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Is horse racing morally justifiable? I dont think so
For us as a forward thinkin society to allow an animal to be bred for and then forcefully used for our own entertainment is an abhorrent misuse of our power over these creatures and comparisons to breeding cows and pigs for sustenance just doesnt wash with me
The fact may be that the ones good enough are treated well but the ones that dont happen to be able to run fast enough are disposed
The use of the argument that ah well there are worse things going on in the world is a poor argument used over and over again in the defence on this thread and again doesnt wash with me, i mean if everyone took that attitude where the hell would our society beI like cormacks argument for the defence and feel he put forward a well reasoned and informative debate on his reasons for why he thinks it is morally justifiable
Now heres my view on it i have no love for the horse as an animal and only care about my ability to bet on them in the expectation that they are fit and well and will run to form.Am i hypocritical? very much so. Do i care? not a bit
Refreshing honesty, Joe Donaghy
More or less agree though my problem is:
I love
the horse
Am I hypocritical? Very much so. Do I care?
Yes
, and after 40 years the hypocrisy still gnaws
Whenever the morality of horseracing is questioned on TRF a torrent of indignant and defensive ‘of course it is’ type rebuttals accumulate swiftly, which reach my eyes accompanied by the aroma of that familiar phrase:
the lady (and gentleman) doth protest too much, methinks
This is not meant as condemnation: it is I believe no more than the natural response of those who love racing as a spectacle and/or betting medium, and who weren’t born with hearts of stone; hence there is and will always be a little corner of the moralising-psyche that prods and niggles whenever a field of majestic noble horses lines up for a race
The wheeling-out of familiar rationalizations such as ‘they live a life of luxury’ ‘it’s worse for those whose destiny is the slaughterhouse’ ‘I’d rather be a racehorse than a child labourer’ may or may not be valid; but the voicing of them is in my opinion little more than a letting-off of steam that assuages and ameliorates the discomfort all of us feel to a lesser or greater depth about the sport we love
So, no justification of morals from me. I love the sport, I love the horse. If there’s surely a degree of mutual exclusivity there, so be it. I’m a hypocrit and I can live with it. Those whose moral-fibre is stronger and can’t, walk away
Incidentally would all this hoo-haa following the National have transpired had the decision to bypass fences not been implemented? Carcasses littering the 4m4 are nothing new, but attention inevitably drawn to them this year by the bypassing. Not that I want the death of horses hidden
Was bypassing the fences compounding the ‘public relations disaster’ that is the Grand National with another ‘public relations disaster’
The Grand National is an atavistic pursuit increasingly at odds with the modern thought of modern urban man and probably best consigned to a quiet Tuesday in February where it can be enjoyed by those yet to succumb to sanitization
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I think it shows how close the Animal Righters are to their goal of a total ban on Racing, when so many sensible and thoughtful people on this Forum are happy to admit to
hypocrisy
. Such an admission allows these fundamentalists to point at the
hypocrites
amongst us, as conscious wrong-doers who need to mend their ways and join in the moral crusade.
Speaking for myself, I do not find any reason to feel myself a
hypocrite
for watching and being thrilled by horse racing, any more than I would feel a
hypocrite
for eating a chicken sandwich or wearing leather shoes.
The symbiosis between horse and man is part of the social order in our society, a part which has been with us since civilisation began. Until we descend into a (doubtless desirable) state of anarchy, that relationship will continue. To browbeat us into feeling
hypocrites
because the social order is imperfect is exactly what this Shining Band of the Self-Righteous is after.
This goes beyond Racing. We need to resist any such feeling, unless we are happy to let society descend into a kind of moral theocracy. Would we really like to be living in, for instance, Iran? That is the logical outcome of allowing the Animal Righters to browbeat us into guilt.
I think I would question the view that you cant make a horse race if it doesnt want to…
I actually think you can. As a long time horse owner (of several – inc ex racers!) I know that horses, as humans have different personalities. Some of infinitely more trainable than others, some are far more eager to please than others. Therefore I think a high percentage of horses will still race (or run with the herd!) even though they might not be feeling 100% or dont want to do it – because they are trained to do so.
On the other hand there are a percentage of more willful ones which wont… they are the same that will repeatedly buck you off or refuse to go out the gate for a hack, because they have learned that that action = not having to work/be ridden/leave home.
I have a horse who would do anything I asked – he would let me ride if he was on 3 legs. I have another that would have me off and trample me into the ground for suggesting it.
Finally – not all racehorses are treated like kings… and as for what happens when they leave racing…well, there are worse things than death there too.
I think it shows how close the Animal Righters are to their goal of a total ban on Racing, when so many sensible and thoughtful people on this Forum are happy to admit to
hypocrisy
. Such an admission allows these fundamentalists to point at the
hypocrites
amongst us, as conscious wrong-doers who need to mend their ways and join in the moral crusade.
To browbeat us into feeling
hypocrites
because the social order is imperfect is exactly what this Shining Band of the Self-Righteous is after.
That is the logical outcome of allowing the Animal Righters to browbeat us into guilt.
My admission to feelings of hypocrisy and guilt (mild, not overwhelming) have been with me all my racing life Pinza. No browbeating inflicted by anyone, least of all extremists such as Animal Aid who I have no truck with at all. Nonsense espoused by such as them has the opposite effect on me to the one they intend: it strengthens my belief in racing and bolsters my defence of it.
I watch NH racing with a joy accompanied by an unsettling fear; an emotion I actually welcome as I find it – to coin a cliche – good for the soul, which is perhaps why racing is the only sport that still rivets. Cricket – an erstwhile love – I now leave more than I take, and all others were left long ago
Max has mentioned his greenish, animalic tendencies; I too lean that way and furthermore am a many-times-lapsed vegetarian. It is this mindset that conjours up the guilt when a horse dies while providing me with inconsequential entertainment, not attempted indoctrination by others
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Finally – not all racehorses are treated like kings… and as for what happens when they leave racing…well, there are worse things than death there too.
I think that is the point which many contributors are making. What happens to horses after their racing careers is where the Animal Aiders should be putting their mouths and their money.
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I watch NH racing with a joy accompanied by an unsettling fear; an emotion I actually welcome as I find it – to coin a cliche – good for the soul, which is perhaps why racing is the only sport that still rivets.
How well you put it. With that level of self-knowledge, hypocrisy (pretending to a virtue which you do not practise) is completely out of the equation. Acceptance of one’s own inner contradictions is quite another matter.
This concept of "fear being good for the soul" encapsulates a very basic and profound human experience, and certainly puts my own feeling for the Grand National into a nutshell also. It is a component for bullfighting
aficionados
too, a spiritual dimension – albeit one which is completely beyond the ken of these Animal Aiders, who represent a peculiarly frustrating combination of the Soulless with the Fundamentalist.
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I’ve just noticed that
Alastair Down
has posted an admirable article on the matter here:
http://www.racingpost.com/news/horse-ra … 40262/top/
(He even shares a chicken sandwich metaphor with Pinza, so he
must
be right! Seriously, it is well worth reading.)
I think I would question the view that you cant make a horse race if it doesnt want to…
I actually think you can. As a long time horse owner (of several – inc ex racers!) I know that horses, as humans have different personalities. Some of infinitely more trainable than others, some are far more eