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Am I the only person who just can't watch the Grand National as I don't enjoy the spectacle of watching horses taking crashing falls? Yet again two horses lost their lives yesterday at Aintree, both with broken backs and less than half he field finished the course. Would we be happy to run our dogs in a race with those kind of odds?
Today's press has some interesting observations:
Quote: (The Mirror 10.4. 11 Regarding the winning horse Ballabriggs) 'The horse was in a state of near exhaustion being showered with water to stave off dehydration and had to miss the triumphant return to the winners circle ...'
Quote
The People 10.3.11) 'Ballabriggs had to be given oxygen after being doused in water straight after Maguire dismounted..'
Add to that the fact that the winning jockey received a 5 day ban for excessive use of the whip between the last fence and the winning post on his exhausted horse.
Apart from the two fatalities we will never know the true number of horses who broke down or sustained injuries significant enough to prevent them racing again, - and we all know the worth of a racehorse that can't race! It might well be a tradition but IMO not one we should be proud of keeping, - though it will continue of course, because it brings in so much money and that is the bottom line. Sorry for the rant, but as someone who's spent many years around horses I just can't find any justification for a race which is deliberately made as hazardous and difficult as possible for those taking part and which year after year continues to claim the lives of horses.
Today's press has some interesting observations:
Quote: (The Mirror 10.4. 11 Regarding the winning horse Ballabriggs) 'The horse was in a state of near exhaustion being showered with water to stave off dehydration and had to miss the triumphant return to the winners circle ...'
Quote
The People 10.3.11) 'Ballabriggs had to be given oxygen after being doused in water straight after Maguire dismounted..'Add to that the fact that the winning jockey received a 5 day ban for excessive use of the whip between the last fence and the winning post on his exhausted horse.
Apart from the two fatalities we will never know the true number of horses who broke down or sustained injuries significant enough to prevent them racing again, - and we all know the worth of a racehorse that can't race! It might well be a tradition but IMO not one we should be proud of keeping, - though it will continue of course, because it brings in so much money and that is the bottom line. Sorry for the rant, but as someone who's spent many years around horses I just can't find any justification for a race which is deliberately made as hazardous and difficult as possible for those taking part and which year after year continues to claim the lives of horses.
