Featherbed Lane

[Burroughhill]

Another one bites the dust this week after breaking a leg in the Coral Cup.

RIP and condolences to connections.

[nighthorse]

Oh no, I feared for him when they said he was pulled up quickly and appeared injured. And then, of course, they said no more about him.

That was on the flat between fences wasn’t it? Is there something wrong with Cheltenham’s ground? Have they really watered enough?

RIP Featherbed Lane

[vikingflagship]

rip, certainly seems to be alot of injuries on the flat , there was another horse in that race that was taken for veterinary treatment in horse ambulance

vf

[Crepello1957]

What a brave little horse he broke a leg a few strides before the hurdle, jumped it & kept on his feet. Very sad.
I tried to put a post this morning on the Daily Mail on line to support NH racing. They are giving Animal Aid a lot of publicity. It wasn’t included.

[Gazs Way De Solzen]

RIP Featherbed Lane!

[Jane of Herts]

My feeling is that the ground is fine; but horses are being bred more and more for speed and their legs, always vulnerable, are even more fragile these days.

[reetlass]

What happened in the pre-watering of courses days? Did we get as many fatalities on the flat or between fences as we seem to get now? In dry summers horses hooves really seemed to rattle but I don’t recall many deaths from it. Maybe horses were bred with a more robust constitution then.

[Ten Plus]

Difficult to see what exactly happened due to the sun but I thought his leg went before the hurdle too. I am quite convinced that there are far more broken legs on the flat than there used to be and have to agree it’s probably something to do with breeding … it would be interesting if there was some sort of research into conformation/bone density of legs which have broken … if my memory serves me well I’m sure a leg going on the flat used to be considered rare compared to injuries as a result of a fall …

[Triptych]

Could it be that they run from such an early age 2yo before their legs have time to fully mature, I’m no horse expert but know that the Lipizzaner horses don’t even start training until they are 5 years old and are not allowed to jump ‘the airs above the ground’ until they are 7. Most of our racehorses (flat) are retired off to stud by then and the jumpers carry on until they are 13/14 in some cases.
RIP Featherbed Lane just a baby at 7yo..it’s been a sad week so far

Things turn out best for those who make the best of how things turn out...

[Crepello1957]

In the 1960s & 70s it was quite rare to see a horse snap it’s leg between the jumps, but it happens all the time now.
As far as jumping is concerned it might be due to the lack of half bred jumping lines & mares that were present up to recent times. They introduced bone & substance. Garde Champetre was an Anglo-Arab.

Also I think Northern Dancer & his sons have been a poisoned chalice & his influence is seeping into the Winter game too. The gene pool is shrinking all the time, speed, speed, speed & no substance. Inbreeding just doesn’t help, if you look at some past pedigrees jump horses used to be mainly out bred.

[BlackGold]

Could it be that they run from such an early age 2yo before their legs have time to fully mature, I’m no horse expert but know that the Lipizzaner horses don’t even start training until they are 5 years old and are not allowed to jump ‘the airs above the ground’ until they are 7. Most of our racehorses (flat) are retired off to stud by then and the jumpers carry on until they are 13/14 in some cases.
RIP Featherbed Lane just a baby at 7yo..it’s been a sad week so far

My feelings as well. There are more pure Thoroughbreds than half breds in jump racing these days and more horses are run on the flat at 2 and 3 and then move on to jumping. That rarely happened years ago precisely because most jumpers were half breds and couldn’t be raced on the flat.

I know Thoroughbreds are supposed to mature earlier, but horses aren’t considered adult/fully grown until 4, ie the Derby is for colts, not stallions, Oaks for fillies, not mares. 4 years of age has long been accepted as the dividing line between young and adult horses. And in the last few years we’ve also seen jumpers starting out over hurdles at 3 so how much good is that doing to their legs?

[pilgarlic]

As regards breeding I know this horse is from the same mare as Master of the Hall which suggests he may have had a long career. Saddened he has met with a fatal injury. Looked very promising.

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