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That might appear logical, but isn’t strictly true. Horses in distress due to heat can’t be treated simply by allowing them to drink. The amount of water they will drink pales into insignificance compared to what needs to be thrown over them as today’s example shows. The bottom line is that Worcester may never have had enough water today given how bad conditions were for the horses. It’s more than possible that the track are at fault here (it wouldn’t surprise me at all), but it’s an unusual scenario in this country to have horses severely dehydrated prior to racing in scorching sunshine, and it remains possible that many other tracks would have had the same problems. Only an official report will tell us that.
A good call from the people at Worcester as this is not ideal weather for having Jump Racing and i think a few horses lives will have been saved from this.
Obviously the River Severn behind the track was a good source for water but the Health and Safety aspect must be looked at as you have no idea what could be floating in it and taking thousands of gallons from the public system might not have been a good idea.
It is a shame that everyones day was brought to a short end but its worth it because on the flip side if they had carried on and lots of horses would have collapsed and even died then the outcome would of been even worse.
A shame pity lots of people had a short afternoon but if i was on course then even i would have no reason to complain.
Perth, which today endured similar temperatures and humidity levels to Worcester, showed that jump racing under these conditions can be staged safely provided some (obvious) precautions are taken.
It does however require a certain degree of foresight, common sense and planning ability on the part of the racecourse management, qualities that
are seemingly in short supply at Worcester.I don’t think anybody is suggesting the decision to abandon at Worcester today wasn’t the right thing to do – given the circumstances.
But serious questions need to be asked about the whole Laurel & Hardy type carry-on leading up to that decision being made. Also, not offering race-goers a refund is imv an absolute disgrace.
A good call from the people at Worcester as this is not ideal weather for having Jump Racing and i think a few horses lives will have been saved from this.
Obviously the River Severn behind the track was a good source for water but the Health and Safety aspect must be looked at as you have no idea what could be floating in it and taking thousands of gallons from the public system might not have been a good idea.
It is a shame that everyones day was brought to a short end but its worth it because on the flip side if they had carried on and lots of horses would have collapsed and even died then the outcome would of been even worse.
A shame pity lots of people had a short afternoon but if i was on course then even i would have no reason to complain.
Neil you are right about water extraction from a river. Apart from the risk from what is in it and at the moment nothing is being flushed down the slow flowing rivers like the Severn, there is the need to have licence for this job as well. I feel sorry for Worcester with the river running behind, it might look as if they plenty of water but they may not actually be in a position to get at it and then ensure that it is clean enough to use for drinking.
It’s not as if they provide no water at Worcester ever. There are always buckets (plenty of) provided in winners enclosure, pre parade ring and washing off area just ouside the vets box.
I don’t buy that somehow the taps just stopped running – the media have blown this aspect up out of proportion.
Happy – the coolest place you will find for a horse on a hot day is in the back of a moving horse box, upon all the vents up and you create drafts galore. Different story if you get suck in traffic though
.Rory – thanks for popping up that statement. I’ve been off for just over a couple of weeks due to our first baby, hence my absence from here.
We’ll have to await the reports and Richard Linley’s visit, but I’m sure there’ll be lots for us to have to consider. If the figure of 600-800 gallons for one horse is right, it’s a phenomenal amount required – if a standard bucket is about two gallons (approx 9 to 10 litres) that’s 400 buckets of water when the norm would be a fraction of that.
As for the last time something like this has happened, I really can’t recall it happening before but could be wrong.
Perth, which today endured similar temperatures and humidity levels to Worcester, showed that jump racing under these conditions can be staged safely provided some (obvious) precautions are taken.
I quite agree. I’d also proffer that the actual heat of the day at Worcester yesterday would probably have been merely
comparable
to that of the brief heatwave during 2006, throughout which summer jumping continued entirely peaceably, rather than in any way in excess of it.
One thinks immediately of the Uttoxeter meeting on July 19th 2006 that featured Robert Cooper’s legendary "eggsperiment" (see previous threads elsewhere). In spite of temperatures clocked well into the 30s and nearly knocking 40 in some places, four races beyond 2m4f (two of which were 3m contests)) were completed without any horses collapsing, and to the best of my knowledge every competitor had all the access it required to both drinking and hosing-down water.
What is disappointing in the case of Worcester yesterday is that on the evidence of what we have seen and heard of events so far (and I accept none of us may yet be entirely in the picture), the good practices of other courses during that heatwave three years ago do not
appear
to have been heeded or remembered. They even raced at Worcester on July 19th 2006 as well, albeit in the evening; so whilst the temperatures were still pretty high, they didn’t present quite the same issues in terms of overheating horses, dangerously hot stables, etc. as an afternoon card would have (and, yesterday, ultimately did).
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
A good background piece on horseracing in the heat from 3 years ago can be read here:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/ … 689562.eceOops! I’ve only just seen this link from earlier in the thread. The very Uttoxeter meeting I cited is mentioned.
