Such a SAD day for so many fantastic horses ... The Grand National

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tillytime

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For the first time in so long a felt physically sick as I (unfortunately) caught a few seconds of the grand national.
All I could think of was how many of the beautiful, fantasitc, young horses have or will die as a direct result of this race!
 
Horses die every day in racing - it's only because the GN is such a high profile race that people get in uproar about it. I'm not saying I don't care - I care deeply, but don't moan about this race in particular.
 
Holly Hocks said:
Horses die every day in racing - it's only because the GN is such a high profile race that people get in uproar about it. I'm not saying I don't care - I care deeply, but don't moan about this race in particular.
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I agree... and they also die going around the likes of Badminton, its only because its such a high profile race that people seem to make a fuss. I wonder how many people make a fuss when one is killed during 3 day eventing...
 
tillytime said:
For the first time in so long a felt physically sick as I (unfortunately) caught a few seconds of the grand national.
All I could think of was how many of the beautiful, fantasitc, young horses have or will die as a direct result of this race!
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Oh, get a grip.
It may come as a surprise to you, but horses, like people, are not immortal. If they don't die racing, they die in the field, on the roads, in the stable, at the vet's.
All of them die.
S :D
 
One grazing with us broke its neck (but wasn't killed outright) in the field. We have no idea how long she lay there before she was found. Horses in racing receive instant treatment, or are pts, I know which I think is preferable.
 
I hope that I am not considered to be making a 'fuss', however I really do feel that BBC coverage was some what blase about the sad loss or injury to horses or riders. Having followed the race quite keenly for 30 plus years, I do feel that the negative side is ignored. Yes, horses love to race and indeed there are fatalities. Why can't we honour them after th tragic event? Is it not PC to show that we really do care? To answer those who mentioned eventing fatalities, I actually feel that these awful incidents are more 'openly' discussed and appropriate sympathies expressed. To ignore race fatalities and focus on wild celebration and inane remarks seems to assume we are all fools.... I wish I had not put any money on this race and the money from my 1st, 2nd 3rd 'success' will be donated to a racehorse welfare charity, such is my regret that I perpetuate the attitute to racing.
 
Sadly 2 horses died however their deaths at least were quick, at least one was dead before they even turned in for the second circuit so any suffering was for a few brief minutes, if even that! My heart sank when they had to go round the fences and you could see what had happened straight away. But horses are flesh and blood like the rest of us, ask them to run to the maximum of their physical abilities and they will get injured or die at some time, just like humans do! Its no different and much of the time the horses are perfectly happy doing what they are doing....just look at Ballabriggs, he won enthusiastically but you can see when pulled up how utterly knackered he was yet he was fully prepared to give everything, if he didn't like what he does then he wouldn't have put in such a huge effort! We just need to make sure that if the worse does happen then the horse experiences the least amount of suffering possible.

I think some perspective needs to be applied here, obviously some people lack this ability! So many horses die up and down the country competing in sports that to ban the GN and/or horse racing in general would eventually mean the banning of all horse sports, only reason why we hear so much about horse racing deaths is that it has far more public exposure than other horse sports.
 
Dovorian... Sorry, after re-reading my post I don't think it came across very well...

What I was trying to say was that on a day like today when one of the biggest races in the world is on TV people seem to come out with the "Its cruelty" after a horse is killed in a race, especially the National... but yet when we are all sat around the XC course watching some of our favorite eventers at the likes of Badminton and a poor horse loses its life, its always "Oh what a shame for the horse and rider, how tragic" No one seems to shout about it being cruel when a horse does a rotaional fall and breaks its neck going over a XC fence... yet when its racing it all of a sudden becomes cruelity and makes people feel "Physically sick"...

Any way I'm off to pick my punters up from Aintree as I'm a local to the National ground itself...
 
MagicMelon said:
Enjoy? How would you know! Those whips are out frequently, I dont think those extremely young, innocent horses have any choice in the matter. Ban this race, just horrific.
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Plenty of people think the same about eventing - be very careful what side of the 'welfare' fence you jump on....... I'm pro all horse sports, eventing is no better, it's just different. Did you want to ban Badminton the year three horses died?
 
