It’s grand national day! Who are you backing?

[shadowchancesassy]

And what a glorious day for it. I’ve chosen vanillier, minella cocooner, and stumptown 🐎

I went to Aintree on Thursday. It was a fantastic day out watching top quality racing. I’ve been to nearly all UK racecourses and many overseas. I have also visited a number of racing yards and know that most people commenting on here are woefully misinformed.

It's not just the brutality of the main races - these are the horses that are good enough to race The ones who don't are a waste by-product. There are not the homes to take on these beautiful and complex horses

Same goes for greyhounds . Ones who are not good enough to race or are good enough to make money from but once they are past their useless best at very young ages they are scrap

They don't have a happy ending most of the time Rescues are full and only a tiny % get their happy ever after homes

I can guarantee you that the majority of us who abhor horse racing are not misinformed, on the contrary, we are quite informed.

So horses don’t die? They tend not to keep dead horses in stables so when you visited the racing yards you may not have seen them.

How are we misinformed?

Misinformed?

About what ?
The deaths ? The injuries? The backing and racing of very immature animals?

There was a similar GN post last year and a post about the breeding process involved the cutting and stitching of the mare due to pelvic tilt . I'm not easily shocked but it made me feel sick

The very unnatural lives they lead

Visited in what capacity

They both walked into the horse ambulances. Celebre D'Allen has gone home and Broadway Boy is staying at Aintree overnight as a precaution.

The argument that breaks out on every single thread about animal cruelty and exploitation around hypocrisy is so bloody tedious.

The less animal suffering in the world the better. If someone can’t or won’t give up meat, they can still do something by e.g. choosing higher welfare meat, not wearing fur, etc. This is an area where every little bit really does help. I hate this idea that it’s somehow morally purer not to give a shit about any of it at all if you aren’t a strict vegan.

And the grand National is really low hanging fruit.

Me too. Those poor horses what they go through for ‘entertainment’. It’s disgusting.

@CassiasC This is an area where every little bit really does help. It really doesn't help the 80 billion land animals that are being killed each year for human consumption. A little bit really does not help them.

Obviously not, no.

I’m not sure what your point is.

My point is that buying 'higher welfare meat' and not 'wearing fur' (do people still wear fur in the UK?), isn't going to solve the problems that animals face. What might help solve the problem a little is for people to get their heads out of their backsides and realise that animals feel pain and they suffer as a consequence of humans choosing to eat them. I think it should be compulsory that if you want to eat an animal, you should kill it. I bet a majority of the population would be vegetarian given that choice.

Cockapoos too 😳 the horror!

dh won £2500 today 🥳 all going in my boob job fund.

None, it is barbaric.
How can it be OK for animals to regularly die during a 'race'? And by falling onto their necks? It's so weird that we allow this. Gross.

You.ve just jumped the fecking shark now

This is an issue that a lot of people have quite rightly expressed an abhorrence to and you're just royally taking the piss.

I.m out . No need for me to waste my time here

You think you are informed however that’s very different from actually being informed.

Out of interest when did you last visit a racing yard? What did you think of it?

This is such a weak argument.

You can’t oppose anything because you’re not radical enough in your views?

I don’t like fried eggs so I’m a hypocrite for eating scrambled and boiled?

We’re obviously arguing at cross purposes. You’re looking at solving the problem. I’m saying that abstaining from certain things or buying alternatives is better than nothing. A world without the GN in my view is better than one with it. If that means those that oppose it are hypocrites, so be it.

And, yes, every so often fur does threaten a comeback and has never gone away in many parts of the world. I almost bought a jacket I thought had a fake fur hood trim in an Italian outlet centre very popular with foreign tourists a few years ago. Then I saw the tag proudly proclaiming it was real fur. No need to put it in quotation marks as it does happen.

"made to jump heights that can and do kill them."

https://www.irishracing.com/news/Nick-Rockett-powers-to-famous-National-victory-for-Willie-and-Patrick-Mullins/255233

^Yesterday's race, I think this was near the end. The winner, Nick Rockett on the left of picture with jockey in black and orange silks, was one of the smallest horses in the race.

https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/344103227772101814/

^the olden days

It's not the height of the fences now. The horse killed in a fall on Thursday was in a hurdle race where the jumps are even smaller. The Grand National isn't a special kind of bad. As I said on the other thread, I think it's OK to let horses take the risk of jumps racing be it hurdles, birch chase fences, the Cheltenham XC banks or the Grand National spruce, with some conditions like the ongoing improvement in course and fence design. Many people feel that jumps racing in its entirety is unacceptable, or that all racing, jumps and Flat should be banned. But the Grand National fences aren't worse than other fences now.

I don't think I've ever seen a poster be so defensive and awkward before.

OP, seeing as you asked what we who disagree with this abhorrent "Sport" are doing, me and three friends wrote a letter to ITV yesterday asking for them to stop broadcasting.

Here's the link for anyone wanting to do the same: 😃

https://action.animalaid.org.uk/page/122399/action/1?ea.tracking.id=redirect

This

That's funny because we think you are.

Oh well, that's alright then carry on using them for your entertainment, it doesn't matter.

66 in 25 years…that’s hardly epic proportions!

Might as well kill all horses in this country now, if they’re not racehorses they have no use, who would pay to keep them?