petition to make the Grand National safer

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In my opinion, this horrendous and gruesome spectacle should be banned. The welfare of the horses should come first in any sport. If people want to take part in dangerous sports that's their choice, but the horses don't have a choice. It's exploitation of animals for financial gain. Shocking and shameful.
 
Golf Girl said:
In my opinion, this horrendous and gruesome spectacle should be banned. The welfare of the horses should come first in any sport. If people want to take part in dangerous sports that's their choice, but the horses don't have a choice. It's exploitation of animals for financial gain. Shocking and shameful.
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Eventing, dressage, showjumping, team chasing, polo, showing...are they shocking and shameful too? They may not have so many 'on the surface' deaths, but you wouldn't believe what goes on behind closed doors in these sports.
 
Golf Girl said:
In my opinion, this horrendous and gruesome spectacle should be banned. The welfare of the horses should come first in any sport. If people want to take part in dangerous sports that's their choice, but the horses don't have a choice. It's exploitation of animals for financial gain. Shocking and shameful.
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Like normal racing? Or just national hunt in general?

The welfare of the horse does come first in all sports - and btw, eventing is also considered a dangerous sport. heck all horse riding is a dangerous sport, how do you feel about that?
 
amymay said:
Yes I was. And I firmly believe that the GN does need to be looked at and reviewed. Less horses, no handicaps and better qualifications for horse and rider.

However, I am not anti racing, anti GN or anti basing my facts on good solid information and research.
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Here here

and that in a nutshell is why I too would not consider signing the petition as it currently stands.
 
Did anyone just see the National 'debate' on The One Show?! Brough Scott wasn't allowed to say anything because of David Cassidy - but I have no idea what on earth Cassidy was rattling on about! Something about American racehorses and drugs and mares and stallions...

BHA have realeased a statement - I quote some of the key paragraphs:

Including this year, in 12 runnings of the Grand National since 2000, 479 horses have raced in the Grand National. 8 horses have been fatally injured, and we openly report this, as do the media including the BBC. Put another way, 471 horses went home after the race. In addition, in the seven years previous to this year’s running of the race, just three horses had lost their lives competing in the race – Hear The Echo, McKelvey and Tyneandthyneagain. McKelvey and Tyneandthyneagain were both injured when running riderless.
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All those involved in racing do care for their horses. At the race itself there are more than 150 specialist staff who are completely focused on making the race as safe as possible, so there is no shortage of effort or expense in this respect. [see Notes for Editors 2 for detail]. This care and concern is why Horseracing has for many years also worked closely with legitimate animal welfare charities, such as the RSPCA and World Horse Welfare. The role of both these organisations is to be critical and raise concerns with us and, if they are not happy with the action we take, there is no doubt they would be very public about it, as anyone would expect from a legitimate animal welfare organisation.

“Beyond this proper concern for horse welfare, much of the prompting on this issue to the media has been driven by Animal Aid. Animal Aid are not an animal welfare group, as many newspapers and news channels have been misinformed. They are an animal rights organisation against the use of animals for sport and leisure. As such their clearly stated agenda is to ban racing. [see Notes for Editors 3].
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The Grand National is a difficult race and was run this year on an unseasonably warm day. Because of that, all the jockeys had been instructed prior to the race to dismount from their horses as soon as the race was over in order to allow the team of handlers and vets to get water to the horses so as to prevent over-heating (which is a main cause of collapse), as it is when people run and race over long distances. This preventative action happened to all the horses, not just the winner, and shows welfare improvements in action. No horse collapsed.

“The introduction of the run-outs, which were used for the first time this year, were introduced in 2009, the year after the horse McKelvey died. They were introduced after much discussion, which included the RSPCA, as a welfare measure to allow loose horses to be able to go round the obstacles, and not, as has been reported, to prevent the race from being voided. Again this is welfare in action.