Horses sadly die and are fatally injured doing all of the things we keep them for, yes the risk is higher in chasing and hurdling, but then many more horses do that than some other things we ask of them. Horses die or are seriously injured in their field, giving birth, out hacking or at exercise, eventing, at hunter trials, show jumping, at pony club, travelling in trailers and everything else we ask of them carries a risk however small it might seem.

At Aintree however the Veterinary presence is far better than you would ever receive anywhere else, the diagnosis if needed is almost instant, there is an option of being taken to a state of the art hospital if there is a chance and it is highly likely that a vet is actually at Beecher's Brook or very very close to it. How many other horses have this kind of attention at the very site of their injury even at an international 3 day event?

There is a very sad post on the breeding forum where a very young horse started to exhibit curvature of the spine, the owner did all the right things and her own vet sent the horse to a veterinary hospital, the horse had a broken spine and dislocated rib, no one knows when it actually happened, very very sadly the horse was PTS at the veterinary centre.

It is very sad that fatalities happen but Racing is open to ideas and suggestions and you only have to look at the redesign of that course to see that study recommendations are implemented.

To me the very reason that those horses are so beautiful is that they have a long heritage of performers behind them in their pedigree and that the efforts and abilities of each generation are enhanced in the next. They are bred for these tests and that is why they fill the eye, without breeding for racing we would not have half the breeds we have now as the influence of that performance testing reaches into so many breeds and types competing today. Horses have died in the service of man for thousands of years be it at war, work or rest and will continue to do so as long as we keep them and even if we don't they die and are injured in the wild at a much earlier age, there it is the job of cats, dogs or infection to eventually end any suffering.

I don't like seeing fatalities but I love racing and to me it is part of it and I have to deal with that.
 
MagicMelon said:
Enjoy? How would you know! Those whips are out frequently, I dont think those extremely young, innocent horses have any choice in the matter. Ban this race, just horrific.
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I think an outright ban is a bit extreme. They could look at the fence design or make them a bit smaller to give the horses a better chance.

Look at eventing a few years ago- lots of horse deaths in a short time, and yet no-one was calling for any of those events to be banned.

Racing is a risky venture. I do feel that the National could be made a less stiff race and still be a hard race.

(Sorry, thinking out loud. Not sure that I'm making any sense.)
 
very sad that 2 horses have died, and only 19 out of 40 finished! that must tell you in general the course is very punishing..in xc etc these sort of statistics never occur, the horses are tested but not to the point they fall out of exhaustion amongst many other things...many die every day in all spheres i know that but to push a horse that far could be seen as inhumane as we all know that most horses will give 110% for us. i am not against racing just makes you think ....
 
Yes it is sad, but come on...I thought 2 out of 40 wasn't bad for such a large race, plus any horses that are in trouble are in the best hands.

Horses die out hacking, it's unfortunate but true! Plus with all the adrenaline I doubt they would have felt it
 
MagicMelon said:
Ban this race, just horrific.
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Lets ban racing all together then, horses die everyday in races, on the gallops or even just stood in their fields/stables at the racing yards. The National is one the the highest profile races around, many, many more people watch it then any other race on TV so any fatalities are always more public and there is always an uproar.

It is terribly sad that these two horses died/PTS today, but they went quickly doing what they love (I really do believe that the majority of the horses do love racing!) and were bred to do.
 
pony person said:
very sad that 2 horses have died, and only 19 out of 40 finished! that must tell you in general the course is very punishing..in xc etc these sort of statistics never occur, the horses are tested but not to the point they fall out of exhaustion amongst many other things...many die every day in all spheres i know that but to push a horse that far could be seen as inhumane as we all know that most horses will give 110% for us. i am not against racing just makes you think ....
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They do, but they're just not so widely reported. I can think of at least two four star events in the past few years that had very exhausted horses coming home.
 
KarynK said:
Horses sadly die and are fatally injured doing all of the things we keep them for, yes the risk is higher in chasing and hurdling, but then many more horses do that than some other things we ask of them. Horses die or are seriously injured in their field, giving birth, out hacking or at exercise, eventing, at hunter trials, show jumping, at pony club, travelling in trailers and everything else we ask of them carries a risk however small it might seem.

At Aintree however the Veterinary presence is far better than you would ever receive anywhere else, the diagnosis if needed is almost instant, there is an option of being taken to a state of the art hospital if there is a chance and it is highly likely that a vet is actually at Beecher's Brook or very very close to it. How many other horses have this kind of attention at the very site of their injury even at an international 3 day event?

