Horse sadly died at local P2P yesterday - non horsey friends horrified

blackcob

blackcob

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As title really, me and a few completely non-horsey friends went to our local point-to-point yesterday. None of them has a clue about racing but they were all really getting into it and it was looking to be a fun day until sadly in just the second race a horse was fatally injured.
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Coming over the last fence a horse pecked on landing and half-fell, bringing the next horse down completely. It lay on its side for far longer than usual and when it got up its front leg was just swinging around loose, it was horrible to see and I felt so sick. They brought the screens around quite quickly but the horse was obviously in pain and trying to move around, so it was visible for a lot of the time, and being right in the home straight there was a large crowd and everyone saw it.
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We all heard the shot, it was quick for the poor bugger but obviously not the nicest circumstances.

Non-horsey friends could not believe what had happened, they didn't understand what was going on and when I explained that the shot was the horse being put down they just goggled at me in disbelief. I had warned them that both people and horses got injured in racing but for it to happen on your first ever race and literally feet away from you isn't nice
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They kept asking me why the horse couldn't have its leg in a cast or anything like that and why they couldn't have injected it instead of shooting it.

Basically it cast a pall over the rest of the day and we ended up leaving early, and I don't think they will want to go again.
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Is there any way I can make this experience less sour for them? I tried to explain the whys and wherefores but I think they've been put off for life.
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Hard, and why I don't really like point-to-points; too many accidents.

Well, to give a horse an injection they have to be sedated first, and the vet has to work out the dose, etc, so it is more humane to shoot as it is instantaneous and quick. An injection requires calm I understand.

A horse can break its leg galloping round its own field (friend turned out bood mare and foal into new field and mare broke its leg and had to be PTS.) So accidents racing/eventing etc. are very upsetting, but a horse is quite vulnerable and event keeping them in a field doing nothing wouldn't mean that they don't get injured (most injuries happen in the field).

Horse's bones don't mend easily. The ones that have a cast are usually small bones in the lower leg. A horse in a sling taking the weight on 3 legs rather than 4 often in end have to be PTS as the other legs can't support the weight and break down (had that with one horse).
 
First race day i went to was at Wetherby many years ago, 4 horses were destroyed that day and one dropped dead after the race right infront of us! Was obviously a very bad day but didn't really encourage me to go again!
 
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Is there any way I can make this experience less sour for them?

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I'm not sure there is is there?

It's a tragic consequence of our 'sport' with horses.......
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Agreed, orangehorse, re injuries in the field, shooting as opposed to injection and the mending of a horse's bones. Add to this the difficulties involved with keeping a fit thoroughbred on box rest and it can turn in to cruelty keeping them alive.
Also, explain to your friends that the vet will have trained for years to deal with the situation and is probably very experienced if they're working at a P2P.
Unfortunately these things happen at events and it is one of those things that, given all safety measures have been taken, you just have to accept will happen. It can happen with 'safer' events too - Billy Twomey's (sp!) horse was put down a couple weeks ago after an injury showjumping - and a horse can be injured out hacking or in the field so they will have to look at it logically and accept the best thing was done for the horse given the circumstances.
 
I tried to point out to them that it was just a tragic accident, and that it could happen to any horse at any time - that my horse could fall over in the field and break a leg at any time, or equally that I could fall off and break my neck. One of the guys is heavily into bikes and motocross etc. and I tried to make a parallel with the dangers in that. I don't think anything I said could've helped, really.
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It was just very sad as it was looking to be such a promising day - the YO's nephew's horse who is stabled just over the road from my horse romped home by 10 lengths in the first race and I won a bit of money on it, and my friends were all gagging to get in on the betting action after that and really getting into it.
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Also, explain to your friends that the vet will have trained for years to deal with the situation and is probably very experienced if they're working at a P2P.


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I was praying for the vet to get there quickly as it was clearly a no-hope case, but they seemed appalled that it would be shot. I suppose it's the difference between a horsey and non-horsey upbringing, but I was just begging for the poor sod to be shot as quickly as possible whilst they were hoping it would be able to be treated. There was very definitely not even a remote chance of treatment - the end of its leg was swinging like it was made of rubber.
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It sounds to me as though you have done your best to explain the situation to them, but sadly for non-horsey or non-farming people they just aren't used to animals dying in any circumstances, let alone a racing accident.

