Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Horse racing - they killed the horse

184 replies

ludothedog · 20/08/2018 16:58

On Saturday I attended a day at the races. Great day but... one of the horses and rider fell. The horse was hurt. They killed it. There and then. On the race course. No trip to the vet to see if it could be saved, no second chance.

WTF!

I had no idea it was so ruthless. Everyone carried on with their day out like it was no big deal, like it happens all the time. It just felt so wrong but it seems like no one else was bothered.

Any horse owners out there - is this normal?

OP posts:
BobRoss2 · 20/08/2018 17:32

Horrible ‘sport’.

TERFMcDuck · 20/08/2018 17:32

So sorry Twistella Flowers.

Twistella · 20/08/2018 17:34

This might help broken legs in horses

derxa · 20/08/2018 17:34

A few months ago a horse on my farm was thought to have a problem with its stifle (?) and the owner was in bits. It turned out not to be the case. She would have put him down because she didn't want him to suffer. These things happen all the time.

Racecardriver · 20/08/2018 17:34

Well what did you expect them to do? Let it suffer for several hours while they arranged for an x rat to confirm that the obviously broken limb was broken? Or try to fix it knowing that the horse almost definitely will not recover either suffering great pain before eventually dying or, at best, ending up crippled with severely finished quality of life? They were doing the kind and responsible thing by putting the horse out of its misery.

Thehogfather · 20/08/2018 17:36

The physiology has already been explained, but in addition if they made the decision to shoot it there and then, without needing to take it away for examination, it must have been obvious, and therefore serious enough that putting it out of pain asap was the kindest thing to do.

I'm no defender of many aspects of the racing industry, but being shot on the course is a far kinder and quicker end than many ex racers get. Or others, from pets to working horses. And far preferable to the dragged out, miserable existence some owners inflict in an attempt to keep them going long after quality of life has gone. It's quite a long way down my personal list of animal welfare concerns.

Womaningreen · 20/08/2018 17:36

probably good that you went
no offence, but if you didn't realise that it was such a harsh thing, you might have walked away thinking it was all fine if you hadn't seen this.

those horses go through a lot for "entertainment".

Original poster
ludothedog · 20/08/2018 17:37

Sloth - no not free from critical thought and not goading. Horse racing is not something I've been particularly interested in or spent much time thinking about. Knowing that the horse was killed right there and then and pretty much in front of the grandstand was a shock. I also hadn't realised that pretty much all breaks in horses was fatal. I would have thought, as someone who doesn't know much about horses, that with medical attention all but the most serious of breaks could be treated.

OP posts:
FlintyBadman · 20/08/2018 17:37

Hate horse (and dog) racing Sad

This keeps a count of horses killed/put down on UK racecourses.

www.horsedeathwatch.com/

derxa · 20/08/2018 17:37

and no I'm not vegan but I do eat as little meat as possible Hmm

Crunched · 20/08/2018 17:38

It is a shock the first time you see it which usually happens when you are quite young.

These people can pay millions for these horses. My BIL is an owner, it is a business and his horses are very well insured.

Graphista · 20/08/2018 17:40

You are incredibly naive if you don't know that animals used for entertainment purposes aren't treated appallingly.

Every year the grand national highlights this (unintentionally).

I would never support the exploitation of animals in this way.

"they're horse lovers" could not disagree more!

"This is why I hate racing and won't have any part of it. It does happen all the time. Won't even take part in the office sweepstake at grand national time." Same here.

As a vegetarian myself, while I would like for more people to choose to give up eating meat too, not supporting horse/dog racing (bookies generally imo) would at least save some animals.

"but no horse races who doesn't want to race" nonsense! If that were true no horse would ever need to be "broken" nor further trained for racing.

Womaningreen · 20/08/2018 17:40

OP "I would have thought, as someone who doesn't know much about horses, that with medical attention all but the most serious of breaks could be treated."

OP I think you need to have bit of a think about how animal welfare works generally. there's a lot of things worse than death. (actually the same is true for humans but that's not for this thread).

dotdotdot3 · 20/08/2018 17:41

Race horse deaths are common. This website keeps statistics on the numbers involved.

www.horsedeathwatch.com/

Personally, I wish it would be banned.

Poloshot · 20/08/2018 17:42

Yes it's normal.

Womaningreen · 20/08/2018 17:43

not to derail

there was something really interesting posted on another thread about animal cruelty - a thought on doing the least harm that was realistic for you.

I'm not asking if OP is going to go vegan but there's ways to reduce harm - that's what this theory was saying but I can't remember the name of it.

Poloshot · 20/08/2018 17:43

@TomHardysNextWife they always report how many horses die at events like the Cheltenham festival. It's all over the media.

