The grand national is cruel to horses

[McHappyPants2012]

Alot of the horses will be injured and whipped into going faster, it's also a long race course.

I can't believe people would bet on this event

From Animal Aid:

The horses are treated like kings
Evidence suggests that, every year, thousands of horses who don?t pay their way are slaughtered for meat or killed in their yards.

Yup, when I stopped working in an office and started working at home one of the benefits is that I no longer have to justify my reasons for not wanting to take part in the sweepstake of this vile event!

Horrendous. I never bet on it and I tell everyone who asks me why not exactly why.

I am not against betting, like betting on a football event or poker ( not that I know how to play) but betting on some poor horse is sickening

I have just googled Dark Ivy and now feel sick. I can't believe this sport is still allowed to take place. So dangerous, so stupid .

I don't like it. I have a sick butterfly feeling in my stomach about it every year.

YANBU - I would never bet on it for all reasons above, it is cruel!

Halfpastwine has a good point. For every successful (and pampered) race horse there are probably twenty others that are sent to slaughter because they couldn't make it in the world of racing.

Thirteen horses have died at Aintree since 2007.

Deathwatch

Completely agree, it's disgusting. Bull fighting too and, actually, anything that uses an animal as sport.

I completely agree.

Dog racing, horse racing, bull "fighting" - barbaric.

There was a thread on here last year - a sweepstake. I joined in enthusiastically, not really thinking about it. I don't think I've ever really bothered with the GN and it's all passed me by. I started watching the race and it was just appalling. I will never, ever bet on it again. It's barbaric.

Anthying involving animals and money is never going to end well for the animals.

I must hide this thread.....

The racecourse has made several changes to try and make things safer this year. Some of the fences have been made smaller and, possibly even more importantly, the landing side drops have been reduced and some of the fences realigned to make sure the landings are level. All the fences now have orange toe boards so the horses can pick out the bottom of them to help judge their strides.

The BHA (British Horseracing Authority) has also made some changes includnig making the minimum age 7 (from 6) and all runners must have finished placed in a chase of three miles or more.

Jockeys carry air cushioned whips and can only hit horses 8 times during the duration of the race (although of course most of these will be towards the end of the race).

Like last year (although the TV companies did not know at the time) horses will be unsaddled immediately as they pass the post and washed down.

The ground at Aintree today was good to soft and this will be ideal. Soft ground is actually far safer that fast ground as it slows the horses down a bit which is usually a good thing.

The Grand National meeting, although the best known meeting in the world and full of history, is not at all indicative of the vast majority of racing either here or throughout the world.

Racehorses are very well looked after compared to many other types of livestock. Yes things can be done to improve their lot after they finish racing but racing ploughs fortunes into retraining schemes and many owners do try and find good homes for them if possible.

Not only did horses die last year, the winner was too exhausted to go into the winner's enclosure and the winning jockey was fined thousands of pounds for excessive use of his whip. If that's the way the champions are treated, imagine how badly the ones who don't make the grade suffer.

The winner wasn't really too exhausted last year - all horses had their tack taken off and washed down on the pre-event advice of the RSPCA. He was reported by his trainer to be fine afterwards and of course he runs again on Saturday.

Jason Maguire wasn't fined but he was banned for 5 days. It was the outcry afterwards that caused the BHA to bring in the new, stricter, whip rules and penalties.

I just think that we shouldn't race animals for betting. I don't care how well looked after they are.

Vile vile vile race.

It's amazing how people always find excuses for the cruel exploitation of the voiceless.

YANBU, but all horse and dog racing is cruel. I never bet on anything involving animals for this reason. Actually, I don't bet anyway, but I don't have a problem with betting on most sports that just involve humans.

It truly is sickeningly cruel. And don't forget the five horses who died at Cheltenham a few weeks back :(

I get when people say "Oh they enjoy it, when the jockey falls off, they keep running for the love of racing"

When they are riderless, they naturally seek out where they feel safe. And safety is with other horses. So they stay with the herd.

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For eye-watering, gut wrenching cruelty, done in the name of "sport" and "bravado" and "entertainment" find the *Coca-Cola Rodeo sites"

I'm sure I'm going to have to hide this thread at some point

I work in racing, though my job is more Flat orientated, so am happy to answer any questions that people may have.

What you have to remember is the sheer number of racing that takes place in this country. There are over 17,000 racehorses in training in the UK at any one time. In 2011 this amounted to over 90,000 runs, that is to say some horses raced once or twice, others 8 or 9 times. The recognised fatality statistics for British racing is around 1.6 per 1,000 runs. This compares to 2.4 in the USA. The facts and figures are out there, they are not hidden away you can find them all on the British Horseracing Authorities website.

Every fatality is a shocking loss to all connected to the horse, but you cannot eliminate 100% of the risk in anything. Take the example of a horse that sadly died at Aintree today - Gotany O's. He took a bad step whilst racing on the flat (ie he was not jumping a fence at the time) and broke his leg. This could have happened to him at home or in a field, it was a tragic accident.

Racing is not cruel to horses. They can, and often do, refuse to race. The use of whips is highly monitored, we have some of the harshest rules in the world on this matter, but can I ask how many of you have seen a racing whip? The are completely different to normal riding whips. They are heavily padded and bend a great deal - it is almost impossible to get any force behind them, so to say horses are beaten is an outright falsehood.

[dons flameproof suit]

The RSPCA and World Horse Welfare are actively involved in racing through monitoring and consultation. Animal Aid refuse to engage in any discussions - they are an extremist organisation who prefer shock tactics to grown up activities like talking.