Six horses killed at this week's Cheltenham "Festival"....

I watched a interview with a leading vet, and she said you cannot ban the whip, it would be too dangerous to have an animal of that size and power running at that speed without something to correct him/her if they go wrong, she said you can ban the use of the whip to increase the performance of the animal, but not the use of the whip altogether because that’s not the only reason it is used.

 

Fair enough. I'm going to adopt a couple of kids from a third world country, ensure they never go without anything, pay for them to have the finest food, education and health care and then when they get to 30 make them fight to the death. You may find it barbaric, but they've lived better lives than some other humans because of it.

 

Not so sure that's 100% correct because there are races where whips are banned - hands and heels only races. They're usually only involving amateurs too, so by extension would be even more dangerous.

 

The difference there is that you're making them fight to the death. A horse isn't entered in a race to die - death is an accidental tragic outcome in a small percentage of races.

Do you have the number of horses who have died in the wild this week to compare it to Cheltenham?

 

Why wait until they are 30 https://www.studential.com/joining-the-army/british-army-FAQs 16 is old enough

 

What a ridiculous post!

 

In your opinion.

 

Alright, I'll just make just them take part in dangerous assault courses then.

Don't know what you're on about with the deaths in the wild. I obviously don't have the numbers but I think it's pretty safe to say that the proportion of wild horses of that age that died in the wild will be a shitload lower than the horses competing at Cheltenham.

 

So basically you don't know and you're making massive sweeping statements with no evidence.

No point in me carrying on then. As you were.

 

Hilarious. Do you know how the burden of proof works? You're the one who raised the suggestion that the number of horses dying at Cheltenham might not be disproportionate to the number in the wild, so it's on you to substantiate your argument with figures, not me.

 

In hand and heels racing riders carry a whip but "may not use it except for safety and correction".

https://www.britishhorseracing.com/press_releases/hands-heels-apprentice-series/

Having said that the authorities would have to be strict on the implementation of that rule. Richard Johnson got a hefty fine and a 7-day ban for overuse of the whip on Native River when winning the Gold Cup yesterday and even though I backed the horse on this occasion I actually believe that results should be overturned where a jockey is found guilty of overuse of the whip, including of course any performance-related use in a hands and heels race.

 

The interviewer asked her the same thing, Ruby Walsh’s dad answered the question, with jockeys still have the option of having the whip but it’s tucked in the saddle and or not used. But it’s there if needed, and as been on a few occasions, they then showed a few clips of these occasions. In one clip a horse was running towards the stands out of control, the jockey was tugging the left rain to no avail, the horse wasn’t even slowing down that much, he then produced his whip tapped the horse three times quickly down the neck and it straightened up.

 

Incorrect. You're having a pop at Cheltenham so it's your job to prove it's more dangerous than in the wild.

Not mine.

 

Marriage ?

 

Nope. The very fact that several horses have died at Cheltenham is prima facie evidence that it's dangerous. They died from being forced to jump over hurdles which is entirely artificial and something they don't do in the wild.

 

Forcing kids to hold a flag for 20 minutes before a game in freezing cold.