“The winning jockey, Jason Maguire has been banned for exceeding the strict limits which we place on the use of the whip. The horse was carefully examined after the race and there is no evidence of an abuse. Such abuses are dealt with very seriously and, as we do at the end of every season, we will certainly be reviewing our Rules to ensure that we have the balance right between appropriate use of the whip and controlling inappropriate, unacceptable use.”
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Full thing can be read here: http://www.britishhorseracing.com/grand-national/
 
Signed. I also dont want to see the race banned and i do believe significant improvements have been made in recent yrs but i would be delighted if they could reduce the number of horses running in the grand national to 30 as a maximum. I believe that would just help so much in making it safer for the horses sake, i hate to think of the massive fear that poor horse who broke his back at beechers brook must have felt when he was lying their unable to move due to excruciating pain and then having other horses land on him..just makes me so sad, call me fluffy bunny if you like but i just love horses very much and hate to think of them suffering for the sake of ultimately entertainment.
 
But Frube if you read several medical reports on back injuries in humans they dont feel pain at all, just cann't move and I would say the horse was put down straight away when the vets realised what was wrong. Please stop putting human emontions onto animals. If you want to feel sorry for horses or donkeys go onto Spana website, now there is animal suffering and I always send money to them when I can afford it.
 
If it had been the same amount of humans that died as did horses the race would have been banned along time ago. I dont think its fair for horses to be killed or seriosly injured unneccessarily although i cant deny that they dont enjoy racing i think it should definatly be made safer. xxx
 
Hannah123 said:
If it had been the same amount of humans that died as did horses the race would have been banned along time ago. I dont think its fair for horses to be killed or seriosly injured unneccessarily although i cant deny that they dont enjoy racing i think it should definatly be made safer. xxx
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Again, horses are killed doing all sorts of things. Riding is a risk sport, keeping horses is a risky acitvity. As someone post on another thread, tends of thousands people died in cycling accidents last year, yet that hasn't been banned.
 
I'm sorry i'm just saying how i personally feel and giving my opinion. I'm not against racing and i completely understand why people love the grand national and other big races. There are a few folk at my work who just love it and i understand that and i understand its a big part of british history etc. I only would like to see less horses in the race just to make it that bit safer or the jockeys sake as well as the horses. I know i'm guilty of putting human emotions onto horses and i know many others who also do it, its only because we love our horses so much and couldnt stand to see them come to any harm or feel terrible pain. I know accidents happen everyday in the world of horses, horses will be horses after all. My own horse broke his jaw in jan no idea how it happened. However i just like to minimise risk as much as possible.

Of course i feel sadness for horses in 3rd world countries , horses who were victims to the awful natural disasters that have happened lately , horses who have suffered terrible abuse and neglect and yes i have donated to many animal welfare organisations, but thats not what this particular dicussion is about thats a whole other thread.

Thankyou..
 
3Beasties said:
I will not be signing sorry as I believe in making the jumps smaller and the course shorter the horses will go faster therefore causing more falls which is likely to result in more fatalities.
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I couldn't agree more and I won't be signing the petition.
However, I think there is something to be said for reducing the number of runners so that, apart from anything else, there is less congestion at the narrower fences such as Becher's.
 
Signed it. The whole racing industry really needs a rethink. God knows why they banned fox hunting and not even put restrictions on racing and the breeding/destruction of racehorses! (I'm not exactly pro fox hunting - I only support hunting things you eat - but I bet there are many times more equine deaths through the racing industry than there are vulpine through hunting)

Also, although the loss of horses in the National is very upsetting, I feel that the number of failed/lame racehorses culled each year is the real issue of the moment. If the government refuses to moniter breeding then they should really fund some sort of retraining programme, although I know that there are not many people willing to take on an ex racer.
 
They probably dont, its just that it made me feel sick when i seen the photos of one jockey who looked to be almost crushed.
 
