The Grand National. When will they stop this cruel race for human entertainment?

The very core of horse racing is just all shitty though...a human being riding on it's back forcing it to run fast and jump high... It's hardly a natural pattern you'd see in the wild.

No. It's not. The very title of your post confirms that. Get some bloody education..

Are you a vegetarian?

They are bred to race. Just as cows are bred to be milked and beefed and pigs are bred to be bacon.

circle of life!!

there are bigger problems with the current human race than a bit of horse racing 🙄

They're just fish though. They don't have complex brains or anything. They would get eaten by another animal by being swallowed whole or whatever...

162000 cows were slaughtered in the UK in February this year for the meat industry.
so I can’t get too worried about a few horses tbh.

https://www.horsedeathwatch.com/ have a look..... you will soon forget about the GN.

Of course you do ShakyBake my dear. Working as a groom for horses means you can read their minds.

I worked on a race yard, albeit briefly. Anyone who thinks the horses are treated like kings understands nothing of good horsemanship.

Race horses are largely deprived of natural behaviours (turnout, socialising etc.), worked too hard too young, stressed, and fed too high energy feeds. This all leads to well documented mental and physical damage seen in racehorses and ex racehorses.

As for fishing.....next time I come across a vile diesel spill from our wonderful boating community, I shan't mention it and let it pollute as many pounds as it likes.

So why are you only bothered about the GN?

Is there no way rules could be brought in so the stables treat racing horses better? And breeders.

Probably because those don't get reported on as much and let's face it no one on here would be arsed to look for the information because they aren't really that bothered enough.
It won't be mentioned again after tomorrow

@MuskIsACnt Rubbish. Have you ever been to a racing stable? After they are bought for racing they are not a traded commodity after that very often. Clearly breeders breed to sell but racing allows the horse to develop its talents. Just look at the time, effort, care and love that goes into looking after them. Go to an open day and have a look.

I’ve visited a horse place for races and jockeys. The horses looked very well looked after. Like royalty.

I agree that they are a commodity, but you cant raise a "winner" by treating them like shit.

Because let's face it..... you don't "have to" eat meat.....plenty of alternatives out there.

What on earth makes you think the horse are loved and cherished? They are a commodity.

I worked with horses for years in my youth. If horses are your business you cannot afford to cherish them.

"But it entirely inaccurate to say there is nowhere that horses can live free. They can and do."

In the Oostvaardersplassen? That went well. 😐

Horse racing is pretty grim for the horses, but lots of horses have crappy lives and deaths (and I say that as a horse owner).

I’m more concerned about the millions of farm animals who have crappy lives and deaths just to end up on our plates.

This post has caught me a bit.....maybe I'm missing something....maybe I'm a bit jealous......I used to religiously bet on (and get super SUPER exited) about the GN until about 7 years ago when I was bored one weekend (just bog standard weekent P2P stuff) and decided to have a crafty fiver on a well known gambling site where I could have a cheeky 50p E/W and watch live online, I saw a green screen go up and it be bypassed without any mention on the next lap, once I realised what that green screen was it sent me down a rabbit hole a really horrible one, and I've never bet on the horses since. I will say one thing that I genuinely believe these horses are very much loved and cherished, but bred for one thing, if you eat meat (like me) you would be very hypocritical to complain. Horses die every single week from racing regardless of the type of race.

With the dubious of benefit of having worked in the industry when I was a lot younger and stupider...

Campaigning to ban it at this stage is futile, as previous posters have pointed out the revenue it generates across multiple industries is vast, you would not achieve your goal even remotely - all that might happen is that racing HERE in the UK is ended and horses bred here are shipped to Ireland, to Australia, Japan, USA, Dubai etc etc.

What would make a significant difference to horse welfare is some rule changes.

Ban putting horses under 3 years old into training. Ban them touching a racecourse until 5.

Instantly you cut the 'wastage' that is, horses bred excessively 'just in case they're good enough', many of whom are broken down through early training before they see a track, because the costs of keeping them around until old enough is prohibitive.

You also cut down the numbers breaking down because they're raced too young.

You'd also likely improve the handling/early training of those horses because you cannot simply leave them in a field until 3 then bring them in and start riding them, they'd need some handling and education - that stands them in better stead for a future after racing.

More time to get them properly fit to race means fewer injuries on the track, it means fewer jumping accidents too as there is time to school them properly over fences and its far less likely you'd have wild crazy jumpers people take risks on because their fast or because they have incredible stamina (many of the early fallers in the National are this type, nutters with guts but poor jumping skills).

It would also cost more to have a racehorse if you're not seeing a return on your money for four or five years, which reduces the numbers, sharpens peoples minds about taking care of them (remember with the exception of high value stallions, they're rarely insured because the cost outweighs any payout you'd get!).

Theres various other rules I'd bring in, like stipulations on access to turn out, social interaction with others etc... but this ONE change would reshape horse racing in the UK and in a way that produces higher quality, longer lasting, sounder and happier horses, which would lead other countries to follow suit.

If everyone pushing for an outright ban that will never happen in their lifetimes, pushed for this... it could happen.