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Very sad for the poor horse, BUT:
1. Ffos Las has very tricky fences and has already had a rather high number of fatalities. Especially the ditches are not easy to jump.
2. Why do horses that have never jumped a fence in public have to start their careers in a handicap which is the same as its hurdle mark? Hurdles and Fences two different ballgames.
Maybe I`m the only one who knows that.
3. A horse by Chosir: A high-class sprinter himself on firm ground!!!!Is there something I`m missing???
Poor horse, surely deserved better. But as usual treated like a king. With his balls cut off, sent to jump obstacles because he was to bad as a Flat horse and he had to run over too far in wintery conditions. Completely the opposite of what he was supposed to be?
Why not donate this animal to charity???OK, RubyLight, can you explain how the handicap mark of this horse had any bearing on the fact it sustained a fatal injury in a fall?
Or the fact that his sire was a sprinter? Horses may perform better on a particular type of ground but that doesn’t mean they can’t gallop or jump on anything else.
I hate the phrase ‘deserved better’. All horses ‘deserve better’ than to meet their end in an accident. Unfortunately horses have an upsetting tendency to hurt themselves even when happily grazing in a field (seen far too many break legs when playing with their friends), or just getting up from lying down in their stable (lost my much loved mare this way). When I see a fatality on course I always ask myself if I can accept the risks that these horses face. If I ever think ‘no’ that is the time to stop watching. Perhaps you should do the same.
As for giving it to charity? Why? Who is to know (except you of course) that the horse is going to be hurt. You don’t really think that is the owners/trainers intention? The racehorse rehabilitation charities do a great job but I bet they are already full and other horse charities are over-run with true welfare cases. Take a look at World Horse Welfare or The Brooke for example to see some of the problems they face without being handed a perfectly healthy animal.
I agree that it is a sad end for the horse. Poor lad.
First of all a handicap mark has to be earned by competing in that certain discipline. Otherwise it wouldn’t make sense to have one. Imagine ex-Flat horses with a handicap mark of 80 starting off in a hurdles handicap of a mark of 120 for example. Now that wouldn’t make any sense at all. So if a horse runs of a false mark it could very well be that it is asked too much against horses with some experience in that sphere.
Then the second thing is that a horse bred for sprinting or a mile on the Flat shouldn’t be asked to jump fences during the winter. The horse had zero talent for the game and that’s what we found out.
It was not just an accident as it always seems to be.
Connections once again had no clue what do with the horse.
It doesn’t help at all to defend them. It’s the loss of equine life which should be taken more seriously.RubyLight I admire your passion and I don’t doubt you mean well but I feel you may be just a tad over the top on occasion.
There aren’t many true national hunt horses who become sires for obvious reasons – most are flat horses. That doesn’t mean their offspring can’t become good chasers – Presenting, Village Star. Maybe not sprinters, but still flat horses.
Real welfare cases are tragic and legion. A perfect example is poor Summit Surge who won over £325,000 for his owner and was then rewarded by being abandoned on a trainers land and (luckily) is now at Greatwood. The poor horse has now lost all interest in life after a pretty awful thank you from his owner. For anyone interested his and many, many other horrible stories can be found on any of the equine charities websites
There are any number of others who need help and the charities, (some of the lesser known are very small) would value any help, financial or otherwise, you (or anyone) would like to give them.
That’s how you can help these poor horses.
Very sad for the poor horse, BUT:
1. Ffos Las has very tricky fences and has already had a rather high number of fatalities. Especially the ditches are not easy to jump.
2. Why do horses that have never jumped a fence in public have to start their careers in a handicap which is the same as its hurdle mark? Hurdles and Fences two different ballgames.
Maybe I`m the only one who knows that.
3. A horse by Chosir: A high-class sprinter himself on firm ground!!!!Is there something I`m missing???
Poor horse, surely deserved better. But as usual treated like a king. With his balls cut off, sent to jump obstacles because he was to bad as a Flat horse and he had to run over too far in wintery conditions. Completely the opposite of what he was supposed to be?
Why not donate this animal to charity???1. Ffos Las’ record is much better than Cheltenham’s over the same period. According to the AnimalAid HorseDeathwatch data Ffos Las has had 18 since it opened in August 2009 while Cheltenham has had 41 – over twice as many – and Cheltenham has fewer meetings a year than Ffos Las. In fact, on the data Cheltenham is the most lethal course in the country!
2. Most of his NH runs seem to have been in handicap hurdles so it seems logical, to me anyway, to continue with that type of race with him once he went chasing. He had 3 wins and a 3rd over hurdles.
3. Many horses bred to be sprinters can run over the longer distances, Red Rum being one. Iirc one of his first races was over 7 furlongs yet we know that 3 and 4+ miles were not beyond his capabilities. Breeding only gives you an indication of what a horse may be capable of; it’s no guarantee that it’s all.
@ BLACK GOLD and Bonanzaboy:
1. Ffos Las’ record is much better than Cheltenham’s over the same period. According to the AnimalAid HorseDeathwatch data Ffos Las has had 18 since it opened in August 2009 while Cheltenham has had 41 – over twice as many – and Cheltenham has fewer meetings a year than Ffos Las. In fact, on the data Cheltenham is the most lethal course in the country!2. Most of his NH runs seem to have been in handicap hurdles so it seems logical, to me anyway, to continue with that type of race with him once he went chasing. He had 3 wins and a 3rd over hurdles.
3. Many horses bred to be sprinters can run over the longer distances, Red Rum being one. Iirc one of his first races was over 7 furlongs yet we know that 3 and 4+ miles were not beyond his capabilities. Breeding only gives you an indication of what a horse may be capable of; it’s no guarantee that it’s all.
My replies:
1. You shouldn`t compare anything to Cheltenham. The track itself and the position of the obstacles wouldn’t suit a lot of horses. There are safer tracks than Ffos Las for a novice.2. Hurdles and fences are just not the same. Let horses run first time out either in a beginners or a novices chase. Smaller fields, better view of the fences and so on. Make the introduction as easy as possible.
3. Red Rum is just an exception. But breeding with sprinters and hoping that a failed Flat racer might turn out to be an exceptional NH horse is rather improbable.
Just let breed proper horses for the jumps, just like the French do it. Their AQPS breeds have quite a good record over jumps and in G1 races. Let the animals that are not suited for jumping with all legs on the floor. That`s my point.
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