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Location: Cumbria, UK
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 12,111
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From what I've read in the papers, lots of people seem to believe if there were fewer horses allowed to race and a reduction in the drop of Beechers in particular, there would be fewer casualties.
I am not against horse-racing in general, but I do find it awful there have been so many fatalities at the National.
This year was no exception - I read that one of the horses that did die had unseated it's rider before the race started and galloped off. The commentator said the horse didn't seem 'up for it' (the race) - wouldn't you think they would have withdrawn it if they knew it wasn't in the right mood and didn't want to race? Perhaps the poor thing had a premonition about what was going to happen, how are we to know or not if animals sense such things?
Don't know if this is true either, but I read that the actual winner was close to exhaustion and they had to work quickly to cool him down and give him oxygen after it had won.
To me, there is far too much emphasis on thrilling the crowd with a 'Wow' spectacle, filling the owners pockets with cash and glory but not enough on the health, safety and wellbeing of the horses taking part.
I'd like to see a much smaller amount of horses allowed to race, reduce the length of the course so they are not collapsing with exhaustion trying to finish and sort Beechers out so the drop is not a huge. On top of this, perhaps there should be some sort of qualifier (if there isn't already) so that only horses who have shown they are fit enough, have the scope and fitness to complete the race are allowed to take part.