How are people still watch horse racing/going to the races?

[savedbyanalien]

Utterly barbaric 🤮

All this talk about the Grand National this morning.

Watching people ride these beautiful animals for sport, and if the poor beast were to fall, that's it... straight to the vets to be euthanised.

Dressing up and going to the races is gross. And I say this as someone who enjoyed doing this in my early 20s. I'm embarrassed.

Anyone else agree with me or AIBU?

@latriciamcneal

Same reason they still eat meat and dairy; comfortable denial of the horror they cause for animals in favour of personal enjoyment, convenience or habit.

Well said 😢

It's easier to turn a blind eye. But I actually feel way better mentally since knowing I'm not contributing unnecessarily to animals' pain.

Before anyone jumps on this, I'm not for one millisecond suggesting anyone can live without causing harm and pain, but taking animal products off your plate is a clear way to reduce it.

[quote deadlanguage]@Cryofthecurlew there are wild horses outside the U.K. (as opposed to ponies). And there’s no need to release them - just stop deliberately breeding them and the problem resolves fairly quickly![/quote]
There are no wild horses anywhere. They don't exist as a species any longer. There are feral horses such as the mustang in America and the brumby in Australia. There are free living horses such as the Pottokas and Camargues. These are not wild - they are domesticated horses living freely. There is a difference.

The closest thing we have to the wild horse is the Przewalski and even that seems likely to be a descendant of domesticated horses. Genuinely wild horses no longer exist. Any that you see living free are descended from domesticated horses that have strayed or are owned but free living, such as the Exmoor pony.

The horses love it. Dry your eyes

Wisherwood this thread clearly demonstrates how little people know about horses.

@WisherWood Przewalski’s horses were what I was referring to. They are not considered domesticated.

I find it really amusing how people with such "strong" views on the ethics of horse racing, only voice them for about 4 days during the National. Or maybe Cheltenham.
The rest of the year, no one bats an eyelid.
The word soapbox springs to mind! 😆

Anyway, aside from this, I'd say YABU regardless. What one person loves, another loathes. And that's fine. Without differing interests among people, the world would be a very dull place.

@deadlanguage Przewalski's are quite heavily disputed, despite having a different number of chromosomes from modern domestic horses www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/przewalski-wild-horses-botai-kazakhstan-spd

And whether or not they are descended from feral horses, they had such a severe bottleneck in the twentieth century that some of the lines do have domestic horse in them.

@toastfiend

Most fallers aren't "sent straight to the vet to be euthanised" - most are a bit stiff for a few days and then are fine. 6 horses have died in the Grand National since 2011, of course that's very sad, but it's not the massacre you're portraying it to be.

I support the racing industry. It's a big source of employment in lots of areas, it does a lot for the equestrian world as a whole (the veterinary facilities in Newmarket are breathtaking in what they can do, developed specifically for the racing industry but available to regular horse owners as well, and I'm so grateful for that after having a horse with a complex neurological issue referred to them) and the horses are treated like kings whilst in training. Having had multiple ex-racers, I am saddened that some ex-racehorses aren't offered any guarantees of responsible rehoming after their careers by more unscrupulous trainers and owners, but more and more is being done to combat this and they are finally being recognised as extremely useful and able horses outside of racing, achieving sensible prices on the market so they can't just be bought by people who wanted a cheap horse but don't have the money, or knowledge, to keep them.

I have far, far more of a problem with aspects of the leisure riding and private horse ownership industry, where people who know nothing about horse ownership and appropriate care buy ponies they don't know how to look after and keep them in miserable conditions, enormously overweight people ride horses they're too heavy for and then wonder why they've got back problems, idiots who over rug and over feed in the name of "love" and riding school horses who plod around the same arena for 4 hours a day having their mouths pulled, backs bounced on and ribs booted by people who don't know any better. Of course everyone has to learn, but life in a riding school is hard and boring for horses and ponies and it can go on for decades, at least racing is a relatively short career. Those things are far more prevalent and far more damaging overall, but no one ever says anything about them.

This is the kind of reasonable, knowledgeable post that people just won't want to hear.

I’ve given up watching horse racing. I used to love watching it because I loved horses but had to give up riding at 9 as we couldn’t afford it. Now when I look at horse riding, I can see it’s just cruel. I’m just restarting riding again as an adult and I actually think lots of aspects of horse riding are still quite cruel such as whips and bits - which is why I’m now really interested in going bitless and bridleless once I have a bit more confidence

YANBU