2024 Grand National 13th April

You’re obviously quite entitled to your point of view Hilts, but I do find it primarily based on emotion and not enough on fact or understanding.

On the whole, horses are bred for human use, much the same as cattle, sheep, and pigs to name a few. No use for them, no horses, it’s as simple as that.

The vision of happy horses frolicking freely around the countryside is laughable to be honest.

I can understand your disappointment regarding the fact that horses occasionally die in racing, but contrary to your belief, you’re not on your own, because the vast majority interested in racing feel the same.

However, horses don’t need to be competing to find an untimely death, I feel you just don’t get to hear of them.

A few weeks ago a horse named Highfield Princess died following an accident in her stall, further back in time Viking Flagship earned a long and happy retirement, but broke a leg while being exercised and Limestone Lad recently died at the age of 32. Eldar Eldarov recently hurt his neck from a stalls issue at the start of a race and the owners flew in two specialists from the US to assess and operate on him. He’ll never race again and probably wouldn’t handle going to stud as a result of his injuries.

Poor Red Rum was inexcusably and brutally made to race in the Grand National (a much more difficult race in those days) FIVE TIMES!! It’s obvious he disliked it, because of those five runs, he won it three times and came second twice. For some horses the challenges of the Grand National bring out the best in horses.

Instances like this are common throughout the sport of horse racing.

There is a farm not far from me where there is a large field full of horses, every single one of them is destined for slaughter. When they have gone, there will be another seventy or hundred to replace them.

The Racehorse Owners Association have a very robust program for ex-racehorses called the Retraining Of Racehorses and many, many have gone on to have meaningful retirements in other fields such as dressage and showjumping, but of course you don’t agree with that either.

What would you do with ex-racehorses (or any horses used by humans), just let them run wild to fend for themselves or slaughter them and just keep a few in a zoo?

As to whether horses enjoy racing. Well, you can’t make one run if it doesn’t want to and there have been numerous occasions where horses found it difficult to settle into retirement after a life of racing and have been brought back to race again.

You have a total lack of understanding regarding owners and trainers. Of course there are some bad apples in the sport, as in any sport, but aside from those few, horses are treated with the utmost respect and loving care. Athletes like Kevin De Bryne and Erling Haaland etc have the best dietary and medical care and racehorses are no different. It’s in the owners/trainers best interest to make sure their horses are in the best physical and mental condition as possible.

You need to do two things with regard to the whip before you make wild and inaccurate comments. First, familiarize yourself with the rules and how they have been changed and second, get your hands on a present day whip and judge the impact on a 1200lb horse under racing conditions. I’ve probably put this argument forward before, but when I’m playing football and I get a kick, I hardly feel it, if at all. If you were to apply that same kick to me while I was stood in front of you, I’m in no doubt it would hurt. It’s the same with the whip.

Just a comment to your point, “My view is always, would we treat humans this way?” We treat humans despicably. People have their lives prolonged under medical care, many under extreme and constant pain, yet if we treated a dog or horse like that, we’d be locked up!!

If you (and others) were TRULY CONCERNED about animal cruelty, then you should really focus your efforts on genuine cruelty such as the multitude of puppy farms and dog fighting. Perhaps that’s a little more dangerous and having any success from the safety of a keyboard is more difficult, especially compared to having a cheap and easy bash at horse racing.


No it's based on sound logic unlike yours I'm afraid

1. The other animals you mentioned are for food little men don't sit on their backs with whips.

2. Horses away from race courses? And? Wtf is the relevance of that. Should humans be forced to run across a motorway because sometimes people get run over on a street. Stupid logic.

3. Horses like a challenge and it brings the best out of them? Put those Horses on a start line on there own see how many go running around the courses jumping fences. None. Stupid logic.

4 weight of horse irrelevant. Skin and nerves are. Stupid logic.

If the whip didn't hurt it wouldn't be used. Jockeys still break the rules.

5. By the way even this morning racing club bloke said we are making it safer this year for the benefit of jockey and horse. Therefore they accept it must be dangerous but every year they claim they do their best. Why should we believe them in 2024 when they could have done more in 1904 1954 1994 .......

At the end of the day you are making an animal do a dangerous sport for the enjoyment of humans. Anything else is bollocks as your attempted deflections have proved.

Now stop replying to me and we will leave it. You have no justification outside of pure selfishness.

I apologise for any spelling or grammar mistakes I'm in a mad rush
 
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You’re obviously quite entitled to your point of view Hilts, but I do find it primarily based on emotion and not enough on fact or understanding.

On the whole, horses are bred for human use, much the same as cattle, sheep, and pigs to name a few. No use for them, no horses, it’s as simple as that.

The vision of happy horses frolicking freely around the countryside is laughable to be honest.

I can understand your disappointment regarding the fact that horses occasionally die in racing, but contrary to your belief, you’re not on your own, because the vast majority interested in racing feel the same.

However, horses don’t need to be competing to find an untimely death, I feel you just don’t get to hear of them.

A few weeks ago a horse named Highfield Princess died following an accident in her stall, further back in time Viking Flagship earned a long and happy retirement, but broke a leg while being exercised and Limestone Lad recently died at the age of 32. Eldar Eldarov recently hurt his neck from a stalls issue at the start of a race and the owners flew in two specialists from the US to assess and operate on him. He’ll never race again and probably wouldn’t handle going to stud as a result of his injuries.

Poor Red Rum was inexcusably and brutally made to race in the Grand National (a much more difficult race in those days) FIVE TIMES!! It’s obvious he disliked it, because of those five runs, he won it three times and came second twice. For some horses the challenges of the Grand National bring out the best in horses.

