Horse Racing

[George1994]

I will have to look up some videos when I have a chance! You're right though I have no idea what jumps racing is other than it sounds dangerous, haha. I looked it up a bit and of course the first thing I see is a bunch of "JUMPS RACING KILLS, BAN IT" websites. I will look a bit deeper - I like to get my own info on things rather than listening to extremist websites, haha. Really, EVERY horse sport is dangerous in some way (look at eventing, for instance, it's similar to jumps racing it looks like but solo). I'll have to look up some videos of it and look more into the regulations and whatnot, it looks interesting enough.

Oh yeah, incredibly dangerous. You will not find a single jump jockey who hasn't had at least one serious injury. A quote from AP 'McCoy calculates that in his quest for greatness he has had at least 1,000 falls (the average for an ordinary jockey is one ejection from the saddle for every eleven races) and has broken most of the 206 bones in his frame musing: "My ankle, my leg, my arm, my wrist, my middle vertebrae, my lower vertebrae, both shoulder blades, collarbones, chin bones...need I go on?"'.

It is a very difficult one to explain for where I stand on the horse point of view. When a horse falls, the first you make sure is if the horse is up and still moving everything okay! Their safety is very important to everyone there, and there is nothing more horrifying or saddening than seeing a horse die for a sport that you follow. You can't help but feel guilt for it. Jockeys feel the pain, the owners feel the pain, so do the fans. But it doesn't stop the fact that horses die! I hate that part of it. If a jockey dies then it is bad, but they chose to participate, they knew the risks. The other side, I know the horses are greatly cared for, and the veterinary surgeons at the courses really are miracle workers. But a horse will struggle with a broken leg. They either need to lay down for 6 months or be put in a sling. Both of which greatly impact the horse, and is probably more humane to euthanise it. I cannot think of a worse image than Valiramix falling down the straight of the Cheltenham Gold Cup. It is horrifying. AP McCoy, with an awful cut to his face gets up and restrains the horse, he knows it is hurt. He is visibly crying and you can see it, even to this day, 12 years later, he still talks about Valiramix and the effect it had on him. It is the one demon that horse racing will never shake. I feel huge amounts of guilt over this side of the sport, an emotion which has never been evoked in any other sport I follow...

--- EDIT --- (Contains details of a horse accident)
Another video on youtube, a horse has just started a race, and is in obvious discomfort. Throws the jockey off and falls to the ground. The first thing the jockey does, run over to the horse and comfort it as well he can, stroking his face and talking to him. The horse unfortunately suffered a heart attack shortly after the race, but I feel this goes to show the duty of care that many jockeys feel towards these animals.

[George1994]

Frankel - The highest rated horse in the world... Watching him is something else.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtPwx__6RKU

If you think he is good, watch Kingman and Night of Thunder. Similar vein.

[Spoons]

Honestly, it's the danger to the horses I have the problem with. I know many horse sports are inherently dangerous based on principle, but most of them are pretty damn safe. Jumps racing seems like one of those unneccessarily dangerous ones that I don't know about. Like you said - the people at least choose to participate. The horses have no say in the matter, and when it's so likely for them to get injured....

RE: Broken legs, despite what you might hear are still not as fixable as you'd think. Fractures, maybe, but a horse can't "lay on its side" for 6 months, it'll get compression injuries and die. A sling is not great either because of the huge potential for crippling hoof problems (founder, laminitis) that arise from the three hooves overcompensating. Mostly a leg break = a dead horse. The saying "A downed horse is a dead horse" still rings true!

I guess that's my main issue. I don't think it's worth it to put the horses up to that much risk, I do not see it as fair to them. there are negative asects and bad people in EVERY horse sport, but some go beyond. I am glad that the horses are shown compassion when they are hurt, though - Some of the things I was privy to at the racetrack here were downright coldhearted. Like I mentioned, I do not know enough about jumps racing to have a true opinion on the matter yet, and once I am on a good computer I will watch the posted videos and do some digging! Horses are definitely graceful animals to watch, and watching them do something like jumping can be incredible! I am definitely interested in learning more I feel like this will start one of those black holes of the internet where I watch one video, and keep clicking related videos and get sucked in and then realize several hours has passed.

