Thanks for that answer. I guess rehabbing them is more difficult than I imagined, and the article says it's an area of ongoing research.
Six horses die at the Cheltenham Festival - Should Horseracing be banned?
- Thread starter Tommy
- Start date
I disapprove of horse racing. Don't think it should exist as a sport.
Can't see it ever being banned though.
Can't see it ever being banned though.
Well yeah, because well, some do. When they tire, some just head off away from the fences and stop jumping. Not saying they understand they're in a race, but they don't have to keep going, because, sometimes they just don't. Some continue for a few jumps and stop. But some will keep going all the way.
They don't tell you when you are getting it.
The thing is... you can train animals to do all sorts of things. The fact that they might then continue to do those things at times when they are not physically being forced does not mean that they must enjoy it. That's all there is for me to say really... if you really disagree, I am not going to change your mind.
Personally, I'm not bothered by horse racing... I go myself and I've eaten horse. I just think arguing that they must enjoy it is a bit of a stretch.
Actually, I'm lying. It was in Verona, thinking about it. Was back when the other half was still veggie and the beautiful, cosy looking restaurant we found proved too authentic for our taste. I think it is a bit of a thing in Italy.
I always understood it to be a bit of a thing in France as well but certainly touristy restaurants will just list it on the menu as meat in some parts.
I like the ones that still end up crossing the line first even though they unseated their jockey ages back.
Me too.
I'm not really saying they enjoy it, more that they clearly don't mind being raced. I don't know whether they do or they don't enjoy it. I don't particularly care. I would care however, if they were being mistreated or were clearly scared or uncomfortable in what they are doing. You won't make a half tonne animal do something they really don't want to do, unless you're mistreating it (Like your dog fighting example). This is evidenced by plenty of horses who didn't want to race on a particular day. For instance I backed a horse a couple of times called Labaik. Winner at Cheltenham last year I think. That horse is notorious for not starting. Clearly decides sometimes it doesn't want to race, so it doesn't race. No jockey is going to make an animal of that size race if it doesn't want to. Obviously they are trained to race, so they are used to it, but if the animal was genuinely uncomfortable it'll buck and throw the jockey before it races.
And Gold Cup day begins... With another death in a pointless hurdle event. Three dead over the course of the festival so far.
Sorry, but I still think it's a load of bollocks to do this to animals. At the very least get rid of the hurdles.
Sorry, but I still think it's a load of bollocks to do this to animals. At the very least get rid of the hurdles.
It’s not racing that’s the problem, it’s the hurdles. Yes I do think they should be removed. Flat racing should carry on.
I'd be happy enough with this. There were some compelling points made last year about the lives & care that race horses get outside of the actual racing, which I understand, so a sensible middle-ground would be just to get rid of the most dangerous element of it.
We’re going through a similar thing over in the US at Santa Anita in California.
I believe 22 horses have died since December. This is a flat track that was shut down for a couple of weeks as they tried to determine what was causing the injuries.
They have now banned medicating the horses on race days and workout days. The practice is commonly known as “juicing” but there seems to be more going on - it just hasn’t been identified yet.
I believe 22 horses have died since December. This is a flat track that was shut down for a couple of weeks as they tried to determine what was causing the injuries.
They have now banned medicating the horses on race days and workout days. The practice is commonly known as “juicing” but there seems to be more going on - it just hasn’t been identified yet.
No. The world still needs glue.
22/1 in the first. Yay. Sorry, dead horse.
Be far better off looking towards greyhound racing. A lot of those get treated anything ranging from terribly to ok-ish, but still in small stacked cages all their life other than the racing, eating crap food that keeps them lean but rots their teeth to a point that it never stops even when the lucky ones get rescued and rehomed. Often they put more than one in these cages, and they don't have room to wag their tails. Many have cuts all over them from this. They've found plenty of mass graves full of them too.
Some trainers can't even be arsed to hand them over to charities that look after and rehome them once they're no longer wanted for racing. Some even get shipped over to China for the dog eating festival as they can make money from it instead of letting them be homed. There are charities that work to intercept the vehicles that take them part of the way.
At least racehorses are treated incredibly well other than on raceday.
Some trainers can't even be arsed to hand them over to charities that look after and rehome them once they're no longer wanted for racing. Some even get shipped over to China for the dog eating festival as they can make money from it instead of letting them be homed. There are charities that work to intercept the vehicles that take them part of the way.
At least racehorses are treated incredibly well other than on raceday.
Far from a pointless hurdle event as cruel as it may seem .
