.. to hate the Grand National?

Jockeys obviously.

I really don’t know anything about horses so thanks to GG13 and I see trishers points too.

I adore animals and abhor cruelty like fox hunting but jokers seem to love their horses.

About this race I honestly don’t know. I couldn’t watch it or bet though as I couldn’t bear seeing horses injured.

I don't like any horse racing. Nor do I like dog racing (that is very cruel, the dogs have horrible lives and are then discarded)

Fennel my daughter and I love that film along with the following one.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=oB6oI04sMc4

As others have said, it's all about money now. And very sad for those poor horses.
This topic reminded me of that wonderful film, National Velvet. With Elizabeth Taylor as a teenager.
At that age I was horse mad - I didn't have one of my own but used to help exercise the beach ponies. Galloping along the hard sand I imagined I was National Velvet.

I've actualy been to the Grand National- many years ago when it was not the fashionable event it has become. The fences look high but collapse because the top is just branches when they are touched (and I believe there can be a problem with high winds). I was taken to race meetings at a very young age- GM of Irish decent who followed the horses and always went to the St Leger. Once when I was at Newton Abbot a horse had to be shot. (Screens all round so nothing to see) I don't remember crying just being a bit upset. I suppose if you are raised with these things they become normal. There are an awful lot more dreadful things done to animals.

Ah thank you GG13 for sharing your knowledge on this subject. Not just an opinion. GN (the site, not the race!) at its best. We all learnt something there.
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As a horse owner and horse lover, I am always sad when a horse dies in racing, cross country any competition.

They also die jumping out of their fields, through kicks from other horses but mostly from misuse and abuse by careless clueless owners!!!!

It is impossible to make a horse do something it doesn’t want to, even by beating/ whipping you would not get the level of performance from an unhappy animal.

These are some of the most cosseted and well fed horses on the planet.

The fences are not solid as most high level cross country fences are (Olympics etc) they have more “give” than the majority of show jumping fences.

To answer another posters query on horses jumping out of their fields..... they do frequently which is why the majority of responsible owners have electric fences just inside the physical ones.

There's a brilliant (very poignant) Pam Ayres poem about a racehorse making his will before a race.
She evidently feels the same as so many on here.

I rode till my late 50's when arthritis put a stop to something I loved. I stopped joining the office National sweep stake about 20 years ago. I couldn't stand to see those beautiful animals running till their hearts could burst, with fatalities most years as a result of falls. Jockeys have choices about the risks they take, the horses don't.
Two were put down yesterday, one today. That seems a very high level of fatalities for two days racing.
I seem to remember two were shot at the Cheltenham races this year.
Phoenix is right to say these horses are well cared for and loved by their owners, stable hands and riders. I used to ride a retired racehorse at the stables I went to. A huge, gentle beast who loved nothing more than hacking out, with a gentle canter or a racing gallop across the field. His desire to be at the front stayed with him.
I find the risks in racing more than I can stand. Show jumping and 3 day events - fantastic.

The horses carry on jumping because they are herd animals Deedaa not because they love racing. Some of them may enjoy it, some might not, but the instinct to stay with the herd is what drives them to run even when they break a leg and it is dangling beneath them.

phoenix I watched the Grand National for the first time in years today. It struck me how excited and ready for the race the horses looked as they gathered for the start, and of course you get the riderless ones who happily carry on jumping with the rest. The horses are all quite mature and the fences seem much safer than they used to be. I still think the field is too big. The horse that died fell at the first fence, it was much better once it had thinned out to half the number.

phoenix Yes, you're right, many animals are neglected and treated inhumanely, and it's upsetting, but that doesn't make whipping horses and racing them to exhaustion good, does it, just because many have it worse?

Sparklefizz you say that "horse racing is a disgrace and cruel".

Those horses are loved and looked after like you wouldn't believe!

What about the abandoned horses and ponies, just Google it and you will see.

Race horses have the life of Riley compared with some "pet" horses and ponies.

I'm in the "hate it" camp too.

I don't even agree with zoos, only that some animals have to be saved from poaching etc and preserving some animals is vital, but it used to upset me seeing the big cats pacing-----I have the urge to set them free.
I didn't even like circuses as a kid when they used animals I remember it worrying me. They should be free !

I think horse racing is a disgrace and cruel. I couldn't bear to watch it.

One horse dead in the National, and two yesterday. Shameful.

I don't approve of any sport that abuses animals or uses them for human entertainment. That includes fishing for pleasure and hunting of any description, circuses and the like and racing. I think I look after my pets better than I look after myself! I was shocked when I went to visit an ostrich farm in S Africa, as part of an excursion, and they ask me if I wanted to ride it and threw a bag over its head!

It's cruel how they expect horses to jump that high.

They're not as high as they look because the top part is twiggy stuff that they just brush through.

Horses will jump 'in nature' to get away from danger. Galloping is a flight mechanism, too. Harnessing these instincts for riding horses is not intrinsically bad or harmful to them. My prime objection is to their growing bodies being subjected to too much stress before they are fully mature.

I never watch horse racing as I worry too much about the poor horses.

Tiger Roll won again - 4/1 favourite. An exciting race. My husband was cheering for him (wish he’d put a bet on!).

My father’s family were in the horse racing fraternity around the Ludlow area - on the flat. 3 of my uncles were all successful trainers and one was a jockey.

I just cover my eyes when the runners & riders go over the jumps in the Grand National.
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But boxing at least is performed by consenting adults? Surely not as bad as the Grand National?

Hate it too