I can't believe that the GN threads are still going. Some agree with it and some don't and some can't quite decide. I'm more concerned with what happens to all racehorses after their racing career is over. This was discussed on the JV show on radio 2 today and they read a poem by Philip Larkin called "At Grass" about retired racehorses. Here it is:

At Grass by Philip Larkin

The eye can hardly pick them out
From the cold shade they shelter in,
Till wind distresses tail and main;
Then one crops grass, and moves about
- The other seeming to look on -
And stands anonymous again

Yet fifteen years ago, perhaps
Two dozen distances surficed
To fable them: faint afternoons
Of Cups and Stakes and Handicaps,
Whereby their names were artificed
To inlay faded, classic Junes -

Silks at the start: against the sky
Numbers and parasols: outside,
Squadrons of empty cars, and heat,
And littered grass : then the long cry
Hanging unhushed till it subside
To stop-press columns on the street.

Do memories plague their ears like flies?
They shake their heads. Dusk brims the shadows.
Summer by summer all stole away,
The starting-gates, the crowd and cries -
All but the unmolesting meadows.
Almanacked, their names live; they

Have slipped their names, and stand at ease,
Or gallop for what must be joy,
And not a fieldglass sees them home,
Or curious stop-watch prophesies:
Only the grooms, and the grooms boy,
With bridles in the evening come.
 
Echo Bravo said:
But Frube if you read several medical reports on back injuries in humans they dont feel pain at all, just cann't move and I would say the horse was put down straight away when the vets realised what was wrong. Please stop putting human emontions onto animals. If you want to feel sorry for horses or donkeys go onto Spana website, now there is animal suffering and I always send money to them when I can afford it.
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Animals don't feel fear?

Only intelligent beings feel fear - do you feel fear?
 
Signed. Those who say that reducing the fence size will cause more problems is absolute rubbish. They are galloping over 5ft fences, they're already going as fast as they can - they wont go any faster over smaller fences. I personally find it a horrific and sickening race which I refuse to watch. Its only gotten so big due to non-horsey folk who dont realise how many horses die.
 
MagicMelon said:
Signed. Those who say that reducing the fence size will cause more problems is absolute rubbish. They are galloping over 5ft fences, they're already going as fast as they can - they wont go any faster over smaller fences. I personally find it a horrific and sickening race which I refuse to watch. Its only gotten so big due to non-horsey folk who dont realise how many horses die.
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No, they're not, they go much faster over hurdles. They don't have to steady up for hurdles, they jump them low and flat, they do have to steady up for the National fences.

Horses die on the flat, over hurdles, over chase fences and over National fences - do you want everything banned?
 
Can I thank everyone who did sign :)

We are not suggesting a ban on GN, as another thread has misinterpreted, I think that some people are just behaving really immaturely now. I don't think I've disrespected your views, nor anyone else on this thread who disagrees. But I just think that we've been singled out as 'bunny huggers who know nothing'. That's a really unfair label to give some of us. Because that's not fair, I've noticed my errors, I've stated I've noted it, I've corrected it, yet still some people are dragging on and on.

Thank you, Caledonia and teagreen though, for your polite response :)
x
 
MagicMelon said:
Signed. Those who say that reducing the fence size will cause more problems is absolute rubbish. They are galloping over 5ft fences, they're already going as fast as they can - they wont go any faster over smaller fences.
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Have you actually watched the race?

So many of you seem to think the horses go at a flat out gallop and the jockeys have no control over them, if you actually watch you will see that the jockeys look for a stride and try and set the horses up for the jump. They are not going fast and don't kick on until the closing stages of the race.
 
Tbh, a horse is a horse. Replaceable.

My thoughts and concerns are with the JOCKEY (a human...) Peter Toole :( and he wasn't even in the GN...
 
lassiesuca said:
You are joking right, about the horse thing? So are humans, naturally. One dies, another one is born? :(
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Nope. I feel the same way. You can replace a horse. Very sad when it dies, but it can be replaced. You cannot replace a son, a husband, a member of your family. Human lives cannot be replaced.
 
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