Four more horses die in the name of ‘sport’

merlotgran

Good post, foxie48

From me too 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

nightowl I agree there is over breeding and I absolutely agree that too many people have horses and either don't know how to look after them or, my biggest concern, won't have them pts when the quality of their life is over, giving a beloved horse a decent kind and timely death is IMO the last act that any owner should perform for their horse.

There is, of course, huge money in racing but I'm not sure that this is necessarily bad for horse welfare. IME owners have enough money to ensure their horses get the best of care, get properly treated when they need the vet with no expense spared and care very much about where their horses go once thier racing days are over. The issue for me is the fate of those horses that don't make the grade when young because they have soundness issues and that is true for all horses that are bred not just racehorses.

Pleasebenice

They have a much better life than a dairy cow or a sow in a horrid pig factory. If you drink milk or eat pork ( I don’t) maybe think about that.

I know I've mentioned this before but people need to read up on how dairy cows and bobby calves are treated. And possibly watch the documentary COW. I'm saying this as someone that does drink milk and eats cheese but I feel incredibly guilty about it. Also check out how the mustangs are treated in America. Rounded up by helicopters and sent to kill pens.

PleaseBernice I’m a vegi too and feel so strongly about the lives of chickens, sheep, pigs cows etc etc just as much as horses racing , badger culling, fox hunting, bull fighting and so on
Maybee and how tuna are killed we could go on and on I hate fishing as a ‘pastime too’ capturing the poor thing with a hook in it, then dragging them through the water only to throw back, half the time .. hideous

BlueBelle

PleaseBernice I’m a vegi too and feel so strongly about the lives of chickens, sheep, pigs cows etc etc just as much as horses racing , badger culling, fox hunting, bull fighting and so on
Maybee and how tuna are killed we could go on and on I hate fishing as a ‘pastime too’ capturing the poor thing with a hook in it, then dragging them through the water only to throw back, half the time .. hideous

True. But the point I'm trying to make is that people look at cows in fields and think what a great life they have and then look at racehorses and are horrified by how badly they think they are treated.

I’m not vegetarian, I eat little meat and always from our local butcher. They’re clear on providence and onky sell their own free range pork. Lambs roam our moors …

It’s a challenge isn’t it to reconcile natural and welcome desire that animals are as well cared for as possible even if the purpose of their lives is either to feed us, or entertain us.

I rode horses and ponies from age 11 - 59 when RA got the better of me. The horse I remember with particular affection was a retired race horse at the stables I rode at. As did my daughters. Felix was a joy to ride, gentle giant, put him on the gallop area and he’d be way out in front, determined to win.

I have lived with pet, not working dogs for all of my 76 years. I know many disapprove of pet dogs. My two kept me functioning during mr i’s awful illness and death

Complicated, our relationship with animals (and each other)

I agree with everything you say foxie although think the huge amounts of money and revenue involved is a reason why there is a lack of will to sort out the industry in any meaningful way.

I share your concerns about the number of racehorses who don’t make the grade, and what happens to them. I believe hundreds of young, healthy thoroughbreds are slaughtered in this country for either the meat market abroad or for pet food. This also relates to traceability of all the foals bred, which is inadequate, and also the responsibility of the racing industry to be accountable for horses who leave racing.

I’ve known, as I’m sure others have, a few ex racehorses who were with the best trainers and jockeys, and were famous in their time but who came to sad ends. One was a ‘happy hacker’ for a teenage girl and a kinder, more gentlemanly horse you could never wish to meet. He retired from racing at 13 and broke down completely in his mid teens, nothing will convince me this wasn’t a result of his hard career. Another I knew was ‘rescued’ by a young woman who did her very best for him. He was skin and bone when she got him, but as he began to put on weight through her good care it was obvious he was chronically lame. She couldn’t afford the extensive investigations that would have been necessary and he was put to sleep at 13 or 14. Where was the racing industry for these two, who had given their all? Where was just a share of the thousands they had earned to ensure they were cared for for the rest of their lives? I know there are schemes for retired racehorses that some owners and trainers subscribe to but in my opinion this needs to be much tighter and traceability enforced whenever a horse leaves racing.