People like to get high and mighty on topics like this mostly because they don't like something a lot of people do .
Cheltenham is a huge event that brings in millions of money and lots of jobs every year
It's a lot safer than it was but sadly things like this still happen .
Motor racing kills people each year whether cars or motor bikes . I don't like motor racing but I don't try and pull smug superiority asking for it to stop
horses aren't grown ass adults who choose to do a dangerous thing, they just wanna eat grass, wander around and smash
Racehorses are bred to race . There's nothing else they can do . Once they break a leg they can't stand and are in too much pain
yeah that's the point, stop doing a thing that consistently breaks their legs
41 horses have died or been destroyed during a race in this year alone. 1 died after the race. (2 and 1/2 months)
6? Jesus Christ
Thought the thread title was about me 
I saw what happened to Sir Erec today and it was a truly awful sight. I also couldn't make out why or how it happened as there had been a problem with his shoe before the race start. The poor Horse just seemed to collapse under it's own weight. My problem with the jumping is that the fences, and I am no expert whatsoever, seem like they could be made with something softer or easier to jump through than is currently standard.
This, chuckwagon races at the Calgary stampede and other exploitative events with horses should really cease. It's callous on our part to put these beautiful animals through such obviously risky events.
How about you focus on the homeless in this country, libturds?
Also no, horses love legging it and jumping over shit. Grow up
Also no, horses love legging it and jumping over shit. Grow up
Will be interesting to see if it was linked, seems too much of a coincidence.
Strange sport.
Weird little blokes who starve themselves sit on a massive horse whacking it with a stick forcing it to jump over sh!t.
Weird little blokes who starve themselves sit on a massive horse whacking it with a stick forcing it to jump over sh!t.
Later on in the coverage one of the hosts on the course itself found a splintered off horse-shoe, I have no clue if it was linked, but it appeared to have come off before a fence, Sir Erec went down just shortly after a jump as I recall it but I wouldn't like to say for sure - it happened very fast.
100% should be banned. Horses die every year at these events and for what? So people can win some money and be entertained at their expense? The ones that actually finish the race always look like they’re going to keel over and die as well. It’s cruel.
I stopped betting on hurdle events years ago (which was really the only time i used to anyway). It's quite obviously a dickhead thing to do to these animals and you don't need to be some lefty PETA group to see that
Is it though? I see jockeys being called great sportsmen and women. I don't get it.
As you said, sitting on a massive beast and occasionally whipping it doesn't make you a sportsperson in my book.
Plus the entire thing is solely reliant on gambling. Take gambling out of it and it disappears in the morning. Football, tennis, rugby etc would survive without Paddy Power.
I dislike everything about it. I think betting is an absolute pox on humanity for one.
I suppose to be a "sport" there has to be an element of physical fitness, pushing yourself.
It's why I can't accept Golf as a sport for instance, as middle aged blokes are still pottering around doing it. It's a skillful game.
Even less so darts and suchlike. That's Pub game.
Horse racing? The jockey has to be fit, I suppose, but it's more about how fit the horse is!
Too many snobs making money out of it for it to be banned anytime soon.
THere are alternatives but owning race horses is kind of a status thing. Doesn't really work with a greyhound...also dog racing is harder to fix or control.
It's a bit archaic though. We race cars around now. Cars have drivers. It's no different except that it's 100 times faster and you don't whack an animal with a stick. Should make it more of a thing. People will bet on it, and it'll allow some of the generation of boy racers to get their idiot driving out of their system without being on the roads.
THere are alternatives but owning race horses is kind of a status thing. Doesn't really work with a greyhound...also dog racing is harder to fix or control.
It's a bit archaic though. We race cars around now. Cars have drivers. It's no different except that it's 100 times faster and you don't whack an animal with a stick. Should make it more of a thing. People will bet on it, and it'll allow some of the generation of boy racers to get their idiot driving out of their system without being on the roads.
Amateurs. Do it like it should be done. Bullfighting like in Spain. Straight to the point
Seriously. Is amazing how animal mistreatment laws coexists with those practices. Is always about money in the end
Seriously. Is amazing how animal mistreatment laws coexists with those practices. Is always about money in the end
I'm sure theres a more humane way to show off horses and their strength? Not sure. Should be reformed.
Horse racing is nothing to do with the horses, it's just about betting. Not worth killing horses for.
It was very harrowing to watch it happen because if you were watching pre race you’d have seen it being re-shoed promptly as the shoe come off just before the race started and you do wonder whether it was a rushed job to get it racing and what impact that had. Very sad to see that.