Years ago CC, many more Horses did fall, but not necessarilly killed. Horses dont heal with breaks like dogs, their bones are just too fragile to support their 1/2 ton bodies. Most Horses are retired, most injuries are treated and the Horses race again or retire.

Have to disagree with that Dawn

I have a friend who works in rescue with ex racers and there is no reason that they cannot be rested. I've never met one that was mad like people try to make out they are. My horse when he had his eventing fall was at the peak of his fitness (a top eventing pony (this was England team trials we're talking about!!) is every bit as trained and fit as a top Eventing horse, or race horse) and he coped perfectly well being rested with restricted grazing/movement. Its not ideal, but better than shooting them.

Some horses really dont cope well with box rest, but i have never, in all my years of living and working with horses, come across one that didnt come right with rest. I think the racing world uses excuses as to why their horses are unable to recover from injuries to cover up the real reason - the horse would be costing them money, not making it, and is therefore surplus to requirement.


There is a lot of rescues out there JUST rescuing and rehoming injured racehorses. Many go on to be fantastic riding horses (i loaned one as a child who had broken down on the track, but he was a great horse for what i wanted!!), just because they cannot race doesnt mean they shouldnt have the same work put in to try to save them as any other horse.

Sorry, but you really have no idea what you are talking about, are you or have you ever been involved in any form of racing or competition where horses are concerned.

You statement comes from nothing more than watching something on the TV and assuming your own conclusions.

The true fact is safety is paramount for the human and horse... do you really think that people would be so reckless to risk life and limb on a whim simply for thrill factor for the public.


Jessica , with respect , you will understand that there will be degrees of severity in brakes ... and you will also understand that keeping a horse ,(depending on the horse) alive and strapped up in a stable for wks /mths on end... rendered immobile, will and can be crueler than having it PTS.

And you really cant possibly know if those horses that are PTS at competitions are really candidates for recovery.

Your horse broke a leg in the field, at home within distance of its stable.

Some of these competition horses are hundreds of miles from home, or the nearest veterinary hospital... they would need to be boxed up transported all those miles with a broken leg , even before the recovery and treatment is applied, not to mention , they can break the bone within wks of having it fixed ,

As in my earlier post , a friend did just as you... but after the trauma and recuperation , the horse still had to be PTS...

Over the time it was propped up, we (myself / vet and others) begged her to have him PTS..she refused point blank... there is no two ways about it.......that horse suffered in the end she saw the only way to go and had him shot!!

I understood fully her reluctance , but the best for that horse was putting out of his misery.

Being in horses you will understand that box rest can be the worse thing for some horses, all are different and all owners will act differently... and a high energy horse like a race horse will in most cases go crazy boxed up for so long, and some will even do more damage to the leg while recouping, ending in them being PTS...


Just on another point Jessica..... National Hunt horses (jumpers) do not start to train till they are 4 yrs old, just like any other horse... it is the flat racers that start at such a young age.

Like I said, you have no idea of what is involved in the recovery of a horse with a broken leg...

You would think , that the people who own horses know exactly what is involved and act accordingly.

No one has a horse destroyed for the fun of it..

If it suits you to think that... so be it!!

We are not talking about rehabilitating horses to a different life, regardless of it being a race horse , it will depend on the severity of the injury... ofcause they deserve to be treated like any other horse , but it all depends on the circumstances of each case, regardless of its breeding.

I do see your point of view, i guess it depends on how you look at it. My horse broke his hock (severely enough for the vet to recommend putting him to sleep so i guess pretty badly) and he made a very good recovery. He was given fairly strong painkillers so was not in any more discomfort than a person in the same position. Yes, i chose to put him through some discomfort. You may consider that selfish. But we put dogs and cats through the same, is that selfish? I believed at the time he would make a good recovery (he is a tough little guy!!), if it had continued for months then i'd have made the decision to put him to sleep. But he very quickly started picking up and as i said, made a full recovery in 3 months.

The other injury was much more severe and was at a competition about 2 hours from home, and an hour from our equine vets. At the vets advice we trailered him all those cruel hours to them As they told us the competition policy is to shoot any horses with suspected broken legs, which is what his appeared to be. It WAS about a year of recovery for him. He was confined in a stable with just walking out in hand for grass each day for a couple of months. Never once did he look depressed. He is a fighter! He never had to be "propped up" even with the injuries as bad as he had (havent read your previous post so dont know what that one had, must have been bad, will have a look back ) and had our vets said that there wasn't a good chance of him making a complete recovery, we would have had him PTS. Im glad they did say that they could fix him, because that fall was about 7 years ago and he has since gone on to compete, and win, at Senior level BSJA over Foxhunter and Members Cup courses, and is sound as you'd want!

I agree with you that i would completely draw the line at keeping a horse immobile for weeks or months. That is not fair on the horse and only likely to make it depressed. My vets were fantastic. Charlie had a little "team" vets and nurses who looked after him day and night. As i said, he could only be grazed in hand at first, but once they had controlled the pain after the first couple of days, and strapped up his leg enough that the bones weren't going to be damaged by moving, he was led out into the field and grazed in hand several times each day. So it sounds like it was a different situation, and way the vet dealt with it, than with my horse.

