Horse racing and cruelty

I think that there are certain breeds of horse bred for the table?

Not sure if all horses can go for human consumption, something to do with their annual vaccinations.

I don't think the scandal is about the destruction of horses in general, we all know people who cripple themselves financially to keep old ponies and horses living a contented and happy retirement. The issue is over breeding in race stables and the subsequent destruction of otherwise healthy, but 'not good enough' horses, sometimes in sight of each other. The usual denials on BBC news at lunchtime from breeders and trainers who claimed they did not know this went on. Yeah right.

JaneJudge

Some of them are eaten aren't they?

Since we are all going to diverge all over the place- I shall try and link that comment to the OP.

I have no objection whatsoever of horses being eaten (although I never have and never will) - but the point of the Panorama programme and OP is that horses discarded by the Racing Industry should NOT be transported vast distances and especially not when injured. That transport should be as short and as humane as possible, in comfort with water, etc- and that slaughter should be done properly and according to our Laws- as humanely as possible and not in sight of each other.

Kali2

JaneJudge

Some of them are eaten aren't they?

Since we are all going to diverge all over the place- I shall try and link that comment to the OP.

I have no objection whatsoever of horses being eaten (although I never have and never will) - but the point of the Panorama programme and OP is that horses discarded by the Racing Industry should NOT be transported vast distances and especially not when injured. That transport should be as short and as humane as possible, in comfort with water, etc- and that slaughter should be done properly and according to our Laws- as humanely as possible and not in sight of each other.

I do agree with you, I don't think my brain is in gear all the time. I don't think I can bear to watch the program either.

It's all very well wanting to police other's comments but the remit of the original post is as it is because it is a response to a programme based on secret filming by an animal charity.

Apart from those of us with knowledge of the horse world, of which racing is part, what are people supposed to say? Racing is a huge industry, it has its practices like any other. Without knowledge or consideration of the wider field of animal welfare, the response can go no further than 'oh dear, how terrible'. Laws get broken where things are hidden, it happens all the time and as others have said, trainers and breeders know this goes on.

Everyone has a right to comment as they see fit and different perspectives will deepen thought on an issue rather than close it down.

GrannyGravy13

I think that there are certain breeds of horse bred for the table?

Not sure if all horses can go for human consumption, something to do with their annual vaccinations.

No horses in UK bred for meat, elsewhere yes, probably not on a large scale. If you have a steak in Europe it may or may not be beef

Not sure about vaccinations, horses that have had painkillers or antibiotics can’t be used for meat or pet food.

Thoroughbreds don’t, on the whole, make good pets. Far too highly strung. They’re a commodity and when they’re no longer needed they are usually destroyed. Tonight’s programme looks at the awful treatment they receive on the way to, and at, the abattoirs.

I shall watch but will then wish I hadn’t as I’m quite involved in animal rights and I know it will upset me. Lots of people believe, because there are laws in place to protect animals, that these laws are observed. They rarely are.

tickingbird

Thoroughbreds don’t, on the whole, make good pets. Far too highly strung. They’re a commodity and when they’re no longer needed they are usually destroyed. Tonight’s programme looks at the awful treatment they receive on the way to, and at, the abattoirs.

I shall watch but will then wish I hadn’t as I’m quite involved in animal rights and I know it will upset me. Lots of people believe, because there are laws in place to protect animals, that these laws are observed. They rarely are.

Thoroughbreds are usually fine in later life I they are not “highly strung”. Many go on racing or competing into their teens
The Arab horses are used for flat racing are pretty lively when they are young, females are very often used for breeding, males less so, some are used for meat. In general Arabs are the most valuable and are very well cared for, anyone breaking welfare rules would get expelled from the sport.

Katie59 Very well cared for until they stop getting the required results! These horses being shot aren’t in later life. Racehorses are ridden from a young age - far younger than ordinary hacks, and I beg to differ regarding thoroughbreds being fine. Some are but the majority aren’t I can assure you.

Katie59 yes, absolutely. Re racehorses moving on, there's always such disagreement in the horse world. If you've been riding all your life and you're confident, probably you can manage an ex racehorse. If you're nervous, not very experienced, don't understand thoroughbreds, then it's more unlikely that you'll successfully take one on. I've seen it - an 'unmanageable' horse gets given to someone who has experience and it's a completely different outcome.

Also I see we have one poster, always the same one, who seems to know everything about everything. The whip used be it a "wide bladed" whip (never heard of that one in all my 70+ years) is used to make the horse go faster. A horse is the most obliging animal there is and will always do it's best for the rider and whipping is cruel and not needed and not allowed in other horse disciplines.

Completely uncalled for personal comment, lavenderzen and as you appear to know nothing at all about horses the whole post was probably best left unsaid...

I've just remembered my trip to Iceland about twenty years ago - the Japanese members of our party wanted to eat horse meat, they were excited about it.

I wanted to ask if anyone knows where the horses are going?

Shandy - the slaughter house

We have had previous threads about horse racing and the general feeling was that "it's natural for horses to want to race", they are much loved by their owners and trainers, etc, etc. Some of us disagreed and pointed to the huge numbers of horses that are destroyed - like unwanted pieces of equipment - every year.

