To be dreading the grand national on Saturday?

[annabanana84]

once again the grand national has come around, and to say I despise it is an understatement. The fact that people race these poor horses for entertainment and money really defies belief. The way those poor horses get whipped, exhausted and there is not a year goes by that we hear of deaths or the animals having to be put to sleep because of them breaking their necks, backs, or other injuries. I so dread it. You can't even get away from hearing about the deaths because it's broadcast on every news programme.

[ouryve]

I think the promotion of it as the original extreme sport is quite sick :(

[MrsRajeshKoothrappali]

It's disgusting.

Injuring horses and hiding their corpses under tarpailin is not a 'sport'.

I've always found horse riding digusting though.

[pamelat]

I naively went to it last year

Awful

having never really watched it, not even on tv that I remember, I went on corporate tickets and was really upset by it all

horrible

[Sugarice]

I hate it too and never watch.

I despise the shoulder shrugging off the so called experts when horses die.

Is it still on bbc1 or has channel 4 nabbed it?

[EdithWeston]

It's not every year though, after only 1 in 1960s, there were 9 in 1970s and 3 in 1980s. The course has been made less challenging since then. The last two years have seen two fatalities each time, but that's not typical either of this race or of the sport as a whole.

It does get the column inches though.

[hiddenhome]

It is horrible. I hate it. The people involved are sick and should be ashamed of themselves. I think an artist should design a big poster of some dead jockeys lying under tarps on the grass and see how everyone like that

[EdithWeston]

"original extreme sport" - really? Glad I hadn't spotted that as a tag line, for that is indeed sickening.

[fuzzysnout]

Disgusting. I dare say that you'll have people come onto the thread to tell you how much the horses love it and how much 'safer' it's been made this year. I well remember them falling over themselves to say the same last year before two horses died sickening deaths

[MrsRajeshKoothrappali]

I mean horse racing was digusting, not horse riding!



Apologies, horse riders!!

[JenaiMorris]

I honestly can't get that worked up about it. Not that I don't like horses, or animals generally (although I do eat them, so I'm not that precious about them).

I prefer flat racing - I've been to a few.

Dreading seems a little strong.

[MandragoraWurzelstock]

It's mainly about money

They all agreed that halving the field was a great idea last year but have they done it? Of course they haven't.

[midastouch]

Totally agree with you OP I hate it but DP will watch and bet on it and get my 3yo DS to pick a horse

[woozlebear]

Wouldn't go as far as dreading, personally, but only because I'm so thick I hadn't realise it was due.

I do dread the moment someone in my office starts doing the sweepstake for it (every flipping year) and I'm the ONLY person (amongst lots of apparently animal loving NICE people that I usually like!) who has to trot out my pious po-faced 'no thank you, I don't want to be involved in anything that needlessly kills and injures animals for enjoyment'. Thankfully even the office tw*ts are normally shamed into silent acceptance and don't hassle, but I hate the whole thing. It makes me hate everyone I work with, which is never fun.

[McNewPants2013]

I would think after the recent horse meat scandal the GN would have been scaled down, I don't think I have seen so much advertising for the GN

[Lovelygoldboots]

I worked for the Tote for years and have been to the GN many times. Yes there are deaths, but the course has changed. I always used to run a sweep at the office. I don't think I am a twat. The horses are bred to run, its an exciting race to watch. Sorry but I don't agree.

[natwebb79]

"The horses are bred to run". Oh that's ok then

[somewheresomehow]

dreading a horse race is a bit ott. if u don't like it don't watch it

[specialsubject]

So don't watch it and don't watch the news. Your TV has an off switch.

perhaps not our finest mark of civilisation, but there are bigger things to worry about.

[Lovelygoldboots]

The horses do want to run. There are rules about using the whip. I know people who train them. Horses are not mistreated but yes there are dangers in the sport. But all racehorses want to run. That is what they are. Horses that race.

[saintmerryweather]

So people are ok with all the animals who are killed for human use every year but 2 horses in the national and its a tragedy? Its what theyre bred for, same as a sheep or a cow will die for your dinner (and have a far less pleasant life in tge meanwhile)

[catgirl1976]

I love racing and have horses and do get a bit irked by people only thinking the national has fatalities and not understanding the sport etc and do watch and enjoy the national.

However I would very much like to see the field halved and the runners that are in it purely for the vanity of the owner having a gn runner be removed.

[MrsMorton]

YABU, just don't watch it... dreading something you have no involvement in is a bit much. You could be dreading the winter in Syria or the stoning to death of women in Afghanistan... or you could be doing something about these prospects (campaigning, writing to your MP, volunteering for a charity etc)

[bonzo77]

^^this. Exactly.

[BalloonSlayer]

I think there is a small point to be made in that if a horse really doesn't wish to jump race it probably would have enough brains or spirit not to - they are not greyhounds following a pretend rabbit on instinct. I imagine most of them enjoy galloping along up to a point.

HOWEVER the Grand National is different . . . Becher's brook is a fence that is reasonably low on the take-off side with a much longer drop on the other side PLUS a water filled ditch. The horse has no idea that is going to be there and just has to cope with it as best it can.

It's just bloody cruel to trick an animal like that. I just googled it to try to get measurements - the photos are horrible, and so many of them. Poor, poor horses.

[MandragoraWurzelstock]

I have very little objection to horses being ridden, trained, jumped, cross countried and so on. Eventing is Ok, to an extent, as well imo.

What I do object to is horses being exploited like this for the crude, vulgar benefit of a load of drunken idiots who want to gamble, and by exploited I mean made to run in a fear/herd instinct induced frenzy in a field that is far too large to be safe.

The GN makes me very very angry and upset.