Not forgetting commiserations to the owners of these valiant horses, they wil be feeling the loss of their animals , just like anyone else.

The 4 yr old was a flat racer, and as I said in an earlier post , this could happen in the fields while galloping around it had no jumps to go over.

The two who dropped with heart attacks, again such things happen, in the field or the stable, an undetected heart condition is something we cant foresee..and sadly these two great horses, would probably have suffered a fatal heart attack at some point in the future.

And again the broken legs, another tragedy for all concerned... but to repeat myself, these things happen when you have horses, they are extremely fragile... and such things happen on a daily basis in all aspects of horsemanship.. even from rolling in their stable.

But at the end of the day 4 lost their lives, and my sympathies go to all those involved with the care and ownership of these noble beasts

its important to also remember, not all these horses fell in the GN ..one was on the flat the other was in a smaller novice race.. only two in the National.

As the disdain is for the National race, this shows that all aspects of horse competition can end in fatalities... not jus the one publisized race.

So do we stop all horses competing in all disciplines in case tragedy happens!!

No, accidents happen. What we need to do is reduce the chances of fatalities in these races. the "wow" factor and thrill for people is the speed and height of the jumps, yet this is generally what causes these tragic accidents.

I agree Pidge. The "wow" factor is what is needed for human entertainment though, isn't it??? That's why I have no consideration for the Owners that lost horses yesterday. They know the danger they put their horses in. I hope they can live with the guilt (if indeed they suffer from such emotion ).

Sorry, but have to disagree with you there... being in horses for more yrs than I like to think about, accidents happen through mistakes, be either horse or rider, the accidents you are talking about that is.. when going over a jump.

When horse has a rider on its back, it hinders the ability of the horse to free jump... so both have to work together, the rider needs to see a stride, and if you watched the after coverage you will see where the commentary tells you where wither rider or horse got it wrong, resulting in a fall... thankfully most without injury.

The height of the fence is immaterial , if the horse is not able to jump such heights, it wont be entered into the race or competition... no one has a death wish, and if you jump over your horses ability , you are nothing but insain.

The amount of horses in the race will not make any difference to the outcome, if you look even when there is only a handful left, there are still horses falling or stopping at the jumps.

Those jumps are probably the most kindest of all, regards then being inviting to the horse, they are not solid the horse can brush through them , again if you looked you will see how they fall apart after the horses have been over them

You want to see some of the event jumps , now they are scary... again, it will be the horse or rider who makes the mistake, it would be foolhardy to build jumps that are over reaching a horses ability to jump....

So given what I have said , how would you make it safer, not forgetting the 4 yr old who broke a leg on the flat.... with NO jumps to go over.

These are all tragic accidents, these things happen sadly.

Shame on the folk involved. Absolutely tragic and unnecessary, IMO.

I know I've said it before, but to me there are too many horses running an awkward course all at the same time. The jumps are not suitable and the pressure put upon these horses at the Grand National is huge. I hate it. It sickens me.

I know it's different, but I'm going to say it anyway. In dog agility, only one dog runs at a time, the height of the jumps is suitable for the size of the dog. Imagine the uproar if the dogs were made to jump at heights far to great for their size, and several dogs running a course at the one time, together. Even worse, betting on it. *Prepares to be shot down and being told that this is incomparable* To me, it is not.

This is what I was saying yesterday. If Dogsey dog owners were stating that they were putting their dogs' lives at risk, for entertainment of humans, there would literally be a riot on here. Yet with horses, it seems okay to risk their lives and, apparently, it's okay because the horses don't suffer. They are pts quickly in the event of accident I just don't get it There's a big debate going on at the moment about a Mum who sent her dog to rescue (which was pts) and she has been disagreed with most vehemently by many. Yet horses being pts in the name of the Grand National, seems acceptable. I really just don't get it

I don't get it either, CC. I really don't. Some seem to think that because the horse it destroyed quickly (hmmm) that makes it okay. Well it does not make it okay to me.

I'm not against horse racing as such, it's races like the Grand National I'm against. I think it's sickening and I cannot bear to watch it, even with the volume muted. I find it very uncomfortable.

I've been involved with horses practically all my life and have never heard of one just randomly dying in a field due to a broken leg or a heart attack? I've been at cross country events when one has had to be shot (but thankfully I didn't witness it) and every time I watch a race on TV, at least one horse dies, so I've decided to stop watching it. Horses are fragile and accidents do happen, and although I won't say I totally disagree with racing, it does put horses under more risk than they would be in a field/stable!

If horses are so fragile, why are they raced in this manner? Why on earth not just lower the jumps, or at least make them straightforward so that they've not got a big drop on a ditch on one side? Because then it wouldn't be as entertaining, they wouldn't make as much money...
Even if only (for lack of a better word!) two died in the national itself, that's still 1 in 20. 5%. I'm sure 5% of all horses don't die by running around in the fields every day, you know? At the end of the day their lives were cut short in the name of human entertainment. I can't think of any legal dog sport that is that dangerous, or that any of us here would let our dogs participate in. Jobie could easily break one of his spindly legs by jumping over something too big, so I don't let him. No way would I train him to jump over bigger and bigger things, which would constitute even more of a risk of severe injury if his judgement lapsed. Why are horses any different?

Run free horsies.

I agree, you dont put up fences , that the animals cant make!! if the fences where to big the horses would not get over them......ANY OF THEM!!!!!!

I dont think you can randomly die of a broken leg!!

But I have seen a horse that broke a leg in a field it stood their all night, till the owner found it in the morning... the horse was brought up to the stable (the owner refused to have it PTS in the field) .. it has to walk on 3 legs to its stable, where it was propped up for 2 wks with bales of hay to stop it doing down... the end result was it needed to be PTS..

I was fence jug ding at a 3* event a good few yrs back, a horse smashed its leg on the fence and we heard it brake, the jockey did not, the horse carried on running doing another jump... it was eventually pulled up and pts.


I remember a few yrs back a horse having an aneurysm in the field it dropped like a brick... I could go on... you have been lucky not to witness such things, but they do happen..

Did someone say that!! or is that your interpretation of what was said!!!

Because I dont think I said anywhere that they are dispensable and its OK because they are pts quickly.

What I said was that in such circumstances , they are pts quickly , before they have the chance to feel pain.

But at the end of the day if you don't like it dont watch it, free choice , vote with your feet or TV button..