Shooting at Smithfield Horse Fair
- Thread starter Cuffey
- Start date
Charliepony
Well-Known Member
Oh god how scary 
I hope all the children and horses were ok!
That second photo down
I hope all the children and horses were ok! That second photo down
Trish C
Well-Known Member
Horrific. It's been a bad few days for gun crime over here altogether
The fair is apparently protected by some ancient market right, but fingers crossed they'll manage to get it shut down... not just because of this shooting incident but it all adds to the argument.
The fair is apparently protected by some ancient market right, but fingers crossed they'll manage to get it shut down... not just because of this shooting incident but it all adds to the argument.
Mocha
Well-Known Member
Horrific. It's been a bad few days for gun crime over here altogether
The fair is apparently protected by some ancient market right, but fingers crossed they'll manage to get it shut down... not just because of this shooting incident but it all adds to the argument.
Horrific incident alright.
Have you ever been to Smithfield out of interest?
It gets a lot of bad press, but the reality is, if you are of a mind to trot your horse at breakneck speed on the road and hoik it in the gob, then you will do it, fair or no. There are plenty of reasonable horses and owners there too. Some heavy cobs that are prized by the travelling community that reach a fair price. The trotter welfare issue on the other hand extends far beyond smithfield.
Do you know anyone with an 'ex-traveller' horse from Smithfield?
Because I know plenty, and the ones I do know - are the salt of the earth. I notice that none of the reports had anything to say about people being injured thrown from horses in the ruckus ...
The DSPCA have a lot to say about it, but then they've alot of sensationalist things to say about the 'horse crisis' in Dublin ... but they are far worse things going on countrywide .... at least the horses grazing the council land HAVE GRASS.
Trish C
Well-Known Member
I have, and did enjoy some parts of it. I agree with you about the scale of the problem here, and it breaks my heart to see the way many horses over here are kept. I work in Limerick and there's a huge problem there... only yesterday I drove home from work along a main city centre road and, after passing too trotters going at a stupid pace with underweight horses, I then had to stop for a few loose horses... on busy city centre roads :-(
However, I also think that, with the closure of the fair, those genuine people and genuine horses involved with the market would still find a way to successfully buy/sell, and maybe it would go some small way to cutting down the number of horses being bought by people who have no notion of caring for them properly. It obviously wouldn't cure the problem but it may help.
I didn't like the way the tabloids reported it, it did seem very anti-traveller. But again, that's a nationwide issue - another big one in limerick.
However, I also think that, with the closure of the fair, those genuine people and genuine horses involved with the market would still find a way to successfully buy/sell, and maybe it would go some small way to cutting down the number of horses being bought by people who have no notion of caring for them properly. It obviously wouldn't cure the problem but it may help.
I didn't like the way the tabloids reported it, it did seem very anti-traveller. But again, that's a nationwide issue - another big one in limerick.
paddi22
Well-Known Member
Mocha you make some good points but I would debate some of them with you. im not slating your points im just putting forward my view from experience there
The fair makes it easier for kids from the outlying housing estates to pick up a horse for a few quid and gallop it 'home' up the roads. 98% of these kids wouldn't have easy access to horses apart from this fair, they would be less likely to go to other markets or go to the hassle of buying a horse online. They can easily go to smithfield buy a horse for cheap and get it home, other markets are further afield or better regulated and it wouldn't be as handy for them.
as for gypsy cobs being great temperaments and being bombproof, i agree with you but from experience of seeing how these horses are raised i would argue that a lot of their bombfroofedness(?!) is being 'switched off' as they have such difficult lives.
im not saying all travellers treat there horses this way, this isn't an anti traveller rant, this is purely based on seeing how the local traveller horses in the field beside us are treated. they have cracking horses but from the time they are young they are handled fairly hard and pushed around and punished for acting up at all. they have to be hardy as they tend to be thrown into any land near us thats available. they do go down with water and hay every cuple of days, and some horses are rugged. but they are left in any neighbours fields regardless of the condition of the field, they frequently escape or get caught in barb wire etc and have to be rescued. they are stoic little horses but it seems they have just accepted their lot in life. im not saying all traveller horses are like that. the prized ones you mentioned i assume would be treated a lot better as they are more valuable. the 20 or so horses near us don't seem to fall under that category unfortunately
and not all of them are saints. as with any percentage of horses you get wiley cheeky ones that expect a strong hand cause thats thee way they've been treated and when they see a chance to act up they will. same as any horses. the reason there wasn't more of a stampede is that a lot of the poor horses are tied up to lampposts and cant pull away. usually they are tied up in big groups around the poles, and if one panics its a nightmare. a horses strangled due to that at an earlier market, my friend works in a supermarket on the square and she said the horses tied to the poles were rearing on top of eachothers baks and falling under eachother.
as regards the horses in the estates having grass, i would disagree and say how the horses in dunsink and coldwinters etc starved over the bad weather. and even if they have grass in a council estate they are still getting beaten and abused by kids in teh areas. as evidenced by that poor poor pony who was tortured and beaten to death in limerick by a gang last week.
its an absolute miracle no-one was hurt that day by stampeding horses.
it is possibly the worst place to hold a market. in the video you can see a couple of loose ponies running off with noone holding them. the direction they are running is towards the city centre and also towards a tram line. they had a lucky escape if they escaped injury at some stage.
as for not hearing about people being thrown in the ruckus, the reality is that so many kids are thrown at that festival it doesn't really warrant mentioning. it tends to only be the serious accidents that make the news, like when the horse bolted a few years ago and crashed into a car with a woman and baby in it. i have been to smithfield frequently and have seen so many horses being treated horrifically. there is not parking for the boxes or trailers as its city streets, and i have seen several horses being beaten into boxes and rearing back against glass shop windows, pedestrians and oncoming traffic.
there is absolutly no redeeming features to smithfield market i think.
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buzzles
Well-Known Member
Agree with everything paddi said. I bought a pony there over 10 years ago, 11h, black, hairy little guy. He's super with kids and perfect lead rein pony and totally bombproof but terrified of men. He landed on his feet when he came home that day and still have him, he's used as a companion and foal sitter. I didn't go back though, couldn't stand to see the way the horses and ponies were treated, little yearlings galloped full pelt on the roads with big lads on their backs beating the crap out of them and hauling out of the mouths with wire as bits. Disgusting.