Grand National

[Twotome]

Who are you betting on this year?

Sir Erec snapping his leg at Cheltenham, the atmosphere. It was just devastating. The whole crowd was so upset.
Even the commentators were so upset, and talking about how it makes you wonder if its worth it.
Saying the people in horse racing don't care is simply untrue. The lads and lasses would be devastated, taking an empty horse box home.

Fantastic for Tiger Roll - young enough for a third next year too.

Agree you can enjoy the sport but still feel sad when there is a fatality.

I’ve worked with retired racehorses for years. Don’t be fooled. They aren’t treated like royalty. They are treated well if they are worth something to their owners but the sheer volume of horses who don’t make the grade or become unsound is staggering.

They are pushed too fast, too young. They are mentally immature and physically growing, yet they are trained to within in inch of their lives (and on more than one occasion that i witnessed, beyond that limit).

Those who aren’t good enough are sold for meat or to homes/ schools. They are usually damaged mentally and scarred. If they’re ‘lucky’, they’ll be rehabilitated. If not, they’ll spend the next 20-30 years of their lives plodding around a school being yanked in the mouth.

Some may well enjoy the race but they don’t run for the love of it. Running around a paddock on their own terms with their friends, yes. They are herd flight animals and we have learned how to take advantage of that and use it. For what? Money? Adrenaline? I’m not going to go through all the problems horses came to us with. It really is awful.

I agree with the poster who said they used to be horsey. I feel so differently about it now.

Up for review was thrashing around on the floor like he couldnt get up on the TV so defo not an instant death

It's always sad when a horse dies. It's as sad when they die at home as when they die on a track. A track is just more public.

There are more ponies die from starvation, more travelers ponies die from blatant neglect and abuse and injury, more horses and ponies pts every year from managable conditions, more animals pts because they aren't financially viable as a commodity anymore.

If you want to get on your high horse about equestrian welfare then don't chose the national to do so. Not unless you have done your research. These horses are proven hunt horses. Even retiring from the track they will have useful lives elsewhere or be retired to stud or pts at home.

If you want to champion welfare in the racing industry look at the flat race industry. Many more disposable horses but never as high profile as they.dont break down generally in the public eye.

It may have been billysboy, there is a reflex which involves significant movement after an animal has died. I’m not saying for sure that it was in this case because we don’t the cause of death but it is possible that the animal was dead and that was the reflex.

When a horse breaks their neck or back the nerves send the muscles into spasm. It’s a reflex, they’re already dead, but their legs have a characteristic movement for a few seconds. Awful to see I know but the horse definitely wasn’t consciously thrashing around.

That horse tried to get up and couldn't. I've seen enough horses do that to know what I am looking at. it was horrible.

We have connections to a horse at ai tree our horse came home safe done it once won’t do it again. Immensely proud. Will live forever in garden

Frouby I sort of understand what you mean. Look at China with the Yulin festival for example. But we aren’t talking about animal welfare in general. We are talking about the Grand National in particular. And just because worse things happen, that doesn’t make the rest okay.

We have a long way to go before we are a nation of animal lovers.

When a horse breaks their neck or back the nerves send the muscles into spasm. It’s a reflex, they’re already dead, but their legs have a characteristic movement for a few seconds. Awful to see I know but the horse definitely wasn’t consciously thrashing around.

That horse was 100% alive when it was flailing about in the ground. Fuck all to do with reflex. It was alive.

Let's bet on fox hunting, bear baiting, dog fighting, hare coursing, cock fights, greyhound racing, only a flutter...

You bet, they die

That horse was 100% alive when it was flailing about in the ground. Fuck all to do with reflex. It was alive

yes it was. Horrible.

slippers there are some horrific things that happen to animals worldwide and its not a race to the bottom, I absolutely agree.

But if we are talking the Grand National, we are talking the racing industry. Anyone involved with the industry knows it's not always winners enclosures and champagne cups. Sonetimes its heartbreak and broken legs and broken necks and the screens coming up and an empty box going home.

But that true of any equestrian sport. We show ponies at a local level. We have 2 ponies at the moment. We lost one 2 summers ago. Have known friends find ponies down in the field from broken legs. Lose them to the equivalent of equine diabetes which is incredibly rare in the racing industry. Have seen resuce cases be pts from pure neglect. Known horses break their leg on hacks they have done a million times.

There are fatalities at race tracks every week, but only the ones at the big meetings get discussed. Sir Eric at Cheltenham was horrible to see.

But the vet is there in minutes. They are shot instantly by the slaughter man, they don't mess around with injections.

We lost my pony 2 years ago. Combination of age and illness catching up. Same guy that does the local racecourse came. He was incredibly kind, a brilliant horseman and pony knew nothing.

If we didn't have races, we wouldn't have an industry. And the we wouldn't have the superstars we have, the workhorses, thousands and thousands and thousands of animals born, pampered studs and broodmares, youngsters getting fat at grass, retired horses babysitting youngsters and putting a belly on. The ROR foundation is raising the profile of retired racehorses.

It's not all glamour and fairytales. But if look around the rescues up and down the country they aren't full of retired and neglected racehorses, they are full of little ponies and cobs, poorly bred with crap confirmation and who don't have a useful purpose.

It's not perfect. But in the UK, compared to other industries its not bad.

Animal abusers and those who support them are S C U M. No matter what shite you spout to justify your bloodlust, you’re only fooling yourself. Frothing over the ‘funny names !’ and the tired old cliches about ‘treated like royalty!’ only embarrasses yourselves. Go and watch the sentient beings writhing in agony and terror, funded by you, dying. Horses, greyhounds, your dinner, try to evolve a bit.

Having lost for the last two years, I just bet on Tiger Roll this year, sweepstake aside.

I really cannot see how anyone can compare a horse falling and injuring itself while running free in its field with one that is being whipped around a course and forced to take huge jumps in a scrum of other horses. There is no planet on which the two situations are comparable.

Race horses are ridden to the ground and retired off years before horses in any other industry would even have been sat on.

news.sky.com/story/i-loved-the-grand-national-until-i-saw-what-i-saw-11683970

RIP Up For Review and the others who have died in races they did not choose to participate in this year. May your legacy be that less people will bet and these races will eventually not be financially profitable so no more future horses are bred and used.

@ThunderStorms thanks great article really interesting to hear from someone with insider experience.