Another Death at Aintree

It’s shocking and very cruel

Fully support Lucy Locket55 for her knowledgable, well written post. So many ‘urban’ people have strong opinions on matters they do not understand. Coming from a rural, farming family, I have seen the Countryside gradually being overtaken by those moving into an environment they then wish to change. Most of those involved with animals care for them a great deal. There are always exceptions.

Interesting conversation about racing going on right now on James O’Brien. His opening question/ statement to be completed by each caller ‘I know that horses die but it’s worth it to me because….’

Some interesting responses as well.

Fleurpepper

MaizieD

25Avalon

That is very perturbing MayBee if Aintree isn’t top of the list.

But MayBee has just said that it's not top of the list when it comes to fatalities and injuries. So why should that be perturbing?

Perturbing that a course that has cause so many fatalities and injuries is not the worse. Worrying that some are even more worse! (aware of grammar).

I was just querying why it's perturbing that Aintree isn't at the top of the list when its been said that other racecourses are worse.

icanhandthemback

Horses take 6 or 7 years for their skeleton to be fully developed, one of the last areas being their spines and neck. It is actually destructive to ride them before this age, let alone race them at a year old. We should really look at using horses as beasts of burden and have a rethink taking their development into account but we won't because it is the richer element of society who do the most riding.
equineink.com/2019/08/10/the-stages-of-equine-skeletal-development/

That's why I dislike flat racing so much, icanhandthemback. There is an argument that racehorses are bred to mature earlier (they certainly foal earlier in the year, which means a bit more growing time before they become yearlings) but racing yearlings, or even 2 year olds, is stretching it a bit too far, IMO.

Actually, horses are very poorly designed to carry the weight of a rider at the point that they do. They need to be brought on slowly to develop the necessary muscle strength to support their back and ribs.

So what about the 47 horses that died on the tracks this year before the grotesque Grand National? There weren’t any protesters there when they were killed. The pathetic blaming of those brave protesters is laughable. As is the ‘townies know nothing about the countryside’ argument. What people are learning is that there’s a lot of cruelty to greyhounds/racehorses/ wildlife and it’s high time it was stopped.

It will never end sadly. It’s what the horses are bred to do. I’ve seen many broken down racehorses at the horse auctions going for meat. I bought one once and got him well again. We called him George . My daughter show jumped on him. He was a complete gentleman and we loved him dearly

Dillonsgranma I’m so heartened to hear this. I can’t bear to watch the Grand National either. Thank you for giving one boy a happy ending.

There was nothing brave about the protesters. The police were there to ensure they didn’t get hurt. They unsettled the horses. No way to further their cause.

MayBee70

The only people at Aintree that wanted a fatality yesterday were the protesters which is why they’re looking on yesterday as a victory . I totally respect their right to protest and the racing authorities will look at the points they raise but they did it in a way that had an adverse effect on the very horses they were supposedly protecting.

The rowdy protesters caused at least one of the deaths because they deliberately spooked the poor horses.

Two thoughts on this controversy:
I know people who own race horses or have shares in them. Unless they happen to have a winner it is very expensive to keep a horse in training and it seems like money down the drain to me. Likewise those who spend money they probably can't afford on gambling at the races.
If we didn't have a racing industry in this country, I guess the wealthy owners would just move their horses to other countries where maybe the animal protection standards are not as high.

I’ve already said I don’t agree with the protestors’ actions but it’s ridiculous to blame them for the deaths. I’m sure the horses were het up after the delay. The responsibility then lay with the owners, trainers, vets, stewards, all those with direct responsibility for the horses’ welfare to make sure they were ok or to withdraw them from the race.

I respect everybody's right to protest but I do think that the delay to the Grand National contributed to the chaos at the first fence and the eventual death of the horse.

Race horses are highly strung animals and the much longer walk around that was the result of the delay caused them a lot of stress. It was well publicised that the police were going to do their job and remove protesters anyway and that the race would more than likely go ahead. Protest if you need to but please do it in a way that does not cause distress to the animals you are protesting for.

👏👏👏

I take it all of us against it are vegetarians?
Polo should be banned, medieval torture devices labelled as bridles, tied in, bitted up, strapped down, yanked in the mouth from start to finish.

Whataboutery doesn’t make this right.

The vast majority of jump horse owners are NOT Arab. Many are owned by syndicates of ordinary people who club together to be able to afford to partake.

missdeke

I respect everybody's right to protest but I do think that the delay to the Grand National contributed to the chaos at the first fence and the eventual death of the horse.

Race horses are highly strung animals and the much longer walk around that was the result of the delay caused them a lot of stress. It was well publicised that the police were going to do their job and remove protesters anyway and that the race would more than likely go ahead. Protest if you need to but please do it in a way that does not cause distress to the animals you are protesting for.

Correct, the horse that sadly died had a heart attack, probably caused by the prolonged run up to the race itself.
He'd never fallen before.
I hope those protesters are having a long hard look at the effect their behaviour had.

nightowl

I’ve already said I don’t agree with the protestors’ actions but it’s ridiculous to blame them for the deaths. I’m sure the horses were het up after the delay. The responsibility then lay with the owners, trainers, vets, stewards, all those with direct responsibility for the horses’ welfare to make sure they were ok or to withdraw them from the race.

Agreed, totally unfair to blame protesters for the deaths.
As you say nightowl, if the owners, riders, vets and stewarts realised that the horses were unsettled, nervous and spooked- they should have taken them out of the race or cancelled. But didn't, because it is all about money.

Absolutely barbaric....😪😪

I love watching the grand National on tv, it’s very exciting.
I’ve been to a few little race courses, also fun, and the horses seemed very well cared for and content.

netflixfan

I love watching the grand National on tv, it’s very exciting.
I’ve been to a few little race courses, also fun, and the horses seemed very well cared for and content.

Even the dead ones?

I grew up watching the GN, ( on TV) always had a sweepstake, love it. The horses are like top athletes, the horse that was put down after the first fence was most probably spooked by the waiting with the stupid protesters. We have been to Chester races Ladies Day a few times, once they put a horse down in front of us, with a tarpaulin to shield the view, not nice, but didn’t traumatise me!

I hate it too. Its up there with greyhound racing for me. Both should be banned!!

What’s a dead horse or two when you can enjoy looking at all the nice happy horsies?

I bloody despair sometimes.