night owl 😔

By the way, the lovely horse I mentioned first arrived fresh from racing with scars across his rump from whips. They were covered by his winter coat but showed up clearly when his summer coat came in 😢

Our area has a number of ex racing hounds. All cowed when they arrive. Dogs are expensive these days but not anywhere near the costs involved in rescuing race horses

It’s heartbreaking Iam

Oreo

They’re race horses, it’s what they do, and they have pretty nice lives and are well taken care of.
If a race horses breaks a leg they are put to sleep usually and sometimes either after or during a race a horse drops dead unexpectedly, a bit like happens to often young people, playing football.Heart problems undiagnosed.
So what would posters like, steeplechase to be banned or flat racing or all? What would happen to all the thousands of race horses?

There is serious abuse of animals for sport and betting. This includes dog racing. They are not all well taken care of . They are drugged to performance enhance and mask injuries that cause them pain. They are bred in a way that is good for racing but not long term for a quality of life as they are raced far too young . When they are of no use they can be sold for slaughter . They are not all treated to a nice retirement in a field as you might think. Animals should never be used for racing, betting or entertainment. Where there is money to be made there will be abuse that follows.

Bans are growing, on greyhound racing. Eventually the 'sport' will fade away, in this country.
Bullfighting is being phased out abroad.
Perhaps this will also be the fate of horse racing?

Maybe Maremia or maybe those involved could do more to ensure welfare and safety issues are given more priority. Whipping a horse that’s already running its heart out for you just feels wrong.

Dog training circles are deep in debate about the use of aversive training tools and techniques verses positive only methods. As ever, it’s the extremes that hit the headlines but in neither camp does anyone ever suggest beating, hitting or frightening a dog.

We no longer see taking strap to a naughty child, or wife for that matter, as a reasonable solution. Attitudes change.

Oreo

They’re race horses, it’s what they do, and they have pretty nice lives and are well taken care of.
If a race horses breaks a leg they are put to sleep usually and sometimes either after or during a race a horse drops dead unexpectedly, a bit like happens to often young people, playing football.Heart problems undiagnosed.
So what would posters like, steeplechase to be banned or flat racing or all? What would happen to all the thousands of race horses?

First line ‘it’s what they do’ …. It’s what they are bred for and MADE to do
‘if a race horse breaks a leg they are put to sleep’ put to sleep such a sweet saying, a nice calm, cuddly sleep They ARE SHOT, killed, of no use, not needed won’t make the owner money so .. boom
A race horse drops dead because it’s poor heart cannot go any faster and it’s likened to a human with a defective heart problem, the horses’ heart was fine until the human pushed it beyond what it can take.

What would posters like ?racing to be banned? … YES definitely completely banned
What would happen to all the race horses ? They would eventually die out because no one would be breeding and bidding big money for these fine animals, in the meantime they should all be retired to live a normal life, whatever that is chewing grass and running round fields.
Dog racing should also go as soon as
And fox hunting which had a very very halfhearted ruling (which doesn’t work) brought in
And breeding birds to be shot (by royals and the gentry !)

All horrible human exploitation

I do think we humans have very strange relationships with the animal world, much of which sadly involves exploitation. Horses are trained so that they can make money for their owners. Dogs are doted on and turned into fur babies. Lambs are slaughtered for food. Robins are cute, but corvids are the baddies.

But it all involves control in one way or another.

Do we have this right? Is this how things should be? I simply do not know.......

It seems to be too much to ask impassioned supporters of a ban just how they would manage those huge initial numbers of race horses.

Exactly where do they think the funds and facilities to keep them to the end of their natural lives will come from?

