It's a quintessentially British thing IMO, and it goes back as long as I can remember, but owing to the amount of horses being damaged and killed; is it high time this sport was banned?
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/...an-horse-racing.html
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Yes.
There's nothing sporty about it. They can't vocalise how they feel so anyone who says "the horses enjoy it" are presuming. They don't run that fast or jump that high in every day life so shouldn't be forced to do it so some of us can put a bet on or put a fancy dress on and have a day out. They don't have the lung capacity or the leg strength of a normal horse so why put them through such harsh races? Fox hunting, badger baiting......sport? In all cases an animal dies for human amusement
I already had a good debate the other night about this and I do get very passionate about the subject so I hope nobody gets offended at my posts
It will NEVER be banned
There's too much ÂĢÂĢÂĢ involved
Cagney, nothing about your post is offensive hun. (IMO,) And I largely agree with it.
RENTON, I fear you may be right 
Originally Posted by Renton:
It will NEVER be banned
There's too much ÂĢÂĢÂĢ involved
Lots of things make ÂĢÂĢÂĢ but it doesn't make them right...or humane. 
Bet your money on football, boxing, buy a lottery ticket.
Originally Posted by Cupcake:
Cagney, nothing about your post is offensive hun. (IMO,) And I largely agree with it.
RENTON, I fear you may be right
Yeah not that one 
Originally Posted by Cagney:
Originally Posted by Renton:
It will NEVER be banned
There's too much ÂĢÂĢÂĢ involved
Lots of things make ÂĢÂĢÂĢ but it doesn't make them right...or humane.
Bet your money on football, boxing, buy a lottery ticket.
If horse racing was banned now I imagine 100's maybe even thousands of horses would be killed. as not many people would pay to feed and stable a horse that they were not allowed to race. Then when a horse dies show jumping we ban that, then hundreds more horses are killed. then when a pony dies at a gymkhana............ you get my drift....
Yes i do Lal.. So many sides to this debate. Thanks for your post Gotta fly now. Thanks everyone for all your posts tonight and for the chat. xxx
the thing is, people say horse love to run and race, and that may very well be true. But I'm sure they don't like being whipped repeatedly and forced to jump over hedges that are too high for them.
Its a disgusting sport that shouldn't have been invented in the first place. Just like Fox Hunting, but i don't recognise that as a sport 
Originally Posted by lal:
If horse racing was banned now I imagine 100's maybe even thousands of horses would be killed. as not many people would pay to feed and stable a horse that they were not allowed to race. Then when a horse dies show jumping we ban that, then hundreds more horses are killed. then when a pony dies at a gymkhana............ you get my drift....
There are charities out there who take ex racing horses same as they do for greyhounds. I get your drift.....horses shouldn't be used for entertainment. Why do you think they've banned the use of animals in circus' in this country?
I understand what you are saying Cagney, But I don't think there would be enough charities to deal with the amount of horses that would be needing to be cared for. Also I do believe that horses are still used in circuses in this country aswell as dogs, birds and possibly others.
There's not enough charities to deal with lots of abuse but it doesn't mean we should allow the abuse to happen in the mean time. I should have said wild animals in my post above btw. So called domesticated animal entertainment is still legal. I don't know anyone who would take their family to see it though. When I think about horses I hear one word....whip....why would you even need such a thing if the horse enjoyed what they're doing?
Yes ban it.
And polo, and show jumping and all the other myriad forms of abuse we subject horses to in the name our our entertainment
Fascinating! I love this! Let's have a heated debate based on a few sweeping generalisations. I can do sweeping generalisations too.
I have a foot in both camps. I was brought up in the countryside and have a good working knowledge of what goes on there. My favourite Goddaughter is an activist who started off in veggie circles and then went international. You may have seen her on the tellybox throwing coking coal off a train, and other misdemeanours, which it turns out she didn't do because an agent provocateur was involved, anyway I digress.
I love meeting her at festive times, goth and folk weeks, we have some great debates.
Whenever I hear people talk about banning stuff I always wonder what their plans are. Do they envisage setting the horses free like they did with the mink? Shooting 'em, giving huge grants to trainers to phase it out?
Nevertheless I know that farmers, land owners and other interlinked interested parties, appreciate any agriculture and animal husbandry tips from well meaning town based people. After all they made such a good job of bringing up their children with their guns and knives and shit. Perhaps they might advocate burning the farms down like they did with that furniture shop?
Yes, 
Give all the horses to schools to look after, let the children ride them and look after them, give them to disabled centres so that people can get some therapy from them, I dont know, but ban it.
Originally Posted by Gypsie~:
Yes,
Give all the horses to schools to look after, let the children ride them and look after them, give them to disabled centres so that people can get some therapy from them, I dont know, but ban it.
They already do that. I'm pretty sure that HRH Princess Anne is patron. Would they be able to look after fifty or so horses each?
Theres got to be more school children than horses. Plus disabled centres and mental health organisations etc.
I didnt actually know they already do that.
I remember when I lived in Turkey, I was dreading what sort of education i would be able to find for my daughter, but on the outskirts of Izmir was the most amazing school where the children had their own riding stables, their own farm where they grew veg and looked after aminals. But the big thing for me was the horses, they got such a lot of 'therapy' from riding them. I know similar things exist in this country in some autistic schools but can honestly say Ive never come into contact with any, or know anyone who has. Southampton needs more horses!