There is a very sad post on the breeding forum where a very young horse started to exhibit curvature of the spine, the owner did all the right things and her own vet sent the horse to a veterinary hospital, the horse had a broken spine and dislocated rib, no one knows when it actually happened, very very sadly the horse was PTS at the veterinary centre.

It is very sad that fatalities happen but Racing is open to ideas and suggestions and you only have to look at the redesign of that course to see that study recommendations are implemented.

To me the very reason that those horses are so beautiful is that they have a long heritage of performers behind them in their pedigree and that the efforts and abilities of each generation are enhanced in the next. They are bred for these tests and that is why they fill the eye, without breeding for racing we would not have half the breeds we have now as the influence of that performance testing reaches into so many breeds and types competing today. Horses have died in the service of man for thousands of years be it at war, work or rest and will continue to do so as long as we keep them and even if we don't they die and are injured in the wild at a much earlier age, there it is the job of cats, dogs or infection to eventually end any suffering.

I don't like seeing fatalities but I love racing and to me it is part of it and I have to deal with that.
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Put so much better then I managed! What she said ^^^^^
 
MagicMelon said:
Enjoy? How would you know! Those whips are out frequently, I dont think those extremely young, innocent horses have any choice in the matter. Ban this race, just horrific.
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extremely young? the youngest in the GN today was 7. I don't see that as very young opposed to the age of horses in flat racing tbh
 
The difference between Eventing and the grand national is horses are not expected to fall/die eventing. It is the norm in the national.

I am not anti national, I just think there is a limit, and the national pushes it, which is just too much for a lot of the horses entered which just shouldn't be there IMHO.
 
Whoever said there was no mention made of the horses that died clearly weren't watching the BBC coverage where it was handled very sensitively by Clare Balding and the other commentators there. As they said it's the stable lads you feel for as they are with those horses 24/7 - must be devastating to be handed the bridle and to go home with an empty box to an empty stable:(

Still they will be back with another horse at the next meet and the majority do come home safely - certainly has improved on years ago when there seemed to be many more casualties:o
 
KatB said:
The difference between Eventing and the grand national is horses are not expected to fall/die eventing. It is the norm in the national.

I am not anti national, I just think there is a limit, and the national pushes it, which is just too much for a lot of the horses entered which just shouldn't be there IMHO.
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Agreed. And 40 horses is so many to be racing together.

slinkyunicorn said:
Whoever said there was no mention made of the horses that died clearly weren't watching the BBC coverage where it was handled very sensitively by Clare Balding and the other commentators there. As they said it's the stable lads you feel for as they are with those horses 24/7 - must be devastating to be handed the bridle and to go home with an empty box to an empty stable:(
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There was no mention right until the very end.
 
tillytime said:
For the first time in so long a felt physically sick as I (unfortunately) caught a few seconds of the grand national.
All I could think of was how many of the beautiful, fantasitc, young horses have or will die as a direct result of this race!
Click to expand...

Hmmm, and how many die as a result of laminitis, liver failure, worms, malnutrition......
There are many things worse than a quick end on a racecourse
 
lhotse said:
Hmmm, and how many die as a result of laminitis, liver failure, worms, malnutrition......
There are many things worse than a quick end on a racecourse
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Of course there are worse things, doesn't make their sad deaths any better. Why is it that people expressing sadness at the deaths today are assumed to be ignorant of other risks associated with horse sport?
 
Spring Along was 'forced' to go eventing in his late teens and eventually died of a heart attack in front of hundreds of spectators.

Was there any outrage? No. Quite rightly. Because the old horse looked well and wanted to go eventing, he was bred to do it, they knew the risks with an old horse but they still did it. He died doing what he loved, everyone said. Well, same for the two that died today. It is the same principle.
 
teagreen said:
Spring Along was 'forced' to go eventing in his late teens and eventually died of a heart attack in front of hundreds of spectators.

Was there any outrage? No. Quite rightly. Because the old horse looked well and wanted to go eventing, he was bred to do it, they knew the risks with an old horse but they still did it. He died doing what he loved, everyone said. Well, same for the two that died today. It is the same principle.
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I wish there was a like button for this... very well put.
 
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