Saturday at Aintree

I'm not going to lie that was absolutely horrific to watch. Sadly I think there will be some empty stables tonight 😭

Agree, unfortunately I'd say at least one at the first.

Where is the best place to get updates, ITV gone off air...

You're in racing, what would you say would be the answer? I'd be inclined to use their new core but up the fence height to stop them going so quickly, and cut the field to 30
 
Urgh sickening

Recite a Prayer, who I believe was one of the loose ones racing round the inside of the course, so I thought he was ok went off in the ambulance, along with Cape Gentleman and both are being "assessed" based on comments on Twitter
 
I popped on twitter and calling it quits on there for the day. I saw the video of Hill Sixteen he fell and was lifeless 💔

I've always felt there were too many horses in that race?
 
I watched for the first time since dark ivy died, the older ones on here will know the name, he was a beautiful grey horse and seeing that stopped me watching live… I wish I hadn’t seen the beginning of the race today and won’t now ever watch it live again . I still think it’s too many runners and there needs to be a way of making them go slower at the beginning, maybe the fences need to be bigger at the beginning so the jockeys and the horses respect them a bit more … I would think the delay didn’t help either
 
I popped on twitter and calling it quits on there for the day. I saw the video of Hill Sixteen he fell and was lifeless 💔

I've always felt there were too many horses in that race?

Unfortunately during the race you could see he wasn't getting up, bit poor of ITV to try and avoid mentioning it, I know there are procedures though from a comment on here, but it was clear there had been a fatality
 
Glad I don't watch or support it/racing.

Sounds barbaric.

Pretty hideous that on a forum of "horse lovers" there is so much support for horses kept, at best, how @RachelFerd describes to take part in a race where its a certainty they won't all make it back to their stable.

Money talks... if there wasn't so much money in racing it would have been banned decades ago for the cruel industry that it is.
 
Unfortunately during the race you could see he wasn't getting up, bit poor of ITV to try and avoid mentioning it, I know there are procedures though from a comment on here, but it was clear there had been a fatality

Not necessarily sadly. Sometimes a horse is down and winded. You have to give them time to get up. Sometimes they aren't winded but have broken their bad and you don't know until they try to get up. Then you have your answer.
 
Glad I don't watch or support it/racing.

Sounds barbaric.

Pretty hideous that on a forum of "horse lovers" there is so much support for horses kept, at best, how @RachelFerd describes to take part in a race where its a certainty they won't all make it back to their stable.

Money talks... if there wasn't so much money in racing it would have been banned decades ago for the cruel industry that it is.

Yes, because every other aspect of the horse industry has horses being kept in pristine conditions, with their physical and mental welfare attended to 100% correctly 100% of the time. I've seen everything and more than what @RachelFerd describes in some riding schools, but no one ever seems to say 'ban riding schools' do they? Perspective, it goes a long way.
 
Unfortunately during the race you could see he wasn't getting up, bit poor of ITV to try and avoid mentioning it, I know there are procedures though from a comment on here, but it was clear there had been a fatality
So sad. There's alot of stir right now, people are saying the delays didn't mix well with the horses being flighty, too many field jumps ect

I wish they did abandoned or maybe delay the races till the horses were a bit more calmer. Again, I haven't watched it today and I have been reading on twitter. I don't think being in a space of carnage then to run was a good mixed. I am a racing fan, but my god it sounds horrific.
 
Yes, because every other aspect of the horse industry has horses being kept in pristine conditions, with their physical and mental welfare attended to 100% correctly 100% of the time. I've seen everything and more than what @RachelFerd describes in some riding schools, but no one ever seems to say 'ban riding schools' do they? Perspective, it goes a long way.

Point out where I said cruelty, neglect and barbaric treatment *only* happens in racing? I'll wait...
 
Not necessarily sadly. Sometimes a horse is down and winded. You have to give them time to get up. Sometimes they aren't winded but have broken their bad and you don't know until they try to get up. Then you have your answer.

As Elf says, they have to give them time. I’m pretty sure that Edwulf was down for 45 minutes at Cheltenham before he did get up.
 
Yes, because every other aspect of the horse industry has horses being kept in pristine conditions, with their physical and mental welfare attended to 100% correctly 100% of the time. I've seen everything and more than what @RachelFerd describes in some riding schools, but no one ever seems to say 'ban riding schools' do they? Perspective, it goes a long way.

I think any industry with the turnover of animals that racing has should be banned or vastly changed. Riding schools, eventing, racing. Any. It shouldn’t be happening.

People are always quick to say “well what about these other terrible things?”. Yes, correct. They’re all terrible and shouldn’t be happening.
 
Not necessarily sadly. Sometimes a horse is down and winded. You have to give them time to get up. Sometimes they aren't winded but have broken their bad and you don't know until they try to get up. Then you have your answer.

I've just watched it, amateur footage taken from by the jump. It looks like they rushed to cover the horse up with rug/tarpaulin? Would you do that if you were giving it time or is that what you'd do if it was instant and you wanted to cover it up so people don't keep taking pictures. .

I'm not anti racing but can't watch the national anymore. I looked it up hoping to hear they'd all come back safe.
 
I have worked in racing my whole life. There are lots of aspects about it to love. There are lots of aspects about it to hate. I would never try to persuade anyone to think differently to what they believe.

Life is all about balancing the scales in your own world. It's a scale that gets tipped side to side in my world all the time. Yes I am delighted we won the national but I am also absolutely gutted that Josh is going home with an empty box to an empty stable. In an ideal world every horse would go home to its stable every day. But the world is not ideal and all we can do is limit the damage we, as humans, do every single day.
 
I have worked in racing my whole life. There are lots of aspects about it to love. There are lots of aspects about it to hate. I would never try to persuade anyone to think differently to what they believe.

Life is all about balancing the scales in your own world. It's a scale that gets tipped side to side in my world all the time. Yes I am delighted we won the national but I am also absolutely gutted that Josh is going home with an empty box to an empty stable. In an ideal world every horse would go home to its stable every day. But the world is not ideal and all we can do is limit the damage we, as humans, do every single day.

May I say, Elf, how immensely gracious you are. What a classy post.
 
Top