Grand National protests

They claim to be starting the “end of horse racing”. Actually it needs to be taken very seriously. They are very media savvy which is crucial to influence the younger generation. And they shout very loudly.

Ironically there are so many areas of animal cruelty that they could be highlighting....puppy farming, dog breeding, tourist attractions abroad, overweight people riding horses and donkeys abroad, zoo animals abroad, animals In war zones, live animal markets, halal food preparation etc.
 
I get depressed when I see a horse get fatally injured. I use the word depressed because for a short period of time it's very sad, but thankfully it is a state of mind that I can come out of. It's not a lifetime predicament.

How many horses wouldn't have even been born if it wasn't for horse racing?

All those thoroughbreds born because of dedicated owners and breeders.

I guess my point is as with anything in life there are positives and negatives.

These activists want to live in their own perfect utopian reality where they get the exact world they want to live in. I guess their way just doesn't fit very well with a sport like horse racing.
 
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I keep saying, show me someone claiming to be fighting for a cause and I'll show you a hypocrite.

How many of these protesters will be wearing clothes produced in Asian sweatshops or, away from the spotlight of protests, are taking/dealing drugs?

Or, as someone else suggested somewhere, gluing themselves to railings using glue made from horses.

Arseholes every one.
 
Face it; horses can get injured (sometimes fatally) in our sport, and the GN will always be a sitting duck for the extremists, no matter how innocuous the test it provides.
 
Just logged into the “Animal Rising” sub on Reddit where they proudly announce they are having a TV debate with a known racing expert....and then shock, horror...he actually agrees with them much to the amazement of the newscaster! Google the “expert” and he’s a known activist against racing having once professed to being a racing fan....not I add anyone who has ever worked in racing or knows anything about horses! This is what they do to make themselves look good. The anti hunting lot do the same with edited videos and yet nine times out of ten when these cases get to court, they are all thrown out because it’s clear what they are doing.
 
jinnyj said:
They claim to be starting the “end of horse racing”. Actually it needs to be taken very seriously. They are very media savvy which is crucial to influence the younger generation. And they shout very loudly.

Ironically there are so many areas of animal cruelty that they could be highlighting....puppy farming, dog breeding, tourist attractions abroad, overweight people riding horses and donkeys abroad, zoo animals abroad, animals In war zones, live animal markets, halal food preparation etc.
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Very true but these don't get prime time on tele. Think most of these morons just want their 5 mins of fame. Has it occurred to them that if they pay to get in, they are contributing to the sport for one, and what's the potential for an animal getting hurt if they try and stop the race? Agree with another poster on here, some of the crowd will go for them if they try anything and my money's on the crowd. Bet the 30 or so supposedly outside the main entrance from early have been getting far more abuse than they have support. I really, really hope they don't get a look in.
 
I remember there was a protest many years ago which caused quite a bit of disruption and Ballyhane died of a heart attack. I often wonder if the protesting contributed to it. Either way, whatever they do it’s going to affect the horses in some way.
 
Imagine you were a racehorse who loves to run and jump.

You have a choice.

You can stay in a 4 star hotel. kept warm in the winter cool in the summer.

Someone regualry bathes you, feeds you the best of grubs and takes you on romantic walks round the countryside every morning
and allows you to have canters and gallops

Then they take you on a day out to meet thousands of lovely people , meet new friends and have fun running round a beautiful race course.

Or alterantively they shove you in a field in the pouring raine one day, roasting the next and freeze the balls off you in the winter.

I know what the horses think but these would be animal lovers are fckin clueless clowns
 
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Tanlic said:
Imagine you were a racehorse who loves to run and jump.

You have a choice.

You can stay in a 4 star hotel. kept warm in the winter cool in the summer.

Someone regualry bathes you, feeds you the best of grubs and takes you on romantic walks round the countryside every morning
and allows you to have canters and gallops

Then they take you on a day out to meet thousands of lovely people , meet new friends and have fun running round a beautiful race course.
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I suspect they think the horses should have this without the alternative.

One of my closest-ever colleagues was vehemently anti-racing because she only ever saw negatives. She saw reports of horses dying on the track or at home or being nobbled into ill-health. I think she may have read a few Dick Francis novels and focused on the negatives there too.

I tried to tell her that the horse would simply not run if it didn't want to but she said that's why the whip was used: to force a horse into doing something it didn't want to do.

We never fell out about it but she was a genuine animal lover and genuinely wanted horses to be safe and well. I tried to tell her every sport has risks but her argument was that humans have a choice whether to put themselves in danger, horses don't.

But I could never imagine her ever getting involved in protests.
 
Yes, racehorses are pampered. And racehorses only live to provide entertainment for humans. The hot-cold out in the field v stabled environment is irrelevant.

I admit, I’m always torn whenever the argument rears its head. I love animals, but I do love the races too.
 
Len Madeiros said:
Yes, racehorses are pampered. And racehorses only live to provide entertainment for humans. The hot-cold out in the field v stabled environment is irrelevant.

I admit, I’m always torn whenever the argument rears its head. I love animals, but I do love the races too.
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Lets face it. If it wasn't for racing most of these racehorses wouldn't have been born.

Given a chance of life with some risk or no life at all I think most people would choose the former anyway.
 
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As Ed Chamberlain is explaining none of these people bother going to a racing yard to see how they are looked after. In fact most of them aren’t even animal lovers. Like the antis that target hunting...they intimidate children, hit horses, spray liquid at horses and hounds, lure hounds onto busy roads etc.
 
They are absolutely ridiculous. This race no different to 6/7 horse races run every day on racecourses round the country. As being said now on tele what they are doing now is directly affecting the horses. Well said Lucinda Russell - 'doing it for themselves'.
 
I’m so angry. Yes, they have a right to protest and I do understand some of the points they make. But do it in a way that doesn’t endanger the lives of the horses, jockeys and even themselves. Those horses are primed to run and the race is being delayed on a warm day. I knew someone years ago who was a protester and she admitted that she would have been happy to put bombs under people’s cars.
 
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