But i do stand by what i said that competition vets do not give many horses a chance to recover. The owners have no say in whether the horse is PTS as i know from personal experience of friends horses being shot infront of them. I would always advise anyone who has a horse injured at a show to follow the advice given by my vet - if it can walk, and stand up, get it into the trailer and OFF the showground. Then either get a vet out to it, or if it can cope with the journey, trailer it to your vet.



Re. the training of racehorses... I dont know who told you that jumpers aren't trained til 4, but they were fibbing They may not start JUMPING til 4 (though i highly doubt they wait that long, 3 i'd imagine is more like it), but all racehorses start their training at 2 or younger. I have known enough people who work for racing trainers riding the youngsters to know that its very common practice.

I cant get it to quote the full post... but with all due respect, i dont think you can say that because im young i dont know what im talking about Horses have been a huge part of my life for 20 years. I have worked on some very nice yards, i have contacts in racing yards, showjumping yards, eventing yards, studs and rescues. Just because i have not personally lived through it all does not mean that my information is inaccurate.

And to say that a top eventing pony can be put in the field and brought out for a competition a week later implies to me that maybe you have no clue whatsoever of how much work and training goes into preparing a horse for eventing!!! That was just such a ridiculous statement, i laughed out loud at my desk when i read that You most certainly cannot expect a horse, or pony, to go out and do 2/3 days of serious competing after a week stood in the field Im not talking popping round the local 2ft XC course, a quick trot round the dressage and a pop round the SJ. Im talking about the proper Badminton style eventing - The XC courses are about 3'6 and VERY tricky, you have high level dressage, BSJA reg showjumping, not to mention the roads and tracks and steeplechase to do as well.


And ex racers are disposed of AT the tracks sometimes. Very often they are just handed over if they are no longer wanted. So these ex racers i refer to are quite literally just off the tracks A friend of mine got a gorgeous boy a couple of years ago, that she picked up the day after his last race. It has admittedly taken a lot of work, dont want to give people the impression that it doesnt!!, but he was able to be re-educated as a lovely amateur event horse

Jess, in all the yrs of being involved in one form of competition or another,,, I have never heard of a rule where the organisers or vet can dictate whether you the rightful owner has no say over the euthanization of your horse.

I would guess if the vet saw fit to shoot the horse, it would be in atermanal state,, and in such situations, they will act.

i have seen vets shot horses, and I have seen owners take them home, but it is always the owners choice ...

But as I have said Jess, it is all down to individual choice.. if you feel your horse can cope and the break is mendable , it is down to you to make your decision..

But you cannot condemn those who take the other option.

As Dawn said, their legs are fragile, and to out a horse through some of the immobility needed to ensure recovery is not humane, for some it will work for many it wont...

And dont forget infection... which can set in... and then their is the horses ability to have the will to live..some just give up, is it right to force them to go on.

Horses are not dogs or cats... and we need to stop comparing them , in respect of dealing with major injuries

I would never, ever condemn those who choose to have their horses pts if they feel there is no other option. Of course not. Its a decision each person has to make and you have to do what you believe is right for the horse. I would condemn those who do it based purely on what value the horse is to them, and you cannot deny that happens in racing, as im sure it does in other disciplines.

I am very pleased with the decisions i have made with my horse. He has been the most wonderful companion for me for nearly 13 years, and i plan for that to continue for another 13, hence why we decided on an early retirement after his awful injuries.

It IS true that if the vet decides your horse is suffering, whilst on the showground, they have the power to overrule the owner. I have seen it happen on, unfortunately, more than one occassion. The vet has the final say on the welfare of the horse, if they say your horse needs to be pts then they have the right to do that whether you agree or not. Or, certainly that was the case when i was competing.

OK, Jessica... I thought I would not state the obvious, as to my statement on turning your pony out... as I assumed you would understand my meaning...obviously not.

I dont mean turn him out in the fierld for a wk......WITH NO EXERSICE/TRAINING...I was comparing an event pony 14 2 , to a TB..one can be allowed to chill out (with work) in the fields inbetween events... the other cant..

You can begin to think what you like Jess... as for my experience and knowing what is involved.. in all aspects of compition.. we have been there done that, got the t.shirt.

I used to run and organinse our PC area SJ team... fence stewdard at many an event. To name a few, along with my daughter going from mini PC events to high level in all desiplines.

So I know what is involved, and I know that OUR ponies with consistant work could go into the paddock inbetween events, with no repacussuions... |(along with all the other EVENT / JP/ DRESSAGE ponies on the yard.

As for your age, like I said with respect, you have many yrs infront of you to learn and see what the horse world brings...

Just like I do , we see things every day, we have not seen before.

So, you're saying that a TB cant be turned out? I am now truely confused.....

I personally think its cruel to keep any healthy horse stabled 24/7. And i know for a fact that most top racehorse trainers turn their horses out in fields in between training them so sorry, still failing to see your point. Lets just ignore the height thing. A top eventing HORSE rather than pony then. Say, one that is competing at Gatcombe, Badminton... That would be the Full Grown Adult Horse version of what me and Charlie did. You think those horses have less training than a racehorse??

If your daughter competed at the same level that i did, then you would know the DAILY training horse and rider require.

And i dont think its very fair to partonize me because you are older.. Its entirely possible that in my "short" years i have seen things that you havent, and have knowledge of things that you dont... With respect Age very often with horses, means nothing.