Originally Posted by Gypsie~:
Theres got to be more school children than horses. Plus disabled centres and mental health organisations etc.
I didnt actually know she did that, I had no idea.
I remember when I lived in Turkey, I was dreading what sort of education i would be able to find for my daughter, but on the outskirts of Izmir was the most amazing school where the children had their own riding stables, their own farm where they grew veg and looked after animals. But the big thing for me was the horses, they got such a lot of 'therapy' from riding them. I know similar things exist in this country in some autistic schools but can honestly say Ive never come into contact with any, or know anyone who has. Southampton needs more horses!
Originally Posted by Gypsie~:
Originally Posted by Gypsie~:
Theres got to be more school children than horses. Plus disabled centres and mental health organisations etc.
I didnt actually know she did that, I had no idea.
I remember when I lived in Turkey, I was dreading what sort of education i would be able to find for my daughter, but on the outskirts of Izmir was the most amazing school where the children had their own riding stables, their own farm where they grew veg and looked after animals. But the big thing for me was the horses, they got such a lot of 'therapy' from riding them. I know similar things exist in this country in some autistic schools but can honestly say Ive never come into contact with any, or know anyone who has. Southampton needs more horses!
Such a school exists about five miles from where I'm sitting now. How ver it's very easy to have that sort of thing in the countryside. There are stables all over but of course these involve mainly ponies and not thoroughbreds. I'm not sure whether you would want to sit your child on top of Motivator or Denman.
Personally I would love to have a situation whereby town kids would come and learn a bit about the country but the only time we see anyone urban is when they come to dump building rubbish in our lanes. We do have the younger fraternity occasionally, but as long as they pick up their drugs paraphernalia, fast food packaging, and condoms, and designate a driver, they are welcome.
I know pretty much nothing about horse racing etc., but surely all horses used for riding would need to be trained to accept humans sitting on them, at some stage? If this can't be done without cruelty, then it shouldn't be done, imo.
I would toughen up anti-cruelty laws, and certainly ban the use of the whip (if you want to convince people that the horses enjoy racing, you wouldn't need a whip).
I've only known two people with horses, one of which was into dressage and one who just rides them, but I can't imagine either of them treated their beloved horses badly.
In the Animal Welfare section at Care2.com there are around 6 different petitions that will be sent to Aintree calling for a ban.There are also Comment pages where members have given their views, which are all anti the National. Members from around the world are signing the petitions and those from countries like Australia for e.g say the race isn't televised there but the death of the horses is always reported. I've signed all the petitions but I agree with Renton it won't be banned because it makes too much money for those involved in this "sport"
Originally Posted by Yellow Rose:
In the Animal Welfare section at Care2.com there are around 6 different petitions that will be sent to Aintree calling for a ban.There are also Comment pages where members have given their views, which are all anti the National. Members from around the world are signing the petitions and those from countries like Australia for e.g say the race isn't televised there but the death of the horses is always reported. I've signed all the petitions but I agree with Renton it won't be banned because it makes too much money for those involved in this "sport"
So are we talking about banning the Grand National, or Horse Racing, or global horse racing?
Why would people say that it wasn't televised in Australia? The race is watched by over 500 million people worldwide on television, making it more popular than the NFL SuperBowl and Formula 1 car racing. ..........is particulaly popular in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and the Far East. (apparently)
Who do we think makes too much money? (I can think of two factions)
This is a link to the pictures of the winner, clearly showing the scar from the jockeys whip. I honestly dont know how this can be legal and whats more supported. If people did this to their dog the RSPCA would be all over them.
Originally Posted by Gypsie~:
This is a link to the pictures of the winner, clearly showing the scar from the jockeys whip. I honestly dont know how this can be legal and whats more supported. If people did this to their dog the RSPCA would be all over them.
That is so sad. But I do agree with some posters that it would be a HUGE task to try and stop animal racing the world over. All we can do is try and ensure that the animals are treated well.
yes, i would ban it i am quite local to it but hate it and hide from it every year
i often hear the argument, "the horses must love it cos they keep running and jumping without the rider", the horses are trained and brainwashed 
when I am down at the stables I never see any horses jumping over the (much lower) hedges into the next fields
horses are bred for racing and if racing were banned, that type of horse would not be bred so much anymore so apart from those already in the industry to find homes for, there would not be a problem afterwards
even without the fatalities at race courses, racing horses are "backed" (ridden) too young, well before their internal organs have fully developed, causing problems for them
horses are a herd animal, and a lot of race horses are kept as individuals, which can cause problems integrating them with other horses when they have retired
unfortunately. like others, i just cant see it being banned there is far too much money in it
i wouldn't like to see it banned, (btw, the whole day stops in australia for the melbourne cup) but it can be made more safer, horse racing will never be banned - it is too large an industry
can horses in races be compared to keeping horses at schools etc as both sets of animals are in an "unnatural" state, both being used by owners for what they want.
YAY, ban horse racing, there will be more dog food and glue available.
I do think that the Becher's Brook drop fence needs to be removed from the Grand National.