That the Grand National should end

[LlynTegid]

The cruellest horse race, at least on these shores. Hope no horse is injured or killed before it is stopped for good.

All competitive racing should be banned not only for the horses deaths caused but the way the animals are treated in tearing for and after retirement from racing. Their whole lives are barbaric.

Horse racing is absolute cruelty to the animals. Another reason the royals should go.

All horse racing and animal cruelty should be banned.

What would be the solution then? Ban racing, shoot them all so there would no longer be race horses? Would that be better?

So much whataboutery on this thread!
''There are things worse than the GN so lets keep it'' ??

Banning the GN would be a good start so lets start there.

Using animals for sport and then disposing of them when they're old and.or infirm is disgusting.

The horses might want to race but they aren't in a position to evaluate the likelihood of their dying as a result. The humans who put them into the race can make the evaluation.

It's really easy to dismiss objections to the sport as virtue signalling, but we are all anonymous on here - we don't get any points for being seen to be virtuous. People are just stating their reactions. There's literally nothing in it for us to do so other than stating our beliefs.

I honestly can't get worked up about it. Of course it's sad when any animal dies needlessly, but in the grand scheme of things the national is a drop in the ocean. These threads come up every year with both sides weighing in. Ultimately it will always go ahead whilst people are willing to pay good money for it. The horses live a better life than I do tbh, we place for too many human feelings on animals - they don't know they might get injured & shot. They run like they're bred to do.

@DownWithThisKindOfThing absolutely, it's in the public eye so attracts attention from people who wouldn't normally give two hoots about racehorses or their welfare. Boils my piss every year 😂

No-one's saying keep the Grand National. More that the GN is a drop in the ocean that brings out performance activists once a year to complain about something that goes on day in day out.

More horses have died this year in all races in the UK than have in the Grand National in the last 20 years.

So banning the GN isn't 'a good start' it's a barely noticeable blip in the statistics.

What happens to race horses now when they are no longer used for racing?

Because according to the British Horseracing Authority they all go on to happy lives......so I assume that would happen if horseracing was ended tomorrow.

''Lets carry on because we don't know how to stop.''

Really?

They'll nearly all get shot in the end anyway. So yes, lets stop breeding for racing, shoot or retire them all, and stop the circus.

It also focuses the attention of a lot of people who spend the whole year caring about animal welfare.

Humans take part in the sports knowing full well what the risks are. I'm sure if you said to a rugby player that if s/he breaks their leg then they'll be shot they'll think twice about playing. Horses have no idea that it's game over if they fall.

There are other races yes, but it would be a good start precisely because it's such a famous race.

I think Racehorse rescue would disagree with most of the pro horse racing comments on here.

I’ll leave this here for those who want to read the accurate statistics around racing in Britain.

https://horsepwr.co.uk/

Here we go. Same ill-informed nonsense every year.

A bunch of clueless non-horsey people who don’t understand that horses can, and do, seriously injure themselves in the field at home every single day. And that many of those injuries sadly are not treatable. They also don’t understand that racehorses have fantastic lives & get pampered with the very best of everything, unlike the scruffy neglected ponies you see in muddy paddocks up & down the country. But never mind all that & carry on with your ignorant virtue signalling. 🙄

Honestly. Having been around racers since the age of 3, I would say categorically that the horses are treated like royalty. Think heated barns, massages every day, strict diet and exercise programme. Lots of love from trainers and groomspeople.
Would you stop wagon racing?
Horses and carriages pulling for weddings/Funerals?
Racing will never stop, it is the sport of kings after all.
And there is SO much money in it.

Humans have a choice to participate.

Hth.

I do love this argument! Have you ever tried to force a horse to do anything it doesn’t want to?! Most racehorses are around 500kg and your average Flat jockey weighs about 8 stone - guess who is going to win in a battle of wills…

I honestly think that time is running out for equestrian sports.

There has been lots of discussion about cruel riding and training methods from several top riders (I'm talking about dressage here).

The showjumping has already been removed from the modern pentathlon event in the olympics following the abuse of a horse by one of the competitors.

People aren't liking what they are seeing a lot of the time and I'm not sure it will continue as it is for any of the disciplines including racing.

For what it's worth I know that racehorses are treated well day to day. But is it any longer acceptable to use any living animal for our own gains? Or if there is prize money etc at stake will the animal always be pushed maybe too far, too fast etc as winning becomes the aim?

Yeah, all those horses are definitely entering the grand national in the full knowledge that mistiming a jump can result in them getting shot.

Ffs.

I think horses have quite sad lives. They change hands many times over a lifetime. But I also know nothing about horses. I don't really want to comment on things I don't understand. I do see incredible cruelty of horses pulling traps up our A road with the owner punching it but nothing is ever done and no one feels safe to confront the owners. That's a shit life for certainty. Being tethered on roundabouts in hosing estates and the owners insistent they are happy. If they ARE happy then why not race horses? For every person who says all this cruel there's someone saying it's not

I think this is one of the things that's changing- I'm a horsey person, have been all my life, but even some horsey people are changing their minds about racing.

I'm not into any horse racing, for this reason 🙁
So unnecessary