R2OK!

mark occomore · Joined: 07 Dec 2006 Posts: 9955 Location: UK

RSPCA and other animal rights groups are not happy with the deaths of horses at the Aintree Grand National although they have been consulted on safety measures. They seem to have problems now. Should it continue?

RockitRon · Joined: 07 Dec 2006 Posts: 7646

Another young footballer also died on the pitch, in Italy.
Should we ban football also?

ruddlescat · Joined: 16 Sep 2010 Posts: 18010 Location: Near Chester

I follow horse racing quite closely but I am also heavily involved with animal welfare issues and sometimes the two do come into conflict

I have to say that I much prefer flat racing where hardly any deaths or even injuries ever occur and where the best horses tend to win based on ability and training rather than pure chance as happens with races like the Grand National

Any serious punter will tell you that nobody in their right mind would place a serious bet on the outcome of a race like the National because form generally goes out of the window and you might just as well put your money on the spin of a roulette wheel or on the National Lottery

What makes the National a lottery is the fact that many of the fences are far too high and are still dangerous despite so called recent'safety improvements' supposedly having been made and I certainly feel that the time has come where we need to think whether it can be right for the race to continue in its present form or even at all

As people may have read two horses this year were seriously injured and had to be put down including Synchronised the joint favourite for the race and a very great loss to the world of horse racing having only just over a month ago won the Cheltenham Gold Cup and I think that this fact alone might concentrate minds within the racing industry that something serious has to be done if the sport is to retain any sense of decency with the general public most of whom, like me ,love their animals

Of course getting back to Ron's point, the two situations are simply not properly capable of comparison
The footballer on the pitch in Italy chose to perform that role knowing the risks involved (admittedly very small) but those two poor old horses at Aintree yesterday did not choose to jump those fences - they were forced to do it by their owners and trainers Sad

_________________
Are you ready for a Ruddles?

RockitRon · Joined: 07 Dec 2006 Posts: 7646

Hmm.
I have no love or great following of horse racing (or any of the other equestrian sports, most of which seem to be highly dangerous to both animal and rider).

My comment wasn't wholly facetious. Horses are bred to do the job they do, whether it's to jump fences or pull carts, and, as far as we can tell, they do enjoy it, and they do have a certain amount of sense and judgment, exhibited by the number of times they will refuse - you can take a horse to water, and all that.

R2Icon · Joined: 10 Sep 2009 Posts: 1444

Everyone and everything dies, our deaths are separated only by time, if not for time, we would all die at once. Time is life, don’t waste it.