Grannygravy13 What was "sensationalist" about the programme? It quoted the number of horses that were being destroyed each year and it showed footage of horses being extremely cruelly treated - being transported sometimes hundreds of miles when they had injuries and could not weight bear and being shot at from a distance. I would have thought that, as you say you have had many horses and ponies, you would be outraged at the cruelty and needless loss of life involved in the racing "industry" but it seems you are only outraged that it has been exposed.

I hope many people have seen the Panorama programme and at least some of them will re-think their support of this so-called sport.

MD I have owned horses all my life actually.

Eloethan I haven’t watched the programme, and in all honesty I probably never will.

We always have an empty stable/small field available for emergency rescue ponies/horses the majority are able to be re-homed.

I am angry at any/all forms of animal cruelty, and have seen the end results first hand.

I too did not have the stomach for watching all of the cruelty shown within this programme.
Having lived in a rural county all of my life I have noticed that very wealthy people can get away with quite a lot of cruelty and pass it off as sport.
As a child I used to follow the hunt most Saturday mornings on my bike, until I actually say the kill and how the blood was smeared on the face of my 9 year old friend from Sunday school.
Went I went home very upset and told my parents they said "Well, toffs have always done that and always will".
Fortunately change did come in that area.
However, large scale shoots are still very much in vogue and vast numbers of birds are breed to be shot for sport!
As for the horse racing/meat trade/abattoir industry well, I doubt many people attending racing even consider the end route for these poor animals, the meat trade is shady and has been for a long time.
Realistically, if you work in an abattoir, what are the consequences of reporting?
Losing your job .....fear of being intimidated, fear of the top people catching up with you.
In society today people don't report drug dealers out of fear, the same will probably apply to this chain of trade as well.

Shandy57

I wanted to ask if anyone knows where the horses are going?

There is a lot of horse meat eaten in Europe, some would also end up in pet food. Flouting welfare regulations cannot be defended, rifle shooting in a closed area is very dangerous that needs a lot of explanation.

I have very mixed feelings about flat racing as the horses are raced before they are mature but I've been to several racing stables and know lots of people in the industry, IME the horses are very well looked after and many will be retrained after their career ends. I've owned an ex racehorse, he'd gone on to be quite successful as an eventer and came to me in his early teens as a hack and dressage horse. He was a lovely sensible horse and my 14 year old daughter used to do some PC stuff on him.
However, no horse should be transported when lame or sick and having watched last night's programme I was appalled to see how horses were being handled and euthanased . What I saw was illegal as well as cruel and I fear there are some very unscrupulous people out there but they do not, IMO, represent most people involved in racing. I don't have a problem with horses being PTS, often it's the kindest thing to do but it must be done well and according to the law. fwiw, the whips used in racing are highly regulated and make a noise rather than inflict pain. Every horse I have owned has had a mind of it's own, horses won't race or jump if they don't want to, I had a little TB who had never raced but he loved to gallop, always wanted to be at the front and lived a full and happy life until he was 28!

I’m not going to watch the programme as I don’t want to see images that will stay with me. But I believe most of the horses being slaughtered at the abattoir weren’t ex racehorses. From what I’ve heard two of them were and, sadly one of them was a horse that a previous lass had been searching for as she wanted to give him a home. Perhaps it would be better for horses and ponies if they didn’t have such a long lifespan. Even with the best will in the world it’s difficult to know for certain that you can devote 30 plus years of your life to an animal, especially one that is a 24/7 commitment and very expensive to look after if your financial circumstances change (as mine did). And I’ve heard people say several times that they were giving a horse a home for life only for them to sell that horse within a short space of time. Horses can end up being a long time retired and even then are prone to colic laminitis and grass sickness.

Extract from Animal Aids report: 'We filmed 267 horses and ponies being killed over
five days between October 2019 and February 2020.
Horses of differing breeds and types and of various
ages were presented for slaughter, including
professional sport horses, and others from specific
breed societies and managed feral herds.
Researchers from BBC Panorama were able to
identify, in our footage, some horses from the racing
industry - including those who had earned
substantial sums of money for their owners through
racing, as well as others who had ended up at
slaughter because of their perceived lack of ability.'
That's an awful lot of horses in a short space of time. There's also a link on Animal Aids website to a petition to limit horse breeding.

If they were filming it for 4/5 months and realised the abattoir were euthanising the horses in an unethical way why didn’t they blow the whistle earlier.

MayBee70

If they were filming it for 4/5 months and realised the abattoir were euthanising the horses in an unethical way why didn’t they blow the whistle earlier.

That would have finished the investigation, which was more important in their eyes

“That's an awful lot of horses in a short space of time. “

Putting that into perspective, it is estimated there are 850000 horses in the UK, if the average lifespan is 20yrs (it probably isnt) , that’s 42000 hoses die each year.

In reality quite likely half would be euthanized at home because they were not fit to travel, that still leaves a lot going to slaughterhouses