AIBU to suggest The Grand National should be banned..it's abuse

[AnnieMaybe]

Watching the channel 4 programme 'how to get a Grand National Winner'

The whole thing is nothing but animal abuse for monetary gain

It should be stopped/banned

Is this not the case for other horse races? Or is it solely the Grand National?

I admit I don't like it. Healthy horses die way too frequently during, or as a direct result of, this showpiece of British culture for my liking.

YABU. It's a fab day out.

Sorry, posted too soon. Meant to add that, as much as I dislike the Grand National, horses also die needlessly in other 'races'.

I see no need for horse racing at all.

It's a Fab day out ...abuse of animals

I won't be betting on it or watching it.

It's not my idea of 'entertainment'.

Oh, it's a fab day out. Excellent. So sod the horses who end up with a broken neck then. So long as some humans had fun .

Bechers brook brings me out in a cold sweat....yanbu.

This sort of thing should be stopped not only the Grand Natioanl but all horse racing and polo too

All horse racing is grim.

I don't understand why it's a thing.

Yanbu OP. Some twat at work emailed round info about a sweepstake he was starting. Ended the email "which horse will survive the dreaded jumps".

Santa Other horse races are different insofar as they don't have horse running flat out at 8 foot hedges. The Grand National is also a full on even rather than just one day for one race so other races are covered in disliking it.

I hate the "horses enjoy it" argument - if horses enjoyed leaping that kind of jump, paddock fences wouldn't only be about 4 foot high would they.

YANBU.

All horse racing should be banned, though. Not just The Grand National.

Santa that last para wasn't at you. Poorly formatted.

Oh, it's a fab day out. Excellent. So sod the horses who end up with a broken neck then. So long as some humans had fun .

Well harsh as it might first appear, yes, exactly that. The GN is a huge economic event, and I feel no more compelled to save the horses that might die, than I do to save the chickens and cows and pigs that will also die and then get eaten there.

Excellent Alisvolatpropiis if the horse without a person on its it's back thought jumping over things were cool we'd a many a horse out it's paddock and creating havoc on the high street

@Acridbottomgravy Well harsh as it might first appear, yes, exactly that. The GN is a huge economic event, and I feel no more compelled to save the horses that might die, than I do to save the chickens and cows and pigs that will also die and then get eaten there.

I bet your not not betting on the the lifes of the chickens and cows and pigs though

It's only an economic event but people bet on it and think it's fashionable

The owners of these horses that run and win are members of the Royal family over several nations

It's a game for them 'my horse is better than your horse said the queen of england to the king of saudi arbia

I'm not being awkward but I'm truly struggling to see your point. No I'm not betting on the chickens and cows and pigs. But then I'm not eating the horses either.

Do you not see a difference with an animal used for sport/gamble/entertainment as to one killed humanly as a food source?

Most owners of national hunt houses are not royals. The real money's in flat racing and breeding.

And there's an argument that says in lowering the Grand National fences and modifying the course in the way it's been done you increase the pace and the risk of casualties.

Horses not houzes

horse racing /bull fighting, not really my thing, but I don't feel strongly about it to protest.

And just for the record there is no such thing as being killed 'humanely'.

It just makes us feel better to believe there is.

Agree. Not to mention the thousands of horses bred to race who fail to make the grade. Or the thousands who have given their hearts to earn their breeders/trainers/owners/jockeys money, only to be discarded as soon as they are past it. I grew up in an area where the majority of riding school horses were ex-racers. They were the lucky minority. Really shocking - those profiting from racehorses should be responsible for what happens to them afterwards.

The whole thing makes me sick.

YANBU not to enjoy or want to participate in horse racing, but YABU to want it banned.

There are far, far worse fates for any animal than a quick death when the adrenaline is flowing, after a life spent receiving the best of care. Racehorses are not "abused"; no one in racing wants a horse to die and everyone within the sport, especially the regulators, the racecourse executives and the vets are actively working to make racing safer. A combination of horse anatomy and the risks associated with high speed mean that unfortunately it will never be possible to eliminate death and injury entirely, but that doesn't stop the quest for improvements. As it happens, I'm concerned that some of the changes to the National fences may have been counter-productive if they encourage more speed and less respect but after a trouble-free Foxhunters chase on Thursday, I hope to be wrong about that.

Horses die everywhere, every day, and there are far more unpleasant, drawn out, lingering and suffering-filled deaths through neglect, actual abuse, benign neglect through ignorance than the fate which awaits a tiny proportion of racehorses. The only difference is those deaths aren't beamed live into your sitting room. But they are happening, and some of us are actively involved in trying to prevent them while still supporting racing.

Racing isn't perfect, but it isn't "abuse".

A Norrmal horse doesn't come to the end of a gallop coverered in white sweat gloop

I always found it horrifying and I don't watch it any more.

Here is a list of casualties since 1839. 14 at Becher's Brook alone. I personally think it is too high a price for animals to pay for human entertainment.

In 1862 a jockey died.