Not too mention the idea of turning out thoroughbred racehorses to survive in open fields. Is that ignorance?

or a deliberate ignoring of the cruelty that would be in that the horses can suffer as long the protesters can maintain their fantasy of happy horses in green meadows.

I await a viable plan. Even a remotely viable suggestion. Otherwise it’s just people making themselves feel good by being ‘true animal lovers” and bathing themselves in virtue wth their impassioned statements. Dazzled by their own rhetoric.

Apologies to Maremia who has at least considered the problems and made suggestions.

Time passing and no further breeding would soon take care of these surplus creatures. Owners and trainers already get rid of horses that don't measure up to the requirements for making money. Ask the Bookies what they'd do? Bankruptcy would be facing them. Good. Gambling is a scourge.

Gambling is a scourge, I do agree.

I still maintain that the worst death for any horse is colic. And that can happen to any horse, anytime. Of the horses I’ve known several have had heart attacks, several ( including my own) died of colic, the worst being one that died in agony over night. A foal that was kicked to death by another horse in the field and another much loved older horse that broke a leg in the field. And I don’t personally know of it happening but mares die foaling, even with the best veterinary care in the world. I can’t imagine the world that organisations like PETA want, which seems to be free of animals entirely. No pet dogs or cats.

"British Racing: Key Facts
Attendances – 5.77 million attendees at over
1,500 fixtures held at 59 racecourses, with four
of the top ten sports events in the UK.
Revenues generated – Annual expenditure
of over £3.5 billion, with a tax contribution of
£300 million from racecourses, participants
and a world-leading breeding industry.
Levy – c.£95 million raised in 2018 after levy
reform amidst rising betting activity on British
racing, of over £14 billion per annum.
Employment – Over 17,400 FTE jobs in the
industry across rural Britain; approximately 450
jockeys, 550 trainers & 6,500 stable staff.
Scottish racing – Across five racecourses and
training yards, Scottish Racing generates £300
million annually in turnover and supports
3,400 full-time "

What the above does not reflect is the additional money that flows into the economy from Hospitality and catering, equestrian clothing, equipment and bespoke couture like Holland and Cooper, manufacturers of horse boxes, etc the list is pretty endless really, nor does it mention the amount of money that goes into horse welfare via betting etc.

All horse related activities are under the spotlight and there is and has been ongoing changes to equipment, competition rules, the training of horses and riders etc. As someone who has been fairly close to horses for a longish time, I would hate to see horses become a rare species and the fact is because they are expensive and extremely time consuming to care for unless they have a job, the only place they will be kept is in the zoo or for some of our wonderful native breeds, mowing the grass on moors and in National Parks.

My life has been enriched by horses, my younger daughter led a life of excitement and freedom which helped to make her the resilient and independent adult she has become. I wish more not fewer children could have the same experience. Banning racing would be the thin end of the wedge and I hope for everyone who loves horses this never happens.

Four more horses died that critical situation, poor feeding growth.

Aveline

Time passing and no further breeding would soon take care of these surplus creatures. Owners and trainers already get rid of horses that don't measure up to the requirements for making money. Ask the Bookies what they'd do? Bankruptcy would be facing them. Good. Gambling is a scourge.

There would be some 28,000 horses to take care of initially. It's not just a few hundred.

How would you suggest they could be accommodated?

(though I suspect that a great many of them would be quietly euthanised)

I noticed you love horse racing, I base in Birmingham where football activities are common more than horse racing.

jeffreykearney6

I noticed you love horse racing, I base in Birmingham where football activities are common more than horse racing.

Actually I don't love horse racing, I love horses and I love riding. I grew up in Birmingham in a working class family with no money and the only time I saw a horse was pulling the rag and bone man's cart. My father was a Villa supporter but I wanted a pony from a very young age. My younger daughter sat on a donkey at the Birmingham Botanical gardens aged 3 and also fell in love with equines and not many years after that we lived in the country and started to live the life I'd always dreamed of as a child. Dreams do come true!