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

What is wrong with it? The fact that so many horses die brutally, that's what's wrong with it.

Bah. If there was no racing, no one would bother to breed the horse in the first place.

I bet most of you have no problem letting your children ride the "Horsie" at open farms?

You think it's perfectly natural and humane to make an animal like that being laid back and forth with a random child on it's back every day?

I don't think anyone is disputing that they need to run. That's obvious, no?

It's the way in which this is exploited that is the point here

I don't agree with setting them up to fall.
Racing on a flat track, fine. Eventing, fine. Hunting, sure.
But to purposely cause stress and fear when it is not needed? That's not okay.

Purple, horses are built to run. And yes people breed them to make sure that it runs deeper and deeper within them (like we have with dogs and their traits). But you can never ever, take from what is a prey animal, that flight instinct when they are afraid. They continue to run because they are absolutely not wanting to be the slow one who gets caught.

'Bah. If there was no racing, no one would bother to breed the horse in the first place.'

And that would be a problem why?

There would still be enough horses for people who wanted them for other, more reasonable purposes

And how does a horse react when afraid? How do they behave?

Fifi my point is whatever a horse does for work will impact on how it dies. Hours of roadwork will jar the joints, dressage too, my old hunter hit her knee on a rail which caused arthritis eventually. But if you dont work them they die of other diseases. So I say use horses for what they are bred for. Admire and enjoy them. I am not making excuses I am trying to point out why you are wrong. I am proud to support hunting and racing.

I have never seen a horse at an open farm die of boredom, as bored as it might be.

And yes I do have a problem with horses being exploited in any way. But I prefer the sort of use that doesn't involve a high risk of dying in extreme pain and fear, if that's alright with you/

whatme it would be far better if the horse never was bred at all.

Its sad that people are so desperate for entertainment that they will make up endless excuses to persuade themselves that their actions are ethical.

It is so depressing how people kid themselves and it is so ingrained that noone will dissuade them so I will have to hide this thread before I get too drawn in and too upset.

Peyam my retired horse is one who didn't want to be the one at the back to get eaten nor the one at the front. But she was the exception. Most horses gallop for fun.

Fifi I DON'T RACE never have, so I am NOT making excuses because I enjoy it; I just have a DIFFERENT opinion to you :-)

You think that poor animal is simply bored?

I think people who know next to nothing about the behavior and needs of horses should spend some time with actual horses instead of watching Black Beauty and assuming.

I think its clear the anti people actually know very very little about horses

I am a horse owner, and frankly, racing makes me uncomfortable.
I'm not against racing horses. They love competing, haring about as a herd.
What I'm not happy with is the racing industry. Yes, the racers are well cared for, yes, it's very hard to make a horse race if it doesn't want to. But, as in the Greyhound industry, what about those that don't make the grade in the first place? 5000 foals a year born in the uk according to Tattersals.
I know far too many people who have bough a 'racehorse' for a pound. Several farmer friends have reported seeing lorry loads of thoroughbreds at the Abbatior.
In general there is a total disrespect for any animal nowadays, poultry and pigs, through to guinea pigs and hamsters, (disposable pets). But breeding many to collect a successful is particularly unpleasant.
Anyone can make numbers look favourable, that pie chart is quite ambiguous. 'reported dead' could well mean 'reported dead after slaughter.' 'exported' for what? 'sold through auction' I've seen plenty of equine auctions with the meat man lurking!

whatme it would be far better if the horse never was bred at all.

I disagree. A large number of horses get to live that otherwise wouldn't, a very small number fall over and get hurt, and an even smaller number die. Seems like a good deal to me.

I'd prefer that if it was my only shot at being alive.

If racing were to be banned tomorrow, there would be tens of thousands of horses that would need rehoming (approx 17,000 horses in training, plus around 10,000 breeding animals, plus around 15,000 young stock in the UK alone). It would not be possible to rehome/retrain that many animals in one go, and the fact is that most would be slaughtered.

Yes of course they gallop for fun. But in an enivironment of stress, they can and likely will use what was given to them by nature.

Purple, do you think wild horses sat about in the wild ignoring predators? A fearful horse with room to escape, will do so.

I would hazard a guess that the national is not statistically more dangerous than the equivalent number of miles/fences compared to other chases, it is just incredibly high profile. The reason it varies so much from year to year is partly chance, and largely down to ground conditions, but every horse is different and some love firm fast ground and others love mud. I personally would like the maximum entry numbers reduced to reduce the risk factor and make it a truer test of jumping.

A jockey cannot fundamentally make a horse run/ jump if they do not want to. However they can direct and harness that power by working in partnership. Anyone who questions whether horses enjoy racing should stand at the exit of a parade ring and watch 17 year old stablegirls trying to keep their horses from running onto the course. That's not fear, or running with the pack, that's a love of running.

The sad fact is horses are not particularly well engineered, which is why they are so often put down for a broken leg. I have known several do themselves irreparable damage in a field or stable. I have some issues with racing very young horses on the flat because of this - the hidden number of two year olds who break down each year is far far in excess of the number of mature horses who die at Aintree or cheltenham, but unfortunately that doesn't make spectacular breakage headlines.

Saggy, the major Thoroughbred auction houses have minimum selling prices to prevent horses being sold for meat. £800 is the lowest minimum I have seen, and at the more prestigious sales the minimum price is in the 000's.

I agree, the grand national ad mum sways told me is and always was one of the most horrendous races. And though over time its been made less dreadful, horses still die. It's wrong, and its what stopped me putting a bet, on last years winner too. I cant profit from something like that, but from football, like hoe many red cards goals etc, its what they choose to do. Plus I have never bet.

Right so it needs to be sorted so that horses don't die doing it. Or banned gradually. If it isn't banned, then the cycle just continues.

What to do about the poor creaturesthat would be abandoned if they weren't making shitloads of money is not a good argument for continuing to put them at risk.

And no, of course the child-caryring horse is not just bored. Of course it is probably suffering to some extent. But at least it isn't lying under bechers with a broken neck. Your arttempts at distraction from the point of the thread are a bit pitiful.

I agree catgirl, They think Mr Pickles at the local farm is what a happy horse looks like.

Never mind. I have always noticed people who are against racing always choose to ignore any other cruelty. Real cruelty that crushes a horses spirit.

Newspaper, not breakage...

Racing is not cruel. It is no more dangerous than eventing or hunting but no one gets worked up about that because it is not high profile