killed and I am not so callous as to not question why we are involved in the sport at times.
To this day, I still remember the first dead racehorse I saw as a young boy when my father took me to Ascot races.
It left an indelible mark on me. You can never take equine welfare lightly.
Mixed up with all my emotions yesterday was a massive sense of frustration.
I can say all these things about horseracing and defend the staff that put their heart and soul into it but how can I expect someone outside the walls of the sport to believe me when they have a grotesque image of someone sitting on a once graceful animal being reduced to furniture? I fear some will have had their mind made up about the sport for good by the dreadful situation.
It makes me feel like a fool and incapable of defending the sport I love.
It sounds stupid but when I went round our horses yesterday morning I apologised to them. We ask them to do things in our sport, things which have an unavoidable risk attached, and you must respect them in return.
When I was still riding, I would sometimes go up to the horse and say: ‘You look after me and I will look after you.’ That is how it should be.
I am confident that almost everyone in the sport maintains the highest standards because I see it with my own eyes, but when the wider world see the Elliott picture, why would they believe me? It is indefensible, undermining and everyone feels let down.
I have been asked what penalty Elliott should be handed. There will be one and this will affect his career. Some people will never forgive him but I don’t want to see him crucified.
He did something crass and stupid. Maybe he should be made to devote time and resources to an equine charity.

 
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Velcrobum

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Am I beginning to see a pattern emerging from Cullentra??? I wonder how many people are scrabbling to their social media to hit the delete button. I am not a fan of Daily Mail but good on them to dig this stuff up and expose it.

I wonder if they could do similar to the place we must not mention that was being discussed elsewhere on HHO.....................
 
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Not sure if this has been confirmed already, but the other jockey is definitely Rob James: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...-apologises-for-climbing-on-top-of-dead-horse

The fact that two pictures/videos of this nature have come out from the same organisation suggests quite a callous attitude to the animals to me. Obviously it has not harmed them further, but I think it shows a lack of care/connection towards the animals when they are alive. If I was an owner, I would want to move my horses to another yard ASAP because photos like this would make me concerned about their welfare. Maybe that's a silly conclusion to jump to but I don't think an organisation with this kind of culture is the sort that would do the best for animals when they are alive.

I do think there are people in racing/thoroughbred breeding who do treat horses a bit like they are disposable- and equally those who care very deeply about their horses (just as there are in all horse sports, I'm sure). But this is highlight the worst aspects of the industry to the public, and will not be good for racing's general image.
 
meleeka

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Elf On A Shelf said:
Vicky is a good egg! I can vouch for that ipso facto! But she isn't the only one who goes above and beyond. I would say 90% of stable staff and those who work in racing do. We certainly don't do it for the money. We do it for the love of the horses.
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I’m pretty sure most stable staff aren’t in it for the money. There are infinite ways for earning easier money.?
 
daffy44

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Peter Scudamore says it beautifully.

I think thats one of the things that makes it so bad, because the public see the hideous actions, but not the amazing love and care from 99% of all racing staff, who are underpaid, over worked, and do so much because they love horses, pictures/videos like these are an insult to the vast majority of racing staff, as well as the deceased horses.
 
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Out of interest I went and counted the Gigginstown stud horses 72 with GE. He has 100's of horses by the looks of it. Was not going to count the whole lot!!
 
fankino04

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Velcrobum said:
Out of interest I went and counted the Gigginstown stud horses 72 with GE. He has 100's of horses by the looks of it. Was not going to count the whole lot!!
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I did the same, allowing for counting errors as on my phone I counted 313 horses in training, so if the only owner that sticks with him is giggenstown the that's a lot more than expected to leave, although it probably won't work out that way.
 
Gingerwitch

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fankino04 said:
I did the same, allowing for counting errors as on my phone I counted 313 horses in training, so if the only owner that sticks with him is giggenstown the that's a lot more than expected to leave, although it probably won't work out that way.
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Hiw much would it cost to have a horse in training?
 
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Velcrobum

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I also went and had a look at his Cheltenham entries 137 although some horses were entered in more than one race so I guess they run them in the one best suited to the horse ie ground conditions. I bet Cheltenham will not refund the entry monies - serve him right. I wonder how many other Cheltenham entries have also been moved so they can run??
 
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fankino04 said:
To be fair his followers are already anti racing (they are against owning riding horses full stop) so I don't worry about him.
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Yes, we shouldn't 'own' horses, much less subject them to ridden work.

They're pasture animals and are to be enjoyed from afar ?

Each to their own!
 
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HorsesRule2009

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Elf On A Shelf said:
Vicky is a good egg! I can vouch for that ipso facto! But she isn't the only one who goes above and beyond. I would say 90% of stable staff and those who work in racing do. We certainly don't do it for the money. We do it for the love of the horses.
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This is what annoys me most when people say horses are seen as commodities in racing/hunting /anything else.
As its the poor stable staff that at deal with them day in and day out and as Elf says the majority of them really do genuinely care and go above and beyond time and time again.
I know I have and always will do on the yards I work.
Grooms/stable staff do it for the love its the only way as its definitely not for the money. X
 
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