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So the winning jockey of the grand national was immediately penalised for whipping the horse too much. But the result stands and he's celebrated as a hero?
Then one of the horses hurts it's leg, is deemed unviable to race again so is shot for the insurance. And horse lovers on twitter sympathise with the owner?
Bizarre.
Horse racing has always seemed bizarre to me, but I'm not sure how true it is that they're shot for insurance.
As far as I understand it, it's kinder to put horses down if they've broken a leg (although I could just be swallowing the propaganda - but it seems reasonable that horses can't exactly take weight off a leg). I'm pretty sure a champion racehorse would be worth a fair bit for breeding, so it doesn't seem logical that they'd be put down just because they could no longer race.
But it’s the sport of kings or some such bullshit.
I hate it. In Oz we have the Melbourne Cup and it’s a vulgar public holiday.
In Oz we have the Melbourne Cup and it’s a vulgar public holiday.
I don't think that's really exclusive to Oz, I've been in York on a race day and know Ayr isn't much better.
As far as I understand it, it’s kinder to put horses down if they’ve broken a leg (although I could just be swallowing the propaganda – but it seems reasonable that horses can’t exactly take weight off a leg)
Why not? They've got four after all... hmm, or are the first two arms? Actually, never mind horse racing. Horses are bizarre.
A day at the races in the posh stand is great; even better if you cane the bookies!
Point-to-point is a proper day out - take a hip flask.
Horses worth millions of pounds are put down because they've broken a leg. You can assume that if there was an alternative option it would have been followed. I go on rides with a vet who's pretty much 100% specialized in the high end equine industry. At the start of every spin I utter a short prayer that I don't break a leg 🙂
Horses worth millions of pounds are put down because they’ve broken a leg. You can assume that if there was an alternative option it would have been followed.
A horse worth a million pounds with a broken leg is no longer worth a million pounds, it's worth its weight in Chum, Whiskas and Evo-Stick.
I come from a family of farmers. My mum is horse mad. Her house is stuffed with horse ornaments, paintings, photographs, one of her most prized possessions is a drawing kindly provided by an Inktober regular from here whose name escapes me so I can't thank as much as he deserves. She despises the Grand National.
I’m pretty sure a champion racehorse would be worth a fair bit for breeding,
Not the Nags in the grand national. A champion on the flat yes, thats why they retire to a life of shagging at 3 or 4.
Pretty much any racing involving animals could be classed as inhumane when the animal is seriously injured. I will defend most horse racing, as there are very few killed during races, and the vast majority of race horses live a life of luxury (well, for horses anyway).
Bizarrely, the horse shot yesterday was reported to have been injured on the flat,not from falling. and it was its pelvis, which is really not going to be repairable without great expense and weeks of discomfort and enforced non-movement, hence probably kinder to kill the horse.
Dogs are the same, Greyhounds (and Whippets) can get stress fractures of the legs going round corners, these shatter the bones, and are very hard to fix. If its a family pet, you may want to save the dog, but you'd need deep pockets and a lot of time for it to recuperate.Most are not pets, so the Vet on the course does the deed.
Pigeons, what can they do wrong. Turn up 2 hours after the other pigeons? You wont last long in that loft. The slower ones can slow down the fast ones, so you don't want them influencing the good ones, so they get their necks pulled.
Not the Nags in the grand national. A champion on the flat yes, thats why they retire to a life of shagging at 3 or 4.
I didn't see THAT option coming up in the thread about early retirement!
"The horses love and want to run, it's in their nature"
Most horses I see only seem interested in eating grass and standing still.
Until, that very natural event occurs when a human sits on them and trains them for running.
I didn’t see THAT option coming up in the thread about early retirement!
It explains all those "I retired at 40 and have never been happier" posts!
... which is really not going to be repairable without great expense and weeks of discomfort and enforced non-movement, hence probably kinder to kill the horse.
This argument just highlights how far we're willing to twist our perception to justify it. It's the source of the bizarre.
If it was your child undergoing similar trauma, would you advocate for them to be shot? Of course you wouldn't, because there's nothing kind about it. It's about how much value you place on life.
Horses are shot because we place less value on their lives than we do humans, and in horse racing they're expendable for our entertainment.
Racing any animal for humans pleasure will involve a degree of cruelty
Any sports involving animals (from shooting to crufts) has no place in the 21st century.
I’m not a fan of horse racing but theres some rubbish above.
If your child breaks it’s leg you can put a cast on it and make them keep their weigh off it. You just can’t do the same with a horse due to their size, bone structure and nature.
There are plenty of injuries that can occur that would be fairly trivial to a human but should they happen to horse the most humane thing to do is sadly to euthanise them.
No one wants to put a horse down, having had to make that decision it’s absolutely heartbreaking.
