Post by wonkeydonkey on Dec 31, 2007 13:59:15 GMT 1
I think racing is like any other competitive equine sport - it's as much a business as it is a sport and sometimes, the horse's welfare (well, the horse's that aren't going to be world champions) isn't always managed as one would wish for in an "ideal" world.
However, I was speaking to an acquainatance who owns a riding school and they themselves admitted that you can no longer run a RS with the sole aim of providing ideal standards in the horse's welfare. It's just not feasible ... which, did sadden me, but it is very, very true. But then, I guess that's just as true for the private horse ownership - I'd love to have the land and facilitites to keep my horse's out 24/7/365 days a year, as I think ideally that lifestyle favours the majority of horses... sadly, I'm not in a position to do that though!
Of course, I don't like seeing broken-down two and three year old's who have an array of man-made mental and physical problems - it breaks my heart, but, not every horse that comes out racing has these problems & at least there are some rehabilitation programmes for some of the horses.
As for the horses that go for meat ... I'm not sure I'm as anti that as I thought I was. I'm a vegetarian and an animal lover through and through, but ... if the horse can't be found a suitable home or second career, I think I'd rather it was put out if its misery, than be unhappy, passed from owner-to-owner completely misunderstood for the rest of it's life.
Of course, it would be even better if these horse's didn't need these rehabilitation programmes or to be put down - but it's not as though, racing is about to stop, so perhaps the answer is to provide a higher number of these rehabilition centres/programmes so that more horse's get a better shot at a second life after racing. Again, that's easier said than done.
I've been to three or four racing yards - and I was suprised at how good three of the trainers were & how much effort they put into the horse. All the horse's got turned-out, they all got a lot of individual time with the grooms & they were trained sympathetically. I'm not naive enough to think that the same can be said for every trainer - but there are good traiers and yards out there.
Organisations such as Horse Racing Betting Levvy Board do an awful lot for the wider equine industry - they are heavily involved in welfare, research and endangered species. Without their support, financial and otherwise, a lot of other organisations (in the non racing equine industry). And of course, this wouldn't exist without racing.
I think ... I'm sat on the fence about horse-racing. I do enjoy watching it, but then there's a lot about it that I don't enjoy or agree with (but I can say the same about any top-level qeuine sport - dressage, showjumping etc) . As the racing industry isn't about to stop, I do think there needs to be more oppurtunities for these racehorses after their racing career has finished, but then I guess that this has improved over time as well (I'm thinking of the rehabilition centres and programmes/competitons such as Retraining Of Racehorses).
However, I was speaking to an acquainatance who owns a riding school and they themselves admitted that you can no longer run a RS with the sole aim of providing ideal standards in the horse's welfare. It's just not feasible ... which, did sadden me, but it is very, very true. But then, I guess that's just as true for the private horse ownership - I'd love to have the land and facilitites to keep my horse's out 24/7/365 days a year, as I think ideally that lifestyle favours the majority of horses... sadly, I'm not in a position to do that though!
Of course, I don't like seeing broken-down two and three year old's who have an array of man-made mental and physical problems - it breaks my heart, but, not every horse that comes out racing has these problems & at least there are some rehabilitation programmes for some of the horses.
As for the horses that go for meat ... I'm not sure I'm as anti that as I thought I was. I'm a vegetarian and an animal lover through and through, but ... if the horse can't be found a suitable home or second career, I think I'd rather it was put out if its misery, than be unhappy, passed from owner-to-owner completely misunderstood for the rest of it's life.
Of course, it would be even better if these horse's didn't need these rehabilitation programmes or to be put down - but it's not as though, racing is about to stop, so perhaps the answer is to provide a higher number of these rehabilition centres/programmes so that more horse's get a better shot at a second life after racing. Again, that's easier said than done.
I've been to three or four racing yards - and I was suprised at how good three of the trainers were & how much effort they put into the horse. All the horse's got turned-out, they all got a lot of individual time with the grooms & they were trained sympathetically. I'm not naive enough to think that the same can be said for every trainer - but there are good traiers and yards out there.
Organisations such as Horse Racing Betting Levvy Board do an awful lot for the wider equine industry - they are heavily involved in welfare, research and endangered species. Without their support, financial and otherwise, a lot of other organisations (in the non racing equine industry). And of course, this wouldn't exist without racing.
I think ... I'm sat on the fence about horse-racing. I do enjoy watching it, but then there's a lot about it that I don't enjoy or agree with (but I can say the same about any top-level qeuine sport - dressage, showjumping etc) . As the racing industry isn't about to stop, I do think there needs to be more oppurtunities for these racehorses after their racing career has finished, but then I guess that this has improved over time as well (I'm thinking of the rehabilition centres and programmes/competitons such as Retraining Of Racehorses).
Most of my issues with racing lie with the stable management of the horses.
