Fatalities at Cheltenham
Re: Fatalities at Cheltenham
And another killed this afternoon at Uttoxeter. However this was in a hurdle race, so easying the fences would not help and might make the situation worse.
Re: Fatalities at Cheltenham
Having been to the Cheltenham Festival on a couple of occasions I can assure you the adrenalin rush from watching these races unfold is unmatched in any sport and would like to add a few (hopefully) valid points:
1) Remember Horses unlike humans do not need to suffer what we would call a serious injury to be destroyed all it takes is a broken leg for this too happen.
2) These horses are bred specifically to become racehorses ... so without National Hunt and indeed Flat Racing they simply would not exist in the first place.
3) Far more horses get killed each year whilst on the trainers gallops, than actually die of their injuries whilst in a race.
4) Making the fences easier would detract from the spectacle, and if lowered would probably be more dangerous for the jockeys.
5) The majority of the horses must love the thrill and excitement of these days out for them, as you will see when a horse falls the first thing it does it gets back up and starts galloping and jumping the fences.
6) The PC brigade have already had a good shot at destroying most things with a slight hint of danger or suffering to anything with a pulse and trying to tell huge groups of people how to live their lives as it is.
Nothing is more galling than seeing a brave horse die in the name of sport but in my book unfortunately it goes with the territory, you got to remember these horses aint pets ... it could be worse they could be mice bred for scientific research or pigs for slaughter.
1) Remember Horses unlike humans do not need to suffer what we would call a serious injury to be destroyed all it takes is a broken leg for this too happen.
2) These horses are bred specifically to become racehorses ... so without National Hunt and indeed Flat Racing they simply would not exist in the first place.
3) Far more horses get killed each year whilst on the trainers gallops, than actually die of their injuries whilst in a race.
4) Making the fences easier would detract from the spectacle, and if lowered would probably be more dangerous for the jockeys.
5) The majority of the horses must love the thrill and excitement of these days out for them, as you will see when a horse falls the first thing it does it gets back up and starts galloping and jumping the fences.
6) The PC brigade have already had a good shot at destroying most things with a slight hint of danger or suffering to anything with a pulse and trying to tell huge groups of people how to live their lives as it is.
Nothing is more galling than seeing a brave horse die in the name of sport but in my book unfortunately it goes with the territory, you got to remember these horses aint pets ... it could be worse they could be mice bred for scientific research or pigs for slaughter.
PEOPLE think Stephen Hawking is so clever, but when you ask him a question and he is typing in the answer on his little screen, how do we know he isn't just looking up the answer on the Internet?
Re: Fatalities at Cheltenham
Apart from the first line I agree with you. If we did not race horses then clearly race horses would not exist except in zoos, perhaps. What many animal extremists fail to realise is that a decent race horse is a valuable asset to its owner and trainer, so clearly they will do everything possible to avoid it being injured. Everyone, apart from sadists, agree that everything possible should be done to avoid these equine accidents but, apart from stopping NH racing, it is difficult to see what can be done. The usual argument that fences should be made easier doesn't hold water. As many, if not more, horses are killed in hurdle races as over the stiffer obstacles. I have little doubt that there will be horses killed at the Aintree meeting soon, but hopefully not as many as at Cheltenham. I would further suggest that more horses will be injured over the hurdles and on the easier Mildmay course than on the National course itself. Race horses are well cared for and although there is some evidence that when SOME retire they do not receive the level of care they should, this is the exception rather than the rule. Anyone who wants to read about a really callous attitude to equine welfare might care to read Ernest Hemingway's 'Death in the Afternoon'!