2023 Grand National

[Mad Eyed Screamer]

Statistically more footballers die playing football than horses die running in a race . Are you still going to watch football ?

Do you have a link for your source of that statistic?
A quick google search reveals 73 horses have died at Cheltenham this century. 73 in 23 years.
I can't think of 73 footballers who have passed away playing the game.
And that was just Cheltenham!

 

[kaz7]

Nothing at all, but you dislike the Grand National and I can't stand cats. Just wanted you to know.

It will kill you to know this but merlin and my last cat both come in and use their tray instead of going in my garden or anyone elses , annoying for me but nobody can complain about that

 

[Slipper One]

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Fair enough, for me it’s a stretch to blame protesters rather than the actual race itself, massive hurdles, way to many horses, one fall can cause carnage.

As I say, first time I watched it and found zero enjoyment- maybe I’ve just turned into a lefty woke or whatever - but that was uncomfortable viewing watching horses clatter into each other and get stuck in fences whilst the crowd are all drinking champagne and cheering

Some people just want to sanitise everything.
Make life super safe and incredibly dull until we end up in the care home.
The Grand National wouldn't be so grand if the number of fences , the length of the course and the number of runners reduced.
The sense of achievement at overcoming the challenge would be much diminished. It would be just another race and what would Red Rum think about that?

Spot on Grassland.

Remove any challenge and competition from life and still have an entitlement to the rewards.

I have no problem with improvement in safety, it's a requirement, but it's not possible to have a clinical, totally safe sport. Improvements have been made in motor sport and football for instance and horse racing is no exception.

 

[Slipper One]

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You paint a picture that the fate of all race horses is to race and then die on the race course racing for our entertainment.

The official figures are 0.2/0.3% of all races......jumps, flat and AW.

Is there an element of physicality, absolutely there is, but there is also the same in running a marathon, playing rugby or football. No doubt you'll come back with people have a choice, but horses do as well. They wouldn't come back and race time after time if they didn't want to.

Some horses relish these Grand National fences, while others don't for whatever reason and never race over them again.

The problem you have is that you regard horses as unintelligent and simply do as they are asked.

The reality is, they are superbly trained athletes, primed to race to the best of their abilities while handled by experts.

 

[Slipper One]

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Fair enough, for me it’s a stretch to blame protesters rather than the actual race itself, massive hurdles, way to many horses, one fall can cause carnage.

As I say, first time I watched it and found zero enjoyment- maybe I’ve just turned into a lefty woke or whatever - but that was uncomfortable viewing watching horses clatter into each other and get stuck in fences whilst the crowd are all drinking champagne and cheering

No BlueHammer85, I don't think you've turned into a 'lefty woke'.

I love my horse racing, yet don't really care for the Grand National.

My issue is with people spouting out that it's cruel and horses are forcibly whipped to compete. The Grand National is without doubt a challenging event, but these horses are physically capable of competing in it and are extremely well trained to do so.

 

[Slipper One]

I missed the part where Grealish, Haaland, and Foden are "broken" as youngsters and then forced to go out and play whilst being whipped. I must have missed it because these footballers have free will and decide to play football of their own volition.

It was a garbage analogy yesterday, it's a garbage analogy today.

You don't seem to understand horses or racing.

Footballers do have the opportunity to play of their own volition, but you make it sound like horses are violently forced to race with the use of a whip.

Changes to the whip have been made over the years and it's not even comparable with those of years gone by. It's designed to be cushioned and on a 1200lb racehorse during the intense situation of racing, it does what it is supposed to do. Strict regulations have been put in place on the use of the whip and things have moved on since the days of Lester Piggott.

The visibility of the whip is what people like you latch onto, which is rather naïve, but then naivety was never something to stop an uninformed opinion.

 

[Gundoggin]

Do you have a link for your source of that statistic?
A quick google search reveals 73 horses have died at Cheltenham this century. 73 in 23 years.
I can't think of 73 footballers who have passed away playing the game.
And that was just Cheltenham!

Yes no problem.
FIFA sudden death report published 2020 .
From 2014 to 2018 there were 617 cases during a 5 year period .
FIFA website it isn’t difficult thanks .

 

[Gundoggin]

Do you have a link for your source of that statistic?
A quick google search reveals 73 horses have died at Cheltenham this century. 73 in 23 years.
I can't think of 73 footballers who have passed away playing the game.
And that was just Cheltenham!

73 horses in 100 years .
Are you fucking serious ?
That will be a mortality rate of 73 horses from around a 100,000 runners .
Tiny percentage let’s move on eh !

 

[Stuuuuuu]

Fair enough but if you are seriously concerned about horse welfare there's another 364 days you choose.
A bit like the once a year punter.

I oppose all kinds of cruelty at all times, be it to animals or humans.

But it's the Grand National that was on this week, which makes this an apt time to be commenting on it. In other weeks, I will comment on other injustices.

Rather than criticising me, let's stick to the point: this is a barbaric event in which many animals have greatly suffered and died. If nothing is done, that will continue to happen.

 

[Sir peace frog]

73 horses in 100 years .
Are you fucking serious ?
That will be a mortality rate of 73 horses from around a 100,000 runners .
Tiny percentage let’s move on eh !

think he said this century, so 23 years