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
No problems in the heat at Perth today. Plenty of water was provided and Sam was positively encouraging connections to make sure they used enough. Out in the middle of the course there was pleasant breeze blowing which would have helped cool the horses once they had left the paddock. If there was one problem it’s humans being taken for a ride at £1.50 a bottle of water, though it is possible to bring your own.
A note on the ground at ‘The Scone’ which was universally received as excellent. I deviated off the crossing line to check the stands’ bend and the turf did seem in superb condition, fast but with enough of a cushion to prevent impact damage.
Rob
Surely horses are pretty adaptable when it comes to extremes of temperature; I was just thinking to myself as I sat here trying to cool down that horses eg Arab horses from which our thoroughbreds are descended come form desert areas and are used to sweltering heat in the day and freezing temperatures at night but, being flight animals need to be able to gallop at the first sign of danger whatever the temperature.
Just wondering how they work out how much drinking they need. is the formula something like; 6 races 72 horses x 5 buckets of water each?
If one greedy so and so drinks 7 buckets does this lead to abandonment?Give 72 horses 5 buckets of water to drink after a race and you’ll have carcasses everywhere due to colicking horses. The horse that collapsed would not have been given more than one bucket to drink immediately after the race unless all the people surrounding it were complete idiots. After such exertion, you let a horse have controlled amounts of water only, even as little as 3/4 bucket of water in one go in such circumstances can bring on colic.
Also happy, I’m intrigued to hear where you heard that jockeys’ fees are £155 a pop. Last time I heard (and I paid a jockey this month) the riding fees were £96.36 for a flat jockey and £135.52 for a NH jockey.
The Cheekster – when precisely do you expect Worcester to stage fixtures if it should give up summer racing? The whole reason they started leaving out the winter fixtures was because too many of them were abandoned, usually through waterlogging.
In the states they have meets going on right now in Cali & Florida & New Mexico just to name a few. This time of year in those locals its–around 100+ F —-
Last years Belmont it was so hot the piping in Belmont which is in Elmont NY broke. I don’t know how it effected the horses. I still think there was water for them, but the mens and ladies rooms couldn’t flush nor could anyone wash thier hands etc… That day there were a few incidents of horses with heat exposure–People too. Adnd that day was the third leg of the Stateside triple crown.
That Worcester incident was funny because I am from worcester stateside–And our two towns are earily alike—-Minus we have 7 huge hills but we have a river and more lakes & ponds than you can shake a stick at.
Should they cancel? I don’t know what is safe for the equine and not—I was fighting in 120 Plus with full uniform and sometimes gas precautions—-I also worked in a prison in areas of I’d say 100+F–On my tours in full uniform. Is it safe—I guess the vets would know best….Cause I don’t—
The Cheekster – when precisely do you expect Worcester to stage fixtures if it should give up summer racing? The whole reason they started leaving out the winter fixtures was because too many of them were abandoned, usually through waterlogging.
A few abandoned fixtures are better than running out of horse ambulances by the second race because the over watered ground is sh#te.
Just wondering how they work out how much drinking they need. is the formula something like; 6 races 72 horses x 5 buckets of water each?
If one greedy so and so drinks 7 buckets does this lead to abandonment?Give 72 horses 5 buckets of water to drink after a race and you’ll have carcasses everywhere due to colicking horses. The horse that collapsed would not have been given more than one bucket to drink immediately after the race unless all the people surrounding it were complete idiots. After such exertion, you let a horse have controlled amounts of water only, even as little as 3/4 bucket of water in one go in such circumstances can bring on colic.
There seems to be a misunderstanding here. The large quantities of water were not required for bthe horse to drink, although of course they can be given a bucket after the race. At Perth yesterday most of the water available was used to splash over the competitors to cool them down after their races. The tubs surrounding the paddock were topped up after every race and there was always plenty of water available. The biggest job, one which kept a few staff on the go all afternoon and maybe what caused a problem for Worcester, is physically transporting the water to the right part of the course to be used.
Rob
I believe Worcester have offered readmission on another day to ticketholders as they most certainly should.
Horses get very hot after a race ,and the higher the temp the worse they get. As has been said, there was plenty of water in Perth this week,you use it to sluice over the animal to cool it down,and you use as much as you think is necessary to cool it down and avoid a fit occurring. Surely people thinkinig they were drinking it were winding us up.?Hydration and cooling off are two quite separate but equally critical issues and you need copious water for both and ideally ice for the latter as well. In simple terms, the horse continues to "cook" inside after major exertion and it takes much longer to cool it down down, pro-rata, than a human athlete. That’s why you chuck water over it for as much as it takes and for the reason even yukky river water would have been better than nothing. I haven’t been been behind the scenes at something like the Grand National but I have groomed at Badminton etc and ice is in regular use after the cross-country, even in fairly mild weather conditions. Surely all the work done at the Animal Health Trust in this area (for the horses that went to the Olympics in Atlanta and Hong Kong) has been passed to the racecourses?
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