Horse death in Siena

Re: Horse death in Siena

Hannah Wynne Richards — Wed, 01 Jul 2015 16:43:00 GMT

It's a 75sec race in a totally inappropriate setting. A bit like asking "Fancy a tobbogganing race?" and sending some poor unsuspecting innocent down the Cresta run.

Wynne

Re: Horse death in Siena

Bob Russell — Wed, 01 Jul 2015 15:53:31 GMT

Its a 75 second race! Horses are designed to run. These are trained to run, they are bred, cared for. mollycoddled and appreciated for this 75 seconds of bedlam.

Sorry I cannot get worked up about this sort of casualty. Humans train for marathons and drop dead doing what they enjoy. It just happens!

Not bullfighting, not dropping donkeys from churches, not making them parasail, not starving them. not working and beating them to death!

My old horse (lasted to 30yrs old) would have killed to take part. She was a born competitor and loved doing insane things.

Red star away!

Re: Horse death in Siena

Hannah Wynne Richards — Wed, 01 Jul 2015 15:38:44 GMT

The Italian fatality is curently topical.

My Sec D is a born competitor. She loves a race with her friends when we're hacking on the mountain. I consider part of being a good owner is to pull her up if I have any doubt whatsoever of her safety in continuing, and I would never urge her on if she wanted to pull up.

Wynne

Re: Horse death in Siena

Gerry Henry — Wed, 01 Jul 2015 15:23:49 GMT

Not interested in what Italians do I'm talking about steeplechasing; national hunt horses are born competitors, its bred into them.

Re: Horse death in Siena

Hannah Wynne Richards — Wed, 01 Jul 2015 15:15:46 GMT

They have an instinct to race, but they don't know on starting out that Becher's Brook has a drop on the landing side. They don't know in Siena that they will be expected to gallop around narrow, sharp corners, with unforgiving walls on either side. They don't know that if they tire they will be "encouraged " to continue, as the jockey is scared of being disciplined for non-trying - "encouraged" to the point that some suffer pulmonary haemorrhages afterwards.

Wynne

Re: Horse death in Siena

Gerry Henry — Wed, 01 Jul 2015 14:15:34 GMT

Garbage.

If they didn't love it (the horses) they wouldn't do it. You cannot make a steeplechaser, they're born to race.