Howard Johnson loses his licence

It does beg the question how many other horses he did this to ........ they only found this because it happened at Musselburgh.

His excuses about corns are a load of b ollox - the horse was operated on after he went wrong at Cheltenham.....:mad:
 
Baggybreeches said:
They said in the report that the horse was repeatedly lame, which IMO proves that it's feet/legs are not up to the job :(
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His form tells the story -

Striking Article

Looks like he stated to go wrong at Newcastle in the Feb, went properly wrong in Captain Cee Bee's Supreme Novice, and then rather than wait, they operated to keep running him.

Sick. :mad:
 
MrsD123 said:
Poor kids, three horses per day, they are lucky, I worked for a well known trainer in the West Country [ made £250,000 in winnings, and we had to do four each, eight on a Sunday, one old guy mucked out 29 in a morning, and thought he has done well, then was told to do another twenty in the afternoon.
If anyone works for a trainer and does not know what is going on they would be better off in Tesco';s
The vet assumed the horse would be retired "by the sound of things". what else would he say in his defence, that he assumed the horse would be retired after he had run in eight races, but before he broke a leg?
The BHA and all that lot make sure that kids are well paid, though some trainers are will able to say "well I did not know that they had to be paid overtime"
Well I am not convinced, the welfare of the horses is paramount, and as soon as we forget that it is all downhill.
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MrsD you really need to calm down, you are not the only one to work in a big yard and you are certainly not God. I don't agree with what HJ has done either but to say that the lads in the yard should be working at Tesco's if they don't know what's going on is a load of crap. I know a great girl that works for HJ she is a super rider, has great compassion for her horses and is now jobless, will I pass it on that you will be sending her a Tesco application form?
Many yard's keep their lads in the dark mainly to stop things getting out in public so how is this the kids fault? Have some heart not only for the horses but for the people involved as well.
Also while I'm at it do you want a medal? Wow four horses to look after. How about 8 lots a morning, head girl of 56 with 3 people at evening stables, do that for ten years and maybe then I'll listen to your "I worked harder than anybody else speech".
I've seen your reply to many threads and you always come across as knowing it all and actually quite rude.
 
Little Squirrel said:
Many yard's keep their lads in the dark mainly to stop things getting out in public so how is this the kids fault? Have some heart not only for the horses but for the people involved as well.
This is my experience too.

MrsD123, I think you are beginning to come across as the adage of 'a little knowledge is a dangerous thing'! Granted sometimes you do come out with some good practical advice but on slightly emotive issues you tend to lose the plot?
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Little Squirrel said:
MrsD you really need to calm down, you are not the only one to work in a big yard and you are certainly not God. I don't agree with what HJ has done either but to say that the lads in the yard should be working at Tesco's if they don't know what's going on is a load of crap. I know a great girl that works for HJ she is a super rider, has great compassion for her horses and is now jobless, will I pass it on that you will be sending her a Tesco application form?
Many yard's keep their lads in the dark mainly to stop things getting out in public so how is this the kids fault? Have some heart not only for the horses but for the people involved as well.
Also while I'm at it do you want a medal? Wow four horses to look after. How about 8 lots a morning, head girl of 56 with 3 people at evening stables, do that for ten years and maybe then I'll listen to your "I worked harder than anybody else speech".
I've seen your reply to many threads and you always come across as knowing it all and actually quite rude.
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Yes Mr Baggybreeches, I am not a person who is happy to allow horses to be abused, they can't walk away from it, but the staff can.
and if your friend is any good she will get a job in a decent stable.
Nobody can ride 8 horse in 4 hours, do the maths ffs.
 
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HJ got off lightly in my opinion.
After this fiasco I will not be missing him in the sport at all!
I do feel sorry for the stable staff though and I hope that the horses are found good homes/trainers.
What he did to that horse is inexcusable in my opinion. All for greed and the owner GW was just as responsible in my opinion as well.
If an owner is stupid enough not to ask questions of his/her trainer/vet then they shouldn't be an owner full stop!
There is no excuse in this day and age for ignorance.
If I was an owner of a horse in training I would want to know everything about what is happening or not happening to my horse, including what it had for breakfast that morning.
Why? Because I care. I care not only about running a horse on merit and of playing by the rules. But also I happen to care about horses a great deal and their welfare in any sport is the utmost importance to me.
I couldn't careless if my nag finished first or last so long as it came home in one piece and received the care and attention I was paying for. Also knowing or my trainer acknowledging when it was time to call it a day and either retire horse into something it was capable of doing or else put to sleep. In some cases putting to sleep can be the kindest option for these ex racers!
In the case of Striking Article I don't think either of them did have any regard for the welfare of that horse at all. Not even for the jockeys who were riding, either in or outside of a race!
What was their motivation? Greed most likely. A failure to accept that the horse was not up to the job it was bred for and should have been retired or put to sleep, not butchered and raced to its eventual death. It was both cruel and immoral in my opinion.
I absolutely love horse racing and I love jump racing but the more and more I see of shoddy dealings within the sport it makes me want to throw up and disassociate myself from the sport completely. Thank gawd I don't write about it anymore because I really don't think I could have bitten my tongue on this one!
For his misdealings the trainer should have been banned for life and the owner warned off. The vet should be help accountable as well and not just for the de-nerving but the use of steroids too.
I just want to pick up those responsible shake them violently and bang their heads several times against a brick wall and say for gawd sake wake up! Acknowledge what you have done and feel pity on the animals you have butchered or interfered with just for your love of money and self gratification. What other reason could they have for doing it? It certainly wasn't done for the welfare of the horses now was it.
Shakes head in dismay :(
 
MrsD123 said:
Yes Mr Baggybreeches, I am not a person who is happy to allow horses to be abused, they can't walk away from it, but the staff can.
and if your friend is any good she will get a job in a decent stable.
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*coughs in a ladylike manner* ;)

I don't know of anyone who works there my empathy was with the staff in general, the only connection I have is my horse who was in training there before I got him, and was left to freeze to death when he was allegedly on 'let down livery'
And I defy anyone to walk away from paid employment when they are as has been said before unaware of the procedures that the horses are put through.
 