The one horsey sport I really want to try is mounted archery. I have been trying to save for a bow for AGES, but as a starving college student every time I have the money there's something more important it needs to be spent on, haha. So, I have to content myself with videos.

[George1994]

Yeah, believe me, I am far from okay with what does occur to the horses in these sports. It puts me at ease that They do get treated well, and are well loved and quite well known by the public over here, so uncared for horses are not an option either on raceday or at home in the stables, the public will not stand for it.

Yeah, it is a shame, a horse does not have the capability to live on 3 legs, even for a period of 3 - 6 months. As hard as vets try, and they do try very very hard, many breaks are too bad and the horse will have to be put down. And contrary to popular belief over here, it isn't a shotgun to the head... I can't believe this is still mentioned in this day and age.

Jumps racing is something you can really get your teeth into. Some jockeys aren't worth the time. Ruby Walsh. Stunning jockey, terrible excuse of a human being. Others, AP McCoy, Mick Fitzgerald, Barry Geraghty etc are all great men and great jockeys. I am glad that you are willing to sit down and talk about these things in a cool headed and approachable manner. It is refreshing. Many people will call for the heads of racegoers without talking to us, and finding out that care of the horses is key to what we enjoy. I wouldn't watch it and support it if horses were not cared for and not treated in a way that I feel is worthy of the tasks they are asked to do. Trainers are very good now a days at getting the horses into the correct races for them, the right fences or hurdles, the right distance with the ground type they will thrive on. They do their best to protect these animals, but bad things can happen. In football (soccer) a mistimed tackle can leave someone with a compound fracture of the leg. All sports have bad times.

'Horses are definitely graceful animals to watch, and watching them do something like jumping can be incredible! I am definitely interested in learning more' - This is so beautifully true! You have never seen a sight like it, a horse storming over that final fence, ears pricked, perfect jump, perfect landing and straight back into its stride, headed straight for that winning post! That is why I watch the sport!

If you are interested, here are some horses to watch over the jumps:

- Zarkandar
- Kauto Star
- Best Mate
- Desert Orchid (Buried at my local track it was that much of a hero)
- Balthazar King
- Ballabriggs

- - - Updated - - -

The one horsey sport I really want to try is mounted archery. I have been trying to save for a bow for AGES, but as a starving college student every time I have the money there's something more important it needs to be spent on, haha. So, I have to content myself with videos.

I hope this works out for you one day! It sounds awesome! Reminds me of Rome: Total War on my PC haha!

[George1994]

May I quickly point out, the death rate of jumps horses isn't spectacularly high.

157 of 6,650 jump horses who raced in 2012 died on racecourses.

Still 157 too many, but not as bad as many would think. Bearing in mind these horses will race 5 or 6 times a year.

[George1994]

Not a bad day. Would have had another £180 but Baby King clipped the final fence and messed up his stride pattern! Still happy

[George1994]

I might be getting a 10% share in this gorgeous animal, a close relative to Kauto Star, the third highest rated steeplechaser in all time, with £2.3mil in prizemoney. Related to Kauto Stone with £700k in prize money. This horses acrual father jas the third highest amount of wins in France with 44 wins, and also won £1.7mil. So he has a great family. Heres hoping he is the same

Beautiful animal eh!

[Smarion0006]

America. And to be totally honest working there gave me an extreme distate of horse racing as a sport. They treat those horses terribly, and 90% of the jockeys are absolute stuck up jerks who think they are the most important thing to happen to the industry, and there's a stereotype of drug use with them (and a not entirely unwarranted one). I do commend their abilities to be thrown from a horse and land on their feet, though.

It was a fun job, we were half casino too so there was much more to do than just with racing. And the people were always very interesting to say the least!

Spoons, Are you from Indiana? Back home we have a half casino, half horse racing track in Fairland/ Shelbyville Indiana. Just curious

[Cumminsman]

Hoosier Park her in Anderson is a good split casino too!

[George1994]

Dammit, I wish we had casinos at our tracks! To be fair, the amount that punters put down on a big festival day is probably similar spent in big casinos haha! Crazy money gets bet! Im up £380 over the past 6 days