Last year I agreed to having a friend's horse PTS for her at my yard. Both the vet and the knacker wagon driver commented that I didn't seem very upset - now, I was sad for the horse and for it's owner, but it was old, arthritic and had no quality of life to speak of, and I've been in this business a long time and seen a lot of horses' lives come to an end.

At last year's P2P I took my two small sons to watch, and we sat on an XC fence on the side of a hill with a great view of the final turn and last fence on the course. In I think the second race they were coming round the turn and one of the horses broke a leg on the flat. It was obvious what had happened, and I was busy trying to act like everything was normal, when the vet raced up in his jeep, took one look at it and shot it (no screens). So I ended up explaining to the kids what had happened, and they were okay about it - until about the 4th race, when nearly the exact same thing happened again.
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Of course, this time they were able to give a running commentary on what had happened and what the vet was about to do .... It hasn't affected them at all, and they are looking forward to going this year (it's in a couple of weeks), while I felt quite sick and was horrified that the state of the track and the manner in which the horses were being run had led to 2 fatalities in the space of about an hour.
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So basically what I'm saying is that I don't think you will be able to give your friends any more comfort than you already have done - it's really a matter of what you have become used to (or not) over time.
 
Reading your further comments blackcob I have to agree with Rowreach - if they can't accept that accidents will sometimes happen after you've explained all you have, you may have to accept that they just won't understand that shooting was the most humane option and they may never want to watch a race again. Sadly, part of owning animals and watching sports involving them means we sometimes have to think with the head not the heart when the welfare of an animal is the question.
 
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I In I think the second race they were coming round the turn and one of the horses broke a leg on the flat. It was obvious what had happened, and I was busy trying to act like everything was normal, when the vet raced up in his jeep, took one look at it and shot it (no screens). So I ended up explaining to the kids what had happened, and they were okay about it - until about the 4th race, when nearly the exact same thing happened again.
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Of course, this time they were able to give a running commentary on what had happened and what the vet was about to do .... It hasn't affected them at all, and they are looking forward to going this year (it's in a couple of weeks),


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Sorry, I had to laugh; isn't that so like children?! It's their morbid curiosity I know; they'll probably be thinking it's normal and will be quite disappointed if it doesn't happen again (I hope not of course) but at least they are prepared if it does!

It's always sad when a horse is that badly injured but far better to be shot quickly and cleanly than suffer any longer.
 
Was that at Eyton? I read in the Star that a horse had jumped into the river and drowned during the second race.
 
Vets generally don't inject to PTS at P2Ps because there is generally too much adrenaline in the horse's system from the race for the drugs to work quickly and effectively. Sedatives are also very difficult as horses can fight them, especially when they are fired up.

Dose wise, most of the vets I know have pre calculated the dose of the most relevant sedatives for the average 500kg thoroughbred and have it written somewhere handy, so they've got 1 less thing to think about when approaching the injured horse.

Luckily my OH hasn't had any major injuries to deal with when I've been with him at P2Ps, worst was when a horse did a tendon, but was really fired up and was fighting the jockey to let him continue the race! The horse certainly didn't seem to understand the pain.
 
I was le to believe that if they were shot in situations like that then the gun had to have a silencer on it???
It was our P2P on Sunday & luckily all horses came home safe & sound.
THough back in 99 when I was at the Percy in one of the P2P's held on their course 4 horses died in one day.
1 broke its back, another broke it's neck, one broke a leg & another broke 2 legs. Not all were from falls either.
It was a very sad day for all concerned & people must remember that the people most upset are the ones conected to the horse.

Years ago I sent a lass (trainee vet student) up the field to bring a pony in from the oldies field, she came back down & said Flo wouldn't get up. Went up & Flo had jumped/gone over a tree trunk not more than a foot high & had broken her neck.
I told her she won't get up because she is dead!
Sadly accidents (& we must remember that they are accidents) can happen anywhere.
 
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Was that at Eyton? I read in the Star that a horse had jumped into the river and drowned during the second race.

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Yes it was - I had no idea about this incident until I read it in the paper this evening. How horrible
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nobody on the main part of the course where I was had any idea that this had happened, there was no word from the announcer about it. This was the same race in which this one was put down, too.
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k9h, I think the gun did have a silencer on it, but the poor horse was stood bang in the middle of the home straight and people were only feet away so we still heard the 'pock'.
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Yes you will still hear a bang even with the silencer just not as loud.

That is a terrible shame & accident about the other horse.
 
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