Wetherby Races Horse Deaths

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Just read this in the H&H news. I think its a pretty sad day that four horses lost their lives. The first time I went to Wetherby was as a 10 year old (so 18 years ago) and on that day 3 horses were destroyed on the course and one horse had a heart attack in front of me. Did make me pretty sad for a while afterwards.

But is the fact that four horses happen to die on the same day just one of those tragic things, or is the ground to blame? Obviously I can't remember if there was an enquiry after the day I went all those years ago, but can't help thinking with the blame culture that it would have been less likely to.

Any thoughts?
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http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/397/290651.html
 
Suggest you look at : http://horsedeathwatch.com

There are many deaths on british racecourses each week. If you click on the horses details you will see how old the horse was, which position in teh race it was, even the weight of the jockey. Your four weatherby horses are on there. Its the sad side of racing that most people don't know about. You can also see the statistics for each jockey, and each race course which makes fascinating reading. There are a lot of deaths at Cheltenham which experts believe is due to the landing being lower than the take off and the horses missteping.

I personally would not support horse racing and no longer bet on the National after looking at this website. I think the sport is appalling in the number of deaths every year - I am sure I will get shot down in flames for saying that, but each to his own and its only MHO.
 
I heard about the four equine deaths at Wetherby and investigated further. Hence, I also discovered the website, already mentioned above by applecart14.

As someone who has been involved with horses for more than forty-five years (not racehorses), I was rather shocked to discover the high number of equine fatalities on the racetrack (UK stats).

In the last 949 days, there have been 446 deaths.

Gives one pause for thought.
 
That website gives some shocking statistics,
However one should be aware that the injuries sustained on the Racecourse are not themselves necessarily fatal/life threatening but that it is the owners wish to "cut their losses" and have the horse destroyed rather than outlay thousands of pounds on a horse that will never race again, its not so much that racing is dangerous but rather that the horses are seen as commodities not pets, if they cant serve their purpose/pay their way then its goodbye. Sad but true, and in many ways worse!
 
This tragic waste of life has only made me detest the 'sport' even more. All that head scratching, wondering why those four-horses perished is just nonsensical. Making horses leap over monstrous obstacles at a full gallop is more like signing their death sentences than anything that could ever be construed as 'sport'. Dangers don't just lurk on the track, but afterwards too. The strain on their cardiovascular and respiratory systems is tremendous. Which is why heart attacks along with pneumonia, infectious bronchitis, and lung abscesses are very common in racehorses. Then once unfit for purpose, they are shipped off to Potters or some other abattoir.

How anyone can shrug-off the above, and the death toll of almost 450, is well and truly beyond me.
 
I would rather they were sent to an abattoir than "rescued" by people who have no idea and stick these once pampered animals in a field, unrugged through winter. I know a lot of ex racehorses go on to great things with caring, knowledgeable owners, but sadly quite a few don't.
Regarding the death statistics, I agree with the poster who pointed out that many of these were not fatally injured but pts because it wasn't economical to treat them.
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The fences that they jump in NH racing are made of birch so that they allow for a margin of error or hurdles that knock out of the ground. Either would be thought of as a let up fence in eventing with their easy profile.
The horse are not going flat out any more than distance runners go at top speed. It is about finding their optimum cruising speed so they conserve their energy for the finish. It is a horse's natural instinct to run and it is what TBs are bred for. They wouldn't exist if there was no racing. I would disagree that pneumonia, etc are very common - these horses are very well looked after. Yes there are virus' and injuries but there are many horses that have far worse lives through ignorance and many have long and happy retirements. If this is not possible for whatever reason - temperament, pain, etc then surely they suffer less by being put out of their misery.
 
TBs just want to run. I took mine, a 6 furlong ex racer down the beach yesterday and he just wants to go and go and go. Without racing this great breed would diminsh and much of the money it pumps into the equestrian industry would be lost, grooms, jockeys, transport, vets, equipment etc.....

No matter what you think about National Hunt racing it does much more good for animal welfare than harm and unfortunately its just a sad fact that sometimes there are fatalities, despite all of the best efforts everyone makes to limit the risk. Just remember that everytime you get in a car you risk your life, as you do when you get on a horse.
 
Although it is an awful fact that horses do die I am certainly not against racing. I never want to see a horse hurt but it does happen. In my job insuring horses so many horses die ALL the time and the majority of these are horses sustaining injuries in their field or just out hacking. A lot are where horses have tried to jump out of their own fields and impaled themselves on fencing. They are not being forced to do anything but these accidents happen.

The figures over the amount of days sounds horrendous but how many races was that out of? I haven't read the article but I imagine they will have been a heck of a lot of meetings and races in that time and a hell of a lot of horses that didn't die.

