Vicky&Beenie
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"The wind of heaven is that which blows between a horse's ears..."
Posts: 779
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Post by Vicky&Beenie on Dec 26, 2007 21:41:13 GMT 1
what is you opinion to racing? is it cruel or just another equestrian sport? is it right to gamble on the horses? opinions?
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Post by Ryan&Dizzy on Dec 26, 2007 21:58:06 GMT 1
hummmm ild actually be really interested to see what ppl say to this!
personally i had always been rather anti untill i met a girl here whos Dad owns a race yard and whos boyfriend is a jockey! and they are lovely all there horses live in the lap of luxary have daily turnout, backs, teeth vets checked regularly would recieve any work they needed. they are all fed cleverly and trained in a friendly and thoughtful way and on her dads yard there are more retired racers that that havent been able to find suitable homes for than ones currently in work (all retired ponies out 24/7 and treeted lke gold!) they wont put any horses through markets and rehome all retired horses personally and vet homesvery well.
am sure they are probably the acception but i cant fault them at all in any way!
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Post by troop on Dec 26, 2007 22:19:51 GMT 1
i used to watch a lot of racing im good at picking winers but recently i have stopped watching because of all the accidents and horse deaths i just find it to deppressing.i used to live near a lot of race yards and some were good but some not so good but thats true with any horse sport or ownership isnt it?. i only really have any interest because its horses.
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Post by emmerrie on Dec 27, 2007 2:08:46 GMT 1
I would prefer it if the horses were aloud to mature skeleton and muscular wise so that would make it about age 5 TBH before they would be racing. But same goes for all equestrian sports though not just racing
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Cheryl Walmsley
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Posts: 3,599
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Post by Cheryl Walmsley on Dec 27, 2007 13:18:40 GMT 1
don't really know anything about it but Kelly used to be a jockey so it can't all be bad. I suppose like any other sport?
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Post by rj on Dec 27, 2007 14:20:31 GMT 1
Well it's one of those things............ I used to watch racing on telly when I was VERY young, just because it was horses & that was as close as I could get to them at the time. Therefore I have a sort of affection for it, and even the Grand National, when you see that the winning horse is so pleased with itself, you can forget the ones that didn't make it for a short while. The worst side of racing IMHO is what happens to the youngsters who aren't good enough. I understand large numbers are PTS, but have no personal knowledge, and the young age at which they are started & race on the flat.
There was so much outrage about the pony who died at Appleby, and I was wondering how many/what percentage are injured or die there, compared with race-horses. Aren't they both cruel in their own way?
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Post by lolamae on Dec 27, 2007 14:44:20 GMT 1
Despite working on racing yards, I have never laid a bet in my life and wouldn't even know how to begin, so I can't see anything wrong with betting, be it horses, dogs, raindrops on a window, snow on Christmas Day etc, as long as it doesn't become an obsession.
Hmm racing....... I have worked on flat yards with arabs (minimum age is 4 according to AHS rules, earlier in Russia and Poland though) and on jump yards, the horses were treated like kings, humans were mere slaves. If a horse didn't want to race, that is, wasn't physically up to it, didn't have the heart (guts) or just plain didn't want to (and you cannot make the last catergory run) then they were found other homes. I was on very good yards and can only speak from my own experiences of course.
Statistically, of course flat and jump racing has a high 'wastage' purely because of sheer numbers involved. But compare it to SJ/Eventing and any other high performance field then the injury percentages probably work out more or less the same. I've worked on those yards too, and there was a high turnover.
I love racing, and everything about it. I've trained my own horses and the saying 'horses for courses' runs true. One of mine would have bust a gut trying to get his nose in front, another gave up when the effort became too much, another would train perfectly at home, but would expend no effort on the gallops and would never even start on the track. He just stood there, making a fool of his connections and his opinion crystal clear.
I do not enjoy harness racing, at all, somehow it doesn't seem to give a horse a fair go when they have to wear check reins and hobbles etc, not to mention the side bars, bit brushes and whatever to control and keep them in gait, personal opinion. I lived in trotting country in Wales, and am in the heart of it here, every third farm, mine included, has a half mile track. I have yet to meet a happy (in training) trotter, and I have met a lot.
What about chuck wagon racing? Mule racing? Endurance racing?
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Post by specialsparkle3 on Dec 27, 2007 15:18:36 GMT 1
I love flat racing, although having said that, I don't like 2 yr old's racing, and I am not keen on chasing personally, but would not want to see it stopped.
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Post by specialsparkle3 on Dec 27, 2007 15:20:54 GMT 1
8-)ps as for gambling-------------why not? People bet on everything from "snow on Christmas day " to the winner of Celeb Come Dancing and X factor.
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Post by annalee on Dec 27, 2007 16:40:58 GMT 1
I don't see anything wrong with horse racing or betting on the races for that matter.
However, I don't like the grand national, IMO too many horses, too many jumps which are too high and the race is too many miles long.
The only thing I do not like and can't stand to watch with horse racing is the usage of the whip, I'd love to get some of those jokeys on a tread mill for an hour then use the whip for the last 5 minutes or so lol!!!!!
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Post by Liz on Dec 27, 2007 17:03:06 GMT 1
I do like jump racing which is what I've had some involvement with - I don't know anyone connected with flat racing. There are good trainers and bad trainers - I've known both. The good trainers treat their horses well. The most successful trainer in our area (now retired) was quite ruthless. He had a high turnover in the yard and was very scientific in his approach with horses blood tested before racing - if they were below par they didn't race. He did not keep no hopers on the yard - he didn't have to! The nicest trainer I know, also local, is also very successful and he also will tell an owner if the horse hasn't a prayer of being a good racehorse - know this first hand as I sold one such horse on behalf of his owner, a friend of mine, to a good eventing home where he did very well.
I think welfare standards for racehorses are reasonably good but could be better. I'm sure the relevant authorities will slowly improve the lot for racehorses but, as we all know, changes take a long time to be accepted by the people who set the rules and by the people who are supposed to adhere to them.
As for betting - why not? Racing and betting co-exist and one might find it difficult to keep going without the other. I would like to see some tightening up on betting yards which may be a factor in race fixing. I think racing does attempt quite hard to keep it's house in order but there will always be the nasty few who will do anything for a bit more money.
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