Why is a jockey who rides a horse to death not charged with animal cruelty?

[Shelby2010]

Just that really.

Whipping an animal until it collapses with exhaustion, witnessed by millions. But it’s ok because the people who own racehorses are rich & influential.

They get fined for excessive use of whips

Absolutely disgusting. Poor poor horse. I cried when I read this. The jockey should be punished in some way

Heartbreaking 💔

That poor poor horse.

It made me sick reading this. Absolutely barbaric. Unfortunately, nothing will be done and the jockey was already "cleared" of any wrongdoing 😡😡😡

Why is entertainment (watching horses race when you could watch eg football) worse than indulgence (eating meat, possibly multiple times a day, when you could eat plants)?

Paul Townend, the jockey riding Gold Dancer, did absolutely nothing wrong today. He is blameless.

I watched the race live. Gold Dancer ran & jumped brilliantly & was leading the race comfortably going into the final fence. He was obviously not exhausted or even particularly tired. The jockey saw a good stride, but the horse unexpectedly made his first jumping mistake & hit the fence with his back legs. He stumbled but kept his feet & ran in to win the race. He looked fine as he crossed the line. He only became obviously lame after the race at which point Townend dismounted.

The injury was a tragic accident. Unfortunately horses sometimes do injure themselves. That’s just the reality, and it will be understood by the owners & trainer. They must be devastated because Gold Dancer ran like a future champion today. RIP.

They must be devastated because Gold Dancer ran like a future champion today. RIP.

And to me, that says it all about YOUR mentality. Not devastated because a horse has suffered terribly, but because it ran like a future champion (🤑🤑🤑). This cruel sport needs to be banned now.

Any child can tell when a horse is lame. You are seriously saying that a star jockey didn't notice the horse was lame after the last fence?! Continuing to race a horse with a broken back is absolutely criminal and evil almost beyond belief (I say "almost" as unfortunately I am not surprised given my own experience with the equine community)

Look at the posture of that poor horse. It looks so very wrong yet they didn’t stop. Horrific.

https://extra.ie/2026/04/10/sport/golden-dancer-death-aintree

Edited to add: that picture must have been AFTER the finish line? Because surely nobody would continue riding and whipping a horse from that position. It’s horrendous 😔

Are you for real?

I hope in 50 years time we look back on this horrific “sport” with the contempt it deserves. A bit like some of the Victorian era’s practices that would be inconceivable now. However, I won’t hold my breath.

"That's just the reality", it's not reality. Racing is an engineered environment of risk where the chance of injury is all part of the spectacle. It's no coincidence that horse racing grew in popularity at the same time as bear baiting and dog fighting were banned. The risk of seeing horses fall is an intrinsic part of the history of horseracing and it is no better a "sport" than the bloodsports it replaced.

Forcing horses to run around am the unnatural environment of a track and to jump fences that skirt dangerously close to their natural limits is all part of creating a spectacle and it leads to disgusting incidents like this one. The horse don't make mistakes or injured themselves, humans cause it to happen in the name of fun.

There is no such thing as humane racing.

I loathe the Grand National and any horseracing really. When I was younger I never saw any harm in it but I was young and naiive, and only had basic knowledge of it. To be honest, I see people who support it the same as people who support fox hunting. In fact, it's kind of worse because at least country folk who support fox hunting can try and argue that foxes kill chickens and other fowl etc. What do race horses attack and kill?

I never know what to say when I say I don't want to join in the sweep at work and they ask why. You can be seen as a fun sponge if you give them the honest answer.

I don't agree that it's the same as animals being killed for food. Animals have been killed for food for millennia, in every country on earth - for survival, mostly. It's not for sport (on the whole), it's not for gambling, it's not to make super rich people even richer. Our Western diets contain far too much meat, of course, more than necessary, because we enjoy the taste. So a small part of animal consumption is for enjoyment. But that doesn't take away from the fact that animals are eaten as food, and their milk consumed, the world over for survival.

This is a thread I started a year ago. Shame nothing has changed - another race, another tragedy.

And to answer your question, I think there is even less justification in cruelty for entertainment than there is for eating meat. But I was asking a question about horse racing and didn’t want it to become an argument about vegans vs meat eaters.

I loath horse racing. Today’s event though, was absolutely sickening. Cruelty beyond cruelty. That horse would have suffered agonising minutes before finally being destroyed, and then to blame the horse for getting the jump wrong, absolute bastards. Horses cannot see directly in front of them, they are completely reliant on the rider to see them over a jump. I was taken to the races once, and never ever again. I loathed it then and still loath it now.

Defending the jockey!!! That says it all.

I didn't see it thank goodness but the reports I read say the horse definitely did not look fine. The poor thing had broken his back.

Tragic accident my arse. I hope the jockey has many sleepless nights because of the pain he caused that beautiful horse but I very much doubt he cares.

So a horse ridden to collapse is fine?

Horse racing is a disgusting sport supported by disgusting people. Owners, trainers, jockeys, punters. I hate people who watch horse racing as much as I hate the industry. Ban it now and deprive the cruel fuckers of their little flutter permanently. Twats in hats at the courses and greedy casual punters. Fuck them all.