2007 Departures - Horses In Training

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Not looking for a graphic description, just not a lie. If we have to accept these things as part of the sport the least we can expect is some honesty about them.
 
His fall looked very strange and he was thrashing about which was rather grim but it was a ruptured heart valve apparently - very sad .
 
I agree Gareth - his death was in no way, shape or form instant - the screens were up for a long time and the horse was moving for a few minutes before they even went up. It looked like Dickie was holding him down from where I was although I couldn't be sure. Yet another case of sloppy journalism.
 
I agree, get the facts right.

Who is "Rodney Masters" anyway, some dozy ex-public school twat?
 
I agree totally. Not that I want to hear the horrid details of why/how horses die, however the truth is important. No point in treating the public like children when you were told that Fuzzy was sleeping or had gone to heaven.

Making light of their deaths just makes it worse and the animal rights people, well, - right. It makes all of us look like idiots too. Or at least it makes it look like the press think we are idiots.
 
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As I have said many many times in the past, before mocking a horse for percieved lack of courage, consider that it may well be preventing itself from dropping dead of a heart condition.

Many so called 'dogs' have one day just dropped dead whether at home or on the track.

This horse was probably struggling when he ran badly at the end of last year.
 
I shall defer to anyone who was actually standing by that hurdle of course but it seems that it was pretty instant judging by what Johnson said to Warner as reported by the RP.What we saw on the TV was not an attempt to get up but his death throes it seems .
 
If the poor thing was in his death throes on the ground then surely that just confirms he didn't die instantly?

Warner's quote that he "died in mid-air" doesn't square with what everyone watching TV saw - although I have no doubt that the process began with DC's heart failing as he jumped - but I don't have a problem with Warner saying that.

Journalists, on the other hand, have a duty to accuracy.
 
We were also told that One Man died of a heart attack at Aintree when that clearly wasn't true (for those with long memories, Alverton was also reported to be dead before he fell in the Grand National when that also seems unlikely) and it seems that this is a romantic way of rewriting heroic equine deaths as painless and instant.

Mac Three broke a foreleg and was destroyed in today's Troytown Chase btw.
 
My Dad phoned to say that he thinks Brendan Powell's Mr. President possibly suffered a heart attack before his race this afternoon at Plumpton.
 
Originally posted by Kathy@Nov 25 2007, 10:17 PM
My Dad phoned to say that he thinks Brendan Powell's Mr. President possibly suffered a heart attack before his race this afternoon at Plumpton.
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Yes, someone who was there has posted about this on my website.

I was particularly angry about Mac Three; not only did the commentator totally fail to mention the wellbeing of any of the fallers in the race, but I noticed on the second circuit that the horse was still standing there in full view bearing his injury. No screens, and it seemed to be taking a long time to get to him to put him down. In my opinion, this is inhumane and unacceptable. I don't know if this sort of thing is particular to Irish racing - you certainly don't seem to see it over this side of the water.
 
There is simply no excuse other than a lazy approach to the animals welfare. I have attended p-t-p’s that have verged on neglect. I feel Irish racing has become an embarrassment in many respects. Major meets with horses destroyed unscreened right in front of crowds then lying uncovered as the field pass by again (Elusive Butterfly). Slack, incompetent response to falls and injuries, sometimes not only to the horses.

The second time around in the Troytown when Mac Three should already have been destroyed I noticed only his jockey and someone who was likely his trainer attending when a vehicle finally arrived.

Yes, there will always people who are only concerned about collecting their bet and think nothing of the jockey injured here or the horse that was killed there.

Advocates of racing, those that love it for what is is, are certainly done no favours by the rather ignorant approach of those who, to an extent, are representing mine and I’m sure many other racegoers attitudes.
 
Originally posted by uncle goober@Nov 25 2007, 02:34 PM
As I have said many many times in the past, before mocking a horse for perceived lack of courage, consider that it may well be preventing itself from dropping dead of a heart condition.
Many so called 'dogs' have one day just dropped dead whether at home or on the track. This horse was probably struggling when he ran badly at the end of last year.
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Very well said UG. This is esp true of horses which have run up a sequence of wins as DC did; it is never right imo to label them as dogs. A sudden deterioration from top form almost always means a physical rather than a mental problem; and these are not always easy to find. From what's been said and written the Hobbs team did do all in their power to find whatever the problem was.
 
Very sad to hear about Mr. President, and thanks for mentioning it, Kathy. old friend from germany and one we followed over here already, as by same sire as Belle Fee (Surako).


to come back to DC even though I do not want to stretch the discussion: been mentioned now in RP that he broke his neck too, and I have to admit that even that looks suspicious to me: the way DC tried to rise before Johnston got hold of his head did look like a broken shoulder to me. As said, he certainly did not die "instantly" and "without knowing"; but what can one say? "Bugger" like Hobbs?


Agree too on everything about Mac Three. Was apalled too and noticed him still standing with no screens round on the second cercuit - & have to agree on the comments about irish racing. they have a very rural approach to the mater, I feel.
 
If the horse had been hidden behind screens, would anyone have had a problem?

Some of the other issues puzzle me:

- How is the commentator supposed to know what the wellbeing of the horse is?

- Is it unusual for a horse with a broken leg to be kept standing? I didn't think so, but I'm open to correction.

- It took around 3 and a half minutes for the horses to come back around the second time, at which time the stricken horse was being attended to by someone who wasn't the jockey. Is this unusually long?
 
I agree entirely with the first point. Putting the screens around the horse is mainly to protect the public from seeing an unsavoury element of the sport, it is totally meaningless to the horse. In some cases it may actually lead to a minor delay in having the horse seen to (for want of a better phrase).

There are cases that the screens may be of some small benefit to the vets to give them space and privacy to work in, but I'm certain that is not the reason they are employed.
 
The official line seems to be that its there to provide a "calm environment" as Haydock's racecard often states. Not certain that's the whole reason but I'm sure we all agree it's not the sort of thing anyone going racing likes to see.
 
If Detroit City died instantly and the movement was only death throes (that went on for several minutes I might add) then why was Dickie sitting on the horse holding him down to prevent him from getting up? That's what I was sure I saw and had it confirmed in a report, think it was the Sporting Life who mentioned it.
 
Johnson also stated that he held DC's head to stop him getting up as he thought the horse must have broken a hind leg. Are the various "explanations" just appalling journalism or does someone think the ignorant public need pandering?
 
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