McKelvey Dies After National Race!

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I just hope the BBC explain what happened properly to the non equestrian educated public who will have followed him with interest following the One Show.

Otherwsie it will terrible PR for N Hunt racing; a sport i love, yet i hate the greed from many owners who want their horses to run in the national for the glamour when they really are not up to the job.

I always feel sorry for the poor horses who have tried their heart out in previous GN races, and really have nothing to prove, only to be sent back the following year. McKelvey was a superstar for coming second in '07- why on earth didn't they give him the happy retirement he deserved and let him recover from his injury naturally?

RIP McKelvey.....

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I'd like to retract my previous post. If you have a look at the Bowen's website there is a press release stating that in fact McKelvey did not do a tendon, he crashed into the barrier and broke his back. I actually saw a horse lying under the fence and wondered what the hell was going on- on reflection this was McKelvey.

See here: www.peterbowenracing.com

I don't mind admitting I was wrong, in the case I was too hasty to judge the situation. I still think the BBC owes the 'One Show' watching public a good explanation of what happened, as it was not a pure racing accident.
 
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Errrm....at Badminton 2008, 76 started and only 38 completed?


i was not attacking racing if you had actually read the post it was an opinion of which you have compounded with your figures (as above). at least half the field made it home (without having a crashing fall at high speed) from badminton!!!!!!! imagine all those horse falls at badminton!!!!!! good job the british gn is only once a year!!!! phew!!!!!

my heart goes out to all those involved with this brave horse!!

oh n ps please dont ask to equate on situations that i do not have the facts on as you have said horses are different and in my opinion this horse was struggling to jump at high speed and crashed!!! situations of minor scale can influence and b a catalist(injury last year) if you take 40 horses and race them at 40mph ish at 120+ fences chances are they 'may'(do/have 15 out of 40 made it home) crash somewhere at some fence!!!
 
Very sad and unnessasary (excuse spellings) Iv worked in racing yards poor horses r just machines there to make a few quid what a sad existance.
 
This sort of tragic accident can happen to any horse - I know of a case where a horse literally ran into a gate whilst having a hooly in it's field. Tragic and dreadful for the owner but I can't see how you can apportion blame unless you believe that horses should not have been domesticated.

No offence intended this is simply my logic, and may be flawed!
 
Awww...this is so sad

It does not relate to any previous injuries though

He broke his back and was paralysed so did not feel any pain
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Okay to reiterate what I said before. Racing is only about what people get out of it. There is much said about how well racehorses are treated, but only a lucky few have such a privilege. And even some of the champions are discarded once they've outlived their usefulness. Look at Hallo Dandy (found emaciated) and Excalibur (slaughtered for meat). And those involved in the "sport" have openly admitted they couldn't give a stuff about the horses. John Francombe (sp?) said the only place for those not good enough was in the belly of a greyhound. A well known trainer (exposed by ITV) was seen casually sending perfectly healthy horses to Potters (abattoir) and Claire Balding wondered what all the fuss was about when a number of horses were killed at Aintree. She is quoted as saying: 'I just thought: "Oh, God, why do I have to keep saying this."I just got the impression on Thursday and Friday that had a jockey been killed, there wouldn't have been the headlines that there were for five horses being killed.' She was fed-up having to announce the horses had died.

Additionally, 18,000 foals are born in Ireland and Britain, but only around 40% go onto race. Those who are not up to scratch are slaughtered or repeatedly change hands and end up being neglected by individuals who think it would be cool to own a Thoroughbred, not realising the commitment involved. Of those horses who do go on to race, around 400 are raced to death every year. The various racing bodies also support a number of horrific experimentation programs (most of which are carried out at the University of Cambridge). They include vivisection, deliberate exposure to viruses (such as herpes and equine influenza) and pregnant mares repeatedly having their foals aborted.

Please tell me if there is an annual death toll of 400 in the sports of showjumping, dressage and eventing. Bet you can't. Please also tell me if you have never heard of someone getting some kind of pleasure from the pain and suffering of another creature. A bit hard to do so isn't it and that goes to prove my point that some race goers do enjoy seeing the horses crashing to the ground.

I am away to enjoy the company of my four-legged friend and be content knowing that he'll have a good life with me. And btw, he used to be a racer, but I rescued him from the killers. Apparently he wasn't quite fast enough and therefore not commercially viable. He was sent to auction with twenty others, but they weren't as lucky.

The way you lot support this callous industry makes my blood boil!
 
Pinktiger, perhaps if you were a bit more coherent in your post then it would have read as you meant it to.

My point was that Badminton is not exactly comfortable viewing either, if you live in fluffy bunny world where nothing horrid happens to ponies.
If you include the stops at Badminton, which in racing would be pulling up, it boils down to only 32.6% of the initial field finishing. The National had 37.5% of runners complete the course. I don't really have a problem with either, as I said, but you seem determined to prove that the National has a greater rate of attrition than Badminton, and that is not strictly true.

I'm also unsure that we watched the same race, as these horses were most definitely NOT travelling at 40mph, and didn't jump 120 fences
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Mckelvey was travelling as well as he did last year. He was not struggling. And if the injury had caused his unseat, he would have been lame running loose. He wasn't. I saw him jump several more fences before he galloped loose across the course to where he must have struck the barrier.

If you don't want facts, then don't make sweeping statements........
 
And of course all the useless warmbloods bred for SJ on the continent are found happy homes for ever and ever........
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The horse breeding industry is cruel, for whatever discipline, but the point being missed is that all these facts are available about racehorses because the whole industry is regulated, therefore there are records. That is not the case on the continent, you do not have to report a death.
And warmbloods are factory farmed over here, make no mistake. And the detritus ends up probably en route to Italy.

You are obviously anti racing, fair enough. But don't hold your own sport up as a beacon of shining light, because it sure as **** isn't.
 
Gonetofrance!!!think your the one needs to work out that i didint mean' one hundred and twenty fences'!!!lovl!!! IS THE HEIGHT!! who would think that!!!! do you get it now or need it putting clear than that!! actually my facts come from the 'Statistics' from the Grandnational website reg the height of the fences and the speed was off a racing program i watched about the grandnational, mayb you would like to have a look at them before you comment!! ive made no sweeping statements at all, if you cant handle peoples opinions maybe an opinion based forum is a bit of a strange place for you.. seems you stuggle to understand anybodys point of view but your own without being insultive, shame really!! I havnt got time to worry about % seems irrelavent who stopped and who pulled up and who did what , cant be bothered to explain to you anymore!! unless you were actually riding as the jocky how do you know how he felt thats a sweeping statement in itself,things with horses can 'look' fine and 'feel' quite different am not the horses trainer or owner or jocky can only have an opinion on it from info ive heard/seen, am sure was just a accident as they all are!!! and i wish that there were not so many horses falling in the grandnational there seems to be quite a few most years,thats my opinion each to their own!!http://www.grandnational.org.uk for you to get your facts from!
 
Pinktiger, perhaps to argue your point you do need to be clearer.......

120+ has always suggested a quantity to me.

1m 20, or even !.20m suggests a height.

But hey, maybe that's me......

For your info, a horse that breaks down, goes lame. usually. If it feels enough pain to jump badly, it is sore, usually. And a sore horse is a lame horse, usually.
But as you are so lucid and polite in your post, with a patent understanding of racing gleaned from websites, who am I to argue.........
 
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