FlipnTwist · 20/08/2018 17:45

Puttin an animal to sleep is not cruel.They live in the here and now, they have no hopes and dreams of seeing their foals grow up ,gaduate ,get married have foals of its own

migmogmash · 20/08/2018 17:46

One of my horses broke a bone in her hind leg and did recover, but it was the splint bone which doesn't actually affect the horse's weight bearing ability, and this is the only type of leg fracture I've seen with a fairly good prognosis. Even so, it was three months in a stable with heavy bandaging and then a lot of rehab work to get her back fit again. And it cost thousands. She was kicked by another horse whilst out in the field.

If a horse breaks any of the main weight bearing bones in the leg, it really is the kindest thing to PTS- it just isn't possible to fix that kind of injury and it's very distressing to the horse (a natural flight animal) to try. Sadly seen several over the years, the majority caused by accidents out in the field. As any horsey person will know, they are very good at breaking themselves Sad

randomsabreuse · 20/08/2018 17:47

Horses don't recover from complete fractures of the main bones in the leg. Even throwing all the money in the world at the horse it is not possible - see Barbaro for an example... recoveries are possible from splint bone fractures, fractures of some of the smaller bones and incomplete fractures. Also a complete fracture of a long bone will tend to completely shred nerves and blood vessels around it meaning that even if the bone were pinnable the flesh below the bone will die - this can happen even in humans in major fractures and there is the physical possibility of long operations in humans.

Any injury to a leg means the horse is at risk of the bones in the other 3 feet dropping through the bottom of the foot which is agonising... So veterinary treatment aims to get the horse weight bearing on the injured leg asap - if not possible major risk of death.

Horses cannot lie down for any length of time - their digestive system will fail, or their respiratory system. This limits the possible length of an operation as well as rest.

Horses aren't great with anaesthetics too - some just die for no apparent reason.

Horses are badly designed for longevity, even little ponies/ normal horses are prone to breaking legs. At least a racehorse with a broken leg is dead before the adrenaline has worn off while a pet in a field has to wait for the owner to check on them (once a day potentially) and call out someone with suitable skill. Wild horse - just wait for a predator to spot them, short chase, dinner...

CaveMum · 20/08/2018 17:49

If a horse can be saved they will do so, broken legs are not usually fixable as per this statement from the British Horseracing Authority:

“The most serious type of injury sustained by racehorses are bone fractures. With advances in veterinary medicine a number of fractures sustained by horses can now be repaired, often allowing the horse to continue with either its racing career or another career, however, there are difficulties in repairing certain fractures that are not comparable to humans.
One of the biggest challenges for veterinary surgeons when treating all breeds of horses is not repairing the fracture per se, but the post-surgical complications and rehabilitation of a 500kg animal. Recuperation of a horse is a major welfare challenge, as horses do not adapt well to sustained periods of inactivity during convalescence. Additionally horses are not functionally adapted to or capable of spending large periods of time ‘lying down’ or having a limb put in a sling to prevent weight-bearing and consequently numerous life- threatening complications can result. Complicated, unstable fractures cannot withstand immediate weight-bearing and this means many fractures cannot be repaired. In such circumstances, the most humane measure is to put the horse down.
Additionally the risk of infection after injury, where the skin has been broken, is very high in horses partly due to their physiology and partly due to environmental contamination. Soft tissue injury that accompanies bone fractures in horses can further complicate repair after injury.”

As a previous poster mentioned, just look at the case of Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro - they spent a fortune on surgery and trying to fix his broken leg, but after suffering for several months he still ended up dead from complications.

Have a read of these if you want more information:

www.thehorsecomesfirst.com

www.britishhorseracing.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Equine-Injuries-and-Fatalities-2017-data-.pdf

Original poster
ludothedog · 20/08/2018 17:52

there was something really interesting posted on another thread about animal cruelty - a thought on doing the least harm that was realistic for you. this

OP posts:
SilverySurfer · 20/08/2018 17:52

I disapprove of animals being made to perform for the amusement of humans so would never go horse racing, greyhound racing, Seaworld type places and not keen on zoos. Before you ask, I eat and enjoy meat but only buy free range.

fenneltea · 20/08/2018 17:53

As awful as it is, I don' think that breaking a leg on the track is the worst that can happen to a racehorse, there are hundreds of horses bred that never make the grade and can be difficult to find good homes for, they are the wastage that nobody sees and can have horrible lives.

BanananananaDaiquiri · 20/08/2018 17:53

I'm confused OP. Only one horse died across all the UK racetracks holding meetings on Saturday. He didn't fall - he broke his leg while galloping and the jockey, recognising what had happened, pulled him up straight away. This happened three fences from home on a track renowned for having a long run in, so would barely have been visible from the grandstand, far from "pretty much in front of it".

Are you sure it was this Saturday you were at the races? Because what you describe doesn't match what actually happened to poor Clondaw Kaempfer.