NH horses are in general treated very well and actually have a lot better life and freedom than some privately owned horses who their owners wrap in cotton wool and imprisoned for the majority of the time in a 12 x 12 box. NH horses get a lot of time turned out when not training and get to be horses. Accidents happen in all areas of horse sport and I think they do all they can in racing to reduce the risk as much as is possible. I would be interested to know how many horses are permanently injured showjumping and eventing - in racing they may well have been PTS as a result but that is the choice of the owner isn't it.
 
racing is a very difficult subject to debate. It all depends who the owner/trainer is to how the horse will be treated. but then i guess that is the same for all animals??? no difference to a dog that is abandoned to a dog that is cherished.

having worked in racing iv seen both sides. I have witnessed owners demanding the trainer runs on bad ground in the hopethe horse would break down. the horse was not fast enough and the vet would not destroy it without a reason so the owner demanded it was 'run into the ground' and sure enough the owner got their way.
Flip the coin though, and a very good friend of mine trains, her mare fell at the second to last and it was like battle stations to make sure she was ok and she was. However the mare was so excited after the race she turned herself upside-down in the box on the way home. they managed to save her life but is now a RC fun horse as she will never race again. They could easilly of destroyed her but choose not too.

I dont feel that racing is any different to any other equine sport. Take Lucinda Green's horse 'village gossip' he injured his leg hunting, he needed a year off for it to recover but as he was an older horse who would not return to 3 day events, he was detroyed 10 days later. that horse could of been left in a field for the next 10 yrs till he died but it was felt he wouldn't be happy. I dont feel racing is any different.

many yards do keep their TB in 23 hours a day. I have taken on ex-racers who simply couldn't cope with space anymore and therefore would it be kind to off retired them to a field if they were injured??

Equally a friend was given an ex-racer. she is a complete novice and the trainer a fool for allowing her to have the horse. the horse had injured his back in a fall racing. everytime she tried to ride him he would buck or rear. but not all the time it would happen without warning. the last time she tried she was walking him in the school when he suddenly reared, his back end collapsed and he came down on top of her. she is now on her second oppperation and has lost movement in her knee. the horse was retuened to the trainer and has since gone on to another girl. the horse was not nasty in anyway and it was purely pain related and i feel it would of been better for him to of been PTS.

I think if they were to release state's on other sport it would be very similar, just that the others are all kept quiet.
 
As a TB racehorse owner, this is an interesting read. Please take it from me that many of us owners and trainers want the very very best for our horses, their death by injury is the last thing we want. It does happen and it will continue to happen, but these horses are bred to race and we must continue to let those who are keen on it continue to do so! If like me you have a horse who is not keen, you find him something else in life to do - after retraining of course. My good and bad horses are out 4-5 hours a day in the field with their mates, they go for 'steddy neddy' rides around the local farm, they loose school for fun, they have holidays, they go to local shows, they do everything their temperament and age allows! Ok, they are not million pound horses and not all are winners but they enjoy life and training. We do not race them until ready - what is the point - you will fail dismally anyway - they may be 2yrs or 3 or 6 and they tell you they are ready! If one is injured, they are insured to cover vets fees (a very vital necessity in my view - but not, I appreciate one shared by all owners), they have time to recover and if they cannot race, they have another job. I have only ever put one down - a horse which was badly injured, given time to recover and who hated the quiet life and became quite dangerous - it would have been stupid to find him another home as someone would have been hurt. My only beef with racehorse ownership, is that the trainers and authorities must start to explain to people that these horses have lives outside racing and they must be responsible for them however capable they turnout to be and however their racing days turnout. A racehorse is not just for Xmas and all that! Injuries happen as they do in polo, showjumping, eventing, dressage and hacking but we only really hear about racing injuries. Please do not think that all TBs in training are badly treated - they are not, they have a fantastic life in the main and if treated like horses, not cotton wool wrapped, turn out to be very pleasant people to have about the place!
 
welcome TBowner, nice to meet. I can't say enough how nice it is to her you say .....

''My only beef with racehorse ownership, is that the trainers and authorities must start to explain to people that these horses have lives outside racing and they must be responsible for them however capable they turnout to be and however their racing days turnout. A racehorse is not just for Xmas and all that!''

Unfortuanatly as you are aware, so many owners/trainers see £ signs not horse which is why there is such a high fatality rate. It is worth more as insurance money as they are as a horse.
I have noticed that the standards have got much higher as the years have gone on, i could tell some horrendos stories from about 15 yrs ago but gladly i dont have any recent ones to tell which say alot to me.

TBowner i hope you will stay with us and join in many more discussions
 
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