Did GW own this horse? I only ask because I know there are some owners who know nothing about horses and probably wouldn't have had a clue! GW is not one on them though :mad:
 
Baggybreeches said:
*coughs in a ladylike manner* ;)

I don't know of anyone who works there my empathy was with the staff in general, the only connection I have is my horse who was in training there before I got him, and was left to freeze to death when he was allegedly on 'let down livery'
And I defy anyone to walk away from paid employment when they are as has been said before unaware of the procedures that the horses are put through.
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defy me then.
 
MrsD123 said:
Yes Mr Baggybreeches, I am not a person who is happy to allow horses to be abused, they can't walk away from it, but the staff can.
and if your friend is any good she will get a job in a decent stable.
Nobody can ride 8 horse in 4 hours, do the maths ffs.
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Who said we rode out in 4 hours? We rode out first lot at 7am and last lot was supposed to be 2pm but we were never usually finished on time. So MrsD you do the math ffs. Evening stables were from 3pm till 5.30pm if you'd like that info too. Infact I can give you a detailed account for the whole day if you want?

As for my friend getting a job in a decent stable I hope she does.
 
martlin said:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/horse_racing/14214611.stm

3 years for running a horse after neurectomy and 1 year for administering steroids... his defence? He didn't know running a denerved horse is against the rules :rolleyes:
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Out of interest what was the excuse for administering steroids to three horses?

Steroids seem to be the in thing for some crazy reason and not just in racing;) - could also explain why the horse had dodgy feet!
 
I think I heard recently that the owner of several horses based at HJs have been moved to Paul Nichols yard. I can't recall the owners name though. I knew what a neurectomy was when I was in my teens. That was "many" years ago.
 
dunthing said:
I think I heard recently that the owner of several horses based at HJs have been moved to Paul Nichols yard. I can't recall the owners name though. I knew what a neurectomy was when I was in my teens. That was "many" years ago.
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Graham Wylie has moved 6 of his horses to Paul Nicholls - it looks like there will be a few more moving house shortly!!
 
cronkmooar - there are several differant types of steroids with quite differant actions.

good people do work at bad yards. in the same way that nice people by puppies from puppy farms - once your in there you cant leave without the puppy/horse. people at howards in my experience do an awful lot more than 3 horses a day - they are often riding out well into the afternoon and of course there are some idiots but there a good proportion of them who love their horses and dote on them. Not sure if Ginny still works there but she is the girl who looked after Inglis Drever and a lot of other top horses and she put in a LOT of extra time effort and patience with her rides. Hope they all get other jobs and the horses all get a good life somewhere else.
 
To be fair, I could kind of understand being caught out with steroids in bloodstream in one horse (well, maybe not anabolics, though :p), easily done by not observing withdrawal periods after treatment/getting mixed up etc... it is a completely different kettle of fish to denerve a horse and then run it, or even train it, for that matter. Absolute lack of concern for the welfare not only of the horse, but the jockeys, too :( somebody could have been killed in the process...

BTW, the owner who moved horses to PN is the owner of the denerved horse... talk about abandoning sinking ship - pure class.
 
"I just wanted the horse to run...you have to try every corner to get a horse to win a race," he said.

I think this quote from the trainer himself sums things up for him.

I wonder what other 'corners' he's tried, no one gets caught the first time.

Made a fortune out of cheating I expect. Well, I 'bet' he has, lol.
 
cronkmooar said:
Agreed,but it was stated anabolic steroids and abuse of these is renowned for causing laminitis and infection
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Sorry to disagree but it's corticosteroids that have the side effects of laminitis and immunosupression and therefore increased susceptability to infection - anabolics are the type that you associate with body builders etc and they are used to encourage the body to repair and build.


My thoughts are with the poor horse(s). Just should never have happened :(
 
Having read through the good and bad parts of this thread I can only comment on a few things:

1) A decent trainer would never do these things and even if they were "pushed" to run they would tell someone to back off in a varying manner of ways.

2) As a responsible owner you know what your horse is like, is doing, has issues with and is capable of. If that means you can't run, then you can't run -simple as that

I know, I've lost one horse on the racecourse and retired 2 - one off the track and one due to an injury - and I was/am incredibly attached and cautious with mine. I have the 2 retired ones at homes living as spoilt pets now. My trainer would have told me to jog on or stronger, with no hesitation, had I even suggested trying to run with an injury

HJ was also investigated when he was robbed of £100k a few years ago - something tells me most "normal" people don't have 100 grand sat around at home gathering dust..........
 
Pampered Ponies said:
HJ was also investigated when he was robbed of £100k a few years ago - something tells me most "normal" people don't have 100 grand sat around at home gathering dust..........
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I am glad it's not just me that thought that. My other reasoning was the armed robbers are usually after a bit more than £100k? A very strange set of circumstances indeed!
 
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