I think folk get the physiological differences between horses and people. However those horses exist to provide entertainment for people. Therefore when injury, suffering and death and part of that entertainment it does seem hard to justify.
I did notice one horse limping before it started running...
A friend has a horse that's prone to doing stupid things just in the paddock - it's cost her a fortune. They don't seem to heal very quickly form injuries - this horse is treated well, but being a young ish male, he's always getting injured - knocks his legs/hoofs a bit just in a paddock.
If your child breaks it’s leg you can put a cast on it and make them keep their weigh off it. You just can’t do the same with a horse due to their size, bone structure and nature.
The nature of the injury is irrelevant. We wouldn't advocate euthanising a child, or any other person, for any level of trauma, whether it's more, less, or equally severe and complex to fix. The reason we wouldn't do that is because it's not humane and it's not kind - it would be seen as utterly barbaric.
Instead, we find a way to fix it, or at least manage the outcome.
We apply a different set of rules to animals, not because it's humane, or kind, but because we apply lesser value to their lives. We can at least be honest about that, whether we support these activities or not. It's completely contradictory to our ethics elsewhere.
shatter the bones, and are very hard to fix
Our greyhound, Jez, did exactly that. One, three hour surgery, a plate in his wrist, twelve weeks recovery, and the only thing he can't do now is sprint. He was insured, so that reduced the financial pain, but he's effectively fully recovered.
I find it very difficult to believe that the bones of a horse wouldn't be physiologically able to heal the way most other bones do. As in the greyhound racing industry, it's possible that is just less of a financial burden to kill the animal rather than fix it and pay to rehome it. And just because vets have been doing it for a long time doesn't mean there's not a different way. Vets have been paid off to say conditions in kennels are on when they weren't. Money makes many folk's morals a little more flexible than they may otherwise be :
Edit: reading a couple more responses above, I can see that it may be quite challenging going through the healing process from a broken leg.
I didn’t see THAT option coming up in the thread about early retirement!
Spending your pension pot on legal fees wouldn't be a good idea.
The nature of the injury is irrelevant.
No it isn't - some minor fractures may be treatable but due to their weight and how fragile their legs certain breaks/compound fractures etc just aren't repairable. A human/dog/cat can survive with an amputated leg but a horse simply isn't able to support its weight without 4 functioning legs.
Due to the massive stress put through their legs even if they could be repaired they'd then need to be confined and restrained to a small stable for the rest of their lives leading to other complications - dietary etc.
... but because we apply lesser value to their lives.
I think a lot of people, my self included would find that quite insulting.
that argument no longer stacks up as horses can now have prosthetics the same as any animal. Obviously costs a lot more than for a dog or tortoise which is why the owners prefer to have them killed.A human/dog/cat can survive with an amputated leg but a horse simply isn’t able to support its weight without 4 functioning legs.
The nature of the injury is irrelevant. We wouldn’t advocate euthanising a child, or any other person, for any level of trauma, whether it’s more, less, or equally severe and complex to fix. The reason we wouldn’t do that is because it’s not humane and it’s not kind – it would be seen as utterly barbaric.
Instead, we find a way to fix it, or at least manage the outcome.
We apply a different set of rules to animals, not because it’s humane, or kind, but because we apply lesser value to their lives. We can at least be honest about that, whether we support these activities or not. It’s completely contradictory to our ethics elsewhere.
The big difference is you can explain to a child what's going on.
You can't tell a horse that you've got to put it in a full body cast and suspend it from the ceiling for 3 months while the bone heals then teach it to walk again.
The whole things a bit cruel but by the time you reach that point it's the least cruel option.
It's like people who put their dogs through multiple joint replacement surgeries or chemotherapy. The poor dog doesn't understand why it's got to spend what will be a significant amount of its life in vets kennels in pain away from it's 'family'.
We wouldn’t advocate euthanising a child, or any other person, for any level of trauma
Not everyone thinks that way thankfully. Many support euthanasia for people suffering from locked in syndrome or conditions that cause constant pain.
As for the horses it's possible for them to recover but they're not going to be competitive so there's no value in doing it. A previously successful horse that's bringing in significant stud fees that is injured certainly won't just be shot.
Just came on the radio that a second horse Eclair Surf has been put down after yesterday's race due to a traumatic head injury.
20 odd years ago at work, we all had a bet on the National and the horse I backed fell and was shot, I have never bet again on a horse since.
We wouldn’t advocate euthanising a child, or any other person, for any level of trauma
That's your opinion, I personally totally disagree with it.
If your child breaks it’s leg you can put a cast on it and make them keep their weigh off it. You just can’t do the same with a horse due to their size, bone structure and nature.
utter crap, it's a matter of cost and not worth it as the horse can't race afterwards. Used to work a lot with Bristol veterinarian school (horse mocap for pre surgery).