The National

sherlock1969 said:
No-one, it’s barbaric.
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By all means believe whatever you will, not sure if you mean this race or racing itself and i am guessing you have never owned, ridden or worked with horses, and suspect your knowledge of horses, their care, how they react generally away from courses and in racing itself is limited. Feel free to share your learned experiences if i am incorrect.

Firstly, It's important to understand that if a horse does not want to race, it won't, and occasionally we see a horse plant its feet and refuse to move. No horse can be made to race or jump fences against its will, they do act on their own free will and if not happy with a rider can quickly remove him or her from its back. Unfortunately, it is true that when horses fall at fences some do occasionally sustain injury that can not be treated sadly. However, you may have noticed that they considerably more often get up and continue to run or even jump obstacles without a jockey on board, when they do that, you could ask yourself are they acting under their own free will or not?

I would urge you and anybody against racing to pop along to some stables when they have open days, have a good look around and ask those difficult questions from the professionals that you may think they’d avoid wanting asked. I assure you they wont avoid any questions and will give you full and frank disclosure. Speak with the stable men and women to see if a horse they cared for has ever died on course and how they felt and why they continue working. Ask them if they think the sport is cruel ask what changes they would introduce to make it safer. I think you’d get a surprise and have a much greater insight into the world of racing and its safety. Horses and their welfare do come first, even before the wishes of owners.

I am not suggesting this to have you change your mind btw, just to ensure your view is as well informed as it can be.
 
coluka said:
By all means believe whatever you will, not sure if you mean this race or racing itself and i am guessing you have never owned, ridden or worked with horses, and suspect your knowledge of horses, their care, how they react generally away from courses and in racing itself is limited. Feel free to share your learned experiences if i am incorrect.

Firstly, It's important to understand that if a horse does not want to race, it won't, and occasionally we see a horse plant its feet and refuse to move. No horse can be made to race or jump fences against its will, they do act on their own free will and if not happy with a rider can quickly remove him or her from its back. Unfortunately, it is true that when horses fall at fences some do occasionally sustain injury that can not be treated sadly. However, you may have noticed that they considerably more often get up and continue to run or even jump obstacles without a jockey on board, when they do that, you could ask yourself are they acting under their own free will or not?

I would urge you and anybody against racing to pop along to some stables when they have open days, have a good look around and ask those difficult questions from the professionals that you may think they’d avoid wanting asked. I assure you they wont avoid any questions and will give you full and frank disclosure. Speak with the stable men and women to see if a horse they cared for has ever died on course and how they felt and why they continue working. Ask them if they think the sport is cruel ask what changes they would introduce to make it safer. I think you’d get a surprise and have a much greater insight into the world of racing and its safety. Horses and their welfare do come first, even before the wishes of owners.

I am not suggesting this to have you change your mind btw, just to ensure your view is as well informed as it can be.
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What is your racing background?
 
sherlock1969 said:
What is your racing background?
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I have been loosely involved with horses in various guises since the age of 8 when i first took riding lessons. I have been lucky enough to have had a joint share of 2 point to pointers when in my late 20’s to early 30’s and have been involved in a couple of syndicates under rules from Malton based trainers.

I have visited a few stables first hand and seen how well these animals are loved and treated over the years. I don’t profess to be an expert though, more a reasonably informed layman (others may disagree) who has had the privilege to be involved in some minor capacity with these wonderful animals. I also love a day at the races, which is my only real involvement currently.

I do accept that there are inherent dangers and risks to both horse and rider, they (horses) are living, breathing beasts with a brain. I also accept that there are rare examples of situations where they have been mistreated by humans both in and out of racing. The Gordon Elliott saga springs to mind, if it were me I wouldn’t have granted him his licence back so readily. Racing is not perfect, but us humans are flawed and bad apples exist in all walks of life sadly, i am sure there must be things that could be done for the better still to improve safety and horse care mind, but as a sport, barbaric it is not, although i accept a rogue human can still be sadly.
 
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coluka said:
I have been loosely involved with horses in various guises since the age of 8 when i first took riding lessons. I have been lucky enough to have had a joint share of 2 point to pointers when in my late 20’s to early 30’s and have been involved in a couple of syndicates under rules from Malton based trainers.

I have visited a few stables first hand and seen how well these animals are loved and treated over the years. I don’t profess to be an expert though, more a reasonably informed layman (others may disagree) who has had the privilege to be involved in some minor capacity with these wonderful animals. I also love a day at the races, which is my only real involvement currently.

I do accept that there are inherent dangers and risks to both horse and rider, they (horses) are living, breathing beasts with a brain. I also accept that there are rare examples of situations where they have been mistreated by humans both in and out of racing. The Gordon Elliott saga springs to mind, if it were me I wouldn’t have granted him his licence back so readily. Racing is not perfect, but us humans are flawed and bad apples exist in all walks of life sadly, i am sure there must be things that could be done for the better still to improve safety and horse care mind, but as a sport, barbaric it is not, although i accept a rogue human can still be sadly.
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A horse is likely to die today that would not die if this race wasn't taking place. Two horses are already dead at this meeting. 60+ since the year 2000 at the Aintree festival alone. And for what? Profit? That's barbaric in my eyes.
 
sherlock1969 said:
A horse is likely to die today that would not die if this race wasn't taking place. And for what? Profit? That's barbaric in my eyes.
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And if horse racing did not exist, it would likely mean that such a horse would not have even been bred & born in the first place.

People and animals could die crossing a road, say when walking the dog, sometimes we do things as humans our animals enjoy and accidents happen, maybe having some life, even significantly shortened, is better than having none at all. Have a good day anyway Sherlock and I am sure we both hope for a safe race, but if an accident happens and a horse is lost it will be a sad, sad day, not a savagely cruel, primitive and unsophisticated one….. in my eyes.

Take that day out to a stables on an open day though anyway, if nothing else, you will be better informed, even if your current view remains.
 
sherlock1969 said:
No, you're alright thanks, I assume there will be a cost and I'd rather not support the industry in any way.
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No worries, but its a shame you are not open to learning more facts about the industry. Some are free, Kids are usually free too and Malton are only charging £7.50 for an adult, you would actually be supporting horse welfare too but i appreciate in these times an extra £7.50 is not always easily come by 👍
 
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