Two dead at Aintree already and we haven’t had the main event

[BL0B]

Horrible pictures of the horse with the broken back and now another one has gone. Both put down. Stop this barbaric sport

It's cruel but hey betting on it is fun .

The human race disgusts me.

I hate humans. This sport is cruel, lower the fucking fences or ban it completely

Blow animal welfare, just so long as people are having a good time.

A part of me is hoping more die and then they might consider actually stopping it! Imagine if humans died doing the olympics, it wouldn’t carry on

I am on the fence (!) with this

its much easier to put the spotlight on horse racing whilst turning a blind eye to things we actually see and do in our own every day lives like battery chickens, over feeding and under exercising dogs, puppy farming etc.

Well it’s possible to choose not to participate in any of that too.

Absolutely! It's not one or the other. This is demonstrably cruel. Every year.

I've been delighted to see an end coming to greyhound racing. Sadly there's so much money involved in horse racing it's hard to see how it can be phased out. I was interested to read that Owenna Griffith's put a stop to the daily racing tips on the Today programme during her time as editor.
Every year there's a Grand National sweepstake at my NHS place of work. I'd love to come up with a humane alternative (without upsetting the GN stalwarts too much)

43 competitive horse racing fatalities this year so far, and it's only April 11th.

Do we have to pick one to care about?

The biggest difference is those things aren’t done just for ‘fun’.

Yes there are a lot of other issues but that doesn’t mean this has to carry on just because they do.

We know we’re not going to end all animal cruelty over night but we can start by reducing/getting rid of things that are purely for entertainment purposes.

We can still fight for the other things too.
Usually winning one fight actually paves the way to win other fights too.

How can anyone be ‘on the fence with this’

You either support animal cruelty or you don’t.

No we don't have to pick one but I just wonder how many of us don't like horse racing whilst eating intensively farmed chicken that's all.

This is not a valid argument. Its a feeble argument immediately trotted out by people wanting to justify racing. Ultimate whataboutary deflection.
More than one thing can be wrong at a time in society.

Just because factory farming is bad isnt a reason not to condemn horse racing. Particlarly when it isnt even food production, its entertainment.

I don't understand how greyhound racing has been deemed as cruel but not horse racing. I grew up on a stud farm, and horses are such beautiful majestic creatures. They deserve better from us.

I wonder if it's because of the money involved? The same with polo. Very cruel, but a sport of the uber wealthy.

Oh my Lord! “I’m not prepared to do anything about one piece of an abhorrent cruelty because there’s other abhorrent cruelty going on that I’m not doing anything else about either“.

What a fantastic bit of whataboutery That guarantees that nothing is done about anything.

Unfortunately, the only way to do the sport without any cruelty would be to take money out of it, completely. Even ‘less cruel’ horse sports are becoming too cruel, because the top ones can make a lot of money through sponsorship and breeding. The use of animals for any sport must be stopped. It always results in abuse. (Even at lower levels - they often get obsessed and treat the horses abominably).

To be fair, many humans have died in other equestrian sports, and in events like F1 and Isle of Man TT races. The people who compete in these events passionately want them to continue. So it's not black and white.

My DH is into racing and is in the other room. I will be giving him some earache afterwards.

I refuse to go racing except for flat racing.

I love horses a very noble species my husband has never even sat on one, and is nervous around feeding them.

As for the fence sitter i sincerely hope it is not too high up and they do not fall off and hurt themselves.

The people have a choice I suppose. Animals don’t

Unless you are a slave, as a human, you make an informed decision and you risk assess.
There will be status and money incentives for you as well.

It's disgraceful and needs to be banned

The fences are too high. Riders become unseated and horses carry on, they in turn can be a danger to others.
But the fences need reducing. It isn’t complicated.

It’s not just the size of the fences though; horses suffer from all aspects of racing, even how they’re kept. People like to spout ‘oh but they’re treated like kings!’ And ‘we love them soooo much!’ But they don’t care about the ones shipped off coz they didn’t come up to scratch; or the ones (all!?) suffering from ulcers and deplorable hooves because of the way they’re kept.