Instances like this are common throughout the sport of horse racing.

There is a farm not far from me where there is a large field full of horses, every single one of them is destined for slaughter. When they have gone, there will be another seventy or hundred to replace them.

The Racehorse Owners Association have a very robust program for ex-racehorses called the Retraining Of Racehorses and many, many have gone on to have meaningful retirements in other fields such as dressage and showjumping, but of course you don’t agree with that either.

What would you do with ex-racehorses (or any horses used by humans), just let them run wild to fend for themselves or slaughter them and just keep a few in a zoo?

As to whether horses enjoy racing. Well, you can’t make one run if it doesn’t want to and there have been numerous occasions where horses found it difficult to settle into retirement after a life of racing and have been brought back to race again.

You have a total lack of understanding regarding owners and trainers. Of course there are some bad apples in the sport, as in any sport, but aside from those few, horses are treated with the utmost respect and loving care. Athletes like Kevin De Bryne and Erling Haaland etc have the best dietary and medical care and racehorses are no different. It’s in the owners/trainers best interest to make sure their horses are in the best physical and mental condition as possible.

You need to do two things with regard to the whip before you make wild and inaccurate comments. First, familiarize yourself with the rules and how they have been changed and second, get your hands on a present day whip and judge the impact on a 1200lb horse under racing conditions. I’ve probably put this argument forward before, but when I’m playing football and I get a kick, I hardly feel it, if at all. If you were to apply that same kick to me while I was stood in front of you, I’m in no doubt it would hurt. It’s the same with the whip.

Just a comment to your point, “My view is always, would we treat humans this way?” We treat humans despicably. People have their lives prolonged under medical care, many under extreme and constant pain, yet if we treated a dog or horse like that, we’d be locked up!!

If you (and others) were TRULY CONCERNED about animal cruelty, then you should really focus your efforts on genuine cruelty such as the multitude of puppy farms and dog fighting. Perhaps that’s a little more dangerous and having any success from the safety of a keyboard is more difficult, especially compared to having a cheap and easy bash at horse racing.
In a nutshell, the loonies on here need to read and understand this.
 
No it's based on sound logic unlike yours I'm afraid

1. The other animals you mentioned are for food little men don't sit on their backs with whips.

2. Horses away from race courses? And? Wtf is the relevance of that. Should humans be forced to run across a motorway because sometimes people get run over on a street. Stupid logic.

3. Horses like a challenge and it brings the best out of them? Put those Horses on a start line on there own see how many go running around the courses jumping fences. None. Stupid logic.

4 weight of horse irrelevant. Skin and nerves are. Stupid logic.

If the whip didn't hurt it wouldn't be used. Jockeys still break the rules.

5. By the way even this morning racing club bloke said we are making it safer this year for the benefit of jockey and horse. Therefore they accept it must be dangerous but every year they claim they do their best. Why should we believe them in 2024 when they could have done more in 1904 1954 1994 .......

At the end of the day you are making an animal do a dangerous sport for the enjoyment of humans. Anything else is bollocks as your attempted deflections have proved.

Now stop replying to me and we will leave it. You have no justification outside of pure selfishness.

I apologise for any spelling or grammar mistakes I'm in a mad rush
No need to apologize on your spelling and grammar Hiltz, I'm not here to judge you on that, only to comment on what I consider your narrow minded and emotional opinion.

It’s interesting how a person can read something, yet due to a blinkered mindset interpret the information in a totally inaccurate and biased way.

As in many sports and areas in life, there are issues and possibilities for improvement, but that doesn’t mean that overall it is bad.

By the way, how is the stopping of genuine cruelty in puppy farms and dog fighting coming along?
 
No need to apologize on your spelling and grammar Hiltz, I'm not here to judge you on that, only to comment on what I consider your narrow minded and emotional opinion.

It’s interesting how a person can read something, yet due to a blinkered mindset interpret the information in a totally inaccurate and biased way.

As in many sports and areas in life, there are issues and possibilities for improvement, but that doesn’t mean that overall it is bad.

By the way, how is the stopping of genuine cruelty in puppy farms and dog fighting coming along?

Checks thread title and wonders the relevance, good old whataboutery when a debate has been lost.
 
Checks thread title and wonders the relevance, good old whataboutery when a debate has been lost.
Yes, I guess a comment like, "I see horse killing season is with us again, does it ever go away?" did detract from the thread title, but I won't hold that against you.

How on earth has the debate been lost? The points I made were quite accurate and relevant to your narrow minded and inaccurate opinions.

Aside from that, how about answering the question about your efforts against genuine cruelty. I know it's not technically on topic, but I can't be arsed with starting a separate thread to address it. I'd like to think you had more depth than simply being a keyboard warrior and were actually committed to your cruelty stance.
 
Yes, I guess a comment like, "I see horse killing season is with us again, does it ever go away?" did detract from the thread title, but I won't hold that against you.

How on earth has the debate been lost? The points I made were quite accurate and relevant to your narrow minded and inaccurate opinions.

Aside from that, how about answering the question about your efforts against genuine cruelty. I know it's not technically on topic, but I can't be arsed with starting a separate thread to address it. I'd like to think you had more depth than simply being a keyboard warrior and were actually committed to your cruelty stance.

The grand national has horses so it was on topic doh!

I'm against all cruelty to animals but things can become complicated morally, I said this pages ago do keep up. There is no need to breed race horses for sport, tis as simple as that. It's only you trying to argue against a very obvious point.

You either think it's incorrect to breed horses that will suffer abuse and sometimes death or you don't care because its in your interests not to.

Your whataboutery doesn't change this, dead animals don't bother you but losing an argument on a football forum seems to.

Odd fellow.
 

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