Four more horses die in the name of ‘sport’

night owl 😔

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.

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)

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.

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

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.

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.

merlotgran

Good post, foxie48

From me too 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Good post, foxie48

There are far too many horses being bred both in racing and in general, and far too many people owning horses who don’t have a clue how to look after them. There’s a huge welfare issue across the whole of the horse world. But the racing industry is a problem all of its own and is purely about money. And I don’t believe the way the horses are kept - in high pressure environments - is at all conducive to their welfare. I have known many ex racehorses and love thoroughbreds, but they are sensitive creatures who deserve better. All the ones I’ve known have had issues as a result of their training and previous lives. It hasn’t endeared me to racing.

foxie48 an excellent post, I agree wholeheartedly.

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.

That’s very true, I don’t eat pork or drink dairymilk either.

Because BlueBelle the animal cruelty you conflate horse racing with is deliberate cruelty.Horses sometimes do die or have to be pts but it isn’t done expressly to hurt them.
Boxing is nothing like rugby or other sports, injuries incurred there are accidents, boxing is deliberate harm.

I've owned and ridden horses for several decades and know quite a few people involved in racing. Racing yards have an extremely high level of welfare, much higher than most private yards. I've owned a couple of ex racehorses that had been retrained for riding but they are far from a novice ride as they are generally quite sensitive and can be quite a handful. I watched the Gold Cup on the TV and it was a fair test of a horse trained to that level. The horses in the field yesterday had come up through the various stages of National Hunt racing, they had demonstrated their ability to jump and their capacity to stay the course. They were amongst the elite of jumpers and frankly if they didn't want to jump round a course they would not have been there. I've seen a horse drop dead under a rider at a low key pony club event. It's horrible and dangerous for the rider but I'm afraid it happens, even when the horse is not working hard.
Both ex racehorses that I have owned had proved unwilling to race, both had gone on to event, one quite successfully reaching advanced but he just decided he didn't want to do it anymore so he got sold to me do do dressage and the other had an injury which meant his jumping days were over and he was given to me as a sensible smart hack (which he was). Two horses I've owned have died following field accidents, one broke a leg and was pts immediately. The other blew a tendon careering round in the wind. I spent thousands trying to rehab him (during which time he was pretty bonkers due to being stabled ) and he kept breaking down. Anyone who thinks owners don't care about their horses should spend time with them and their owners because it's just not true.
I've got mixed feelings about flat racing because the horses are being ridden too early IMO ie before their bones have matured, National Hunt horses often come up the Pointer route or out of flat but they will have proved their suitability for the job and to some extent their toughness for the job. There's so much tosh written about racing by people who really don't know much about the sport ie they don't realise that modern racing whips make a noise but actually don't hurt the horse like the old fashioned ones used to. It is incredibly expensive to have a horse in training, to suggest the owners and trainers don't care about them is frankly ridiculous. I'm all for improving horse welfare as much as we can but I'm not sure many people who haven't owned horses actually understand what that would involve.

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.

Heading a football and playing rugby leads to more injuries than boxing which is between two consenting adults which has no bearing with whipping a horse to go as fast as it’s heart will allow in the name of sport mainly ( not wholly) for rich people

Why should I not compare all types of animal cruelty it’s my right to my opinion and it’s my right to express it oreo
It was you who brought boxing as a comparison into the thread not me

Yes it is 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Lathyrus3

As I said right at the beginning I’m not in favour of the over breeding that produces race horses.

Neither am in favour of condemning existing ones to a miserable existence because people think they would be happier turned out into a field by people who think that would just be a bit “less luxurious” for them.

Or who think hundreds of race horses could be accommodated by “true animal lovers”

If this is a serious proposal please take some time to research what it would mean in practical terms rather than campaign for something that would make you feel comfortable and satisfied but that would lead to death and suffering for hundreds of horses.

And then come up with some really practical measures that could be put into practice.

Otherwise it’s just virtue signalling.

Excellent post Lathyrus

BlueBelle

Sorry Oreo but banning boxing is just a way of justifying your views Two grown adults CHOOSING to box in very closely monitored conditions is nothing like a comparison
Occasionally a boxer dies but very, very rarely not four at one match night

Race horse stables are luxurious, they are pampered, best veterinarian treatment, high quality food, along with stable lads and lassies who adore them of course they do and then they are whipped, to go faster until they make a mistake and fall, or their heart gives out. I bet they’d rather be chomping the grass with their mates under less luxurious and completely alien conditions

If they weren’t bred there wouldn’t be any to put out to pasture

Horses shouldn’t be made to run to their death by rich pampered people. Nor should bulls be tortured, nor bears made to dance…
Circus animals have been banned, so must race horses

What are you on about? My dislike of boxing has nothing to do with horse racing, it was just my thought processes when posters are talking of bans.
Boxing is barbaric, two adults intentionally fighting in that way leads to brain damage quite often, death now and then.
As another poster said, we have no need of horses now so the ones we do have need to have a purpose.Horse riding and racing are about the only thing we keep them for.Most have a very good life, unlike horses in the past.
I wouldn’t ban racing and you would, fair enough.Don’t justify your views with comparisons to bull rings or bear ‘dancing’ .

Do it gradually. As Aveline suggests, begin by getting rid of the dangerous races.
Give the breeders time to reduce stock naturally.

I would ban all whips, cruel and unnecessary IMO.

Of course, the betting angle. Where vast amounts of money is made and lost.

Good post BlueBelle.

Most people at a race event aren’t the “privileged classes”.

It’s another of those “ideas” that are nothing to do with the reality. But that produce a rallying call.

Like the picture of happy horses in the meadow just living the dream or the waves of philanthropic animal lovers who will gladly support a horse for its life time.

It’s the realists who’ll have to clean up the mess after the idealists have gone on their way to the next crusade🙄

It's not just the 'privileged class' who don't want to see an end to racing - it's probably more driven by the betting industry and the billions which are (literally) at stake.
You just had to see some of the comments on social media after those four horses died at Cheltenham - instead of expressing concern for the animals' welfare, punters were saying how they should be turned into dog food or glue!
And incidentally, I've ridden retired race horses in the past - and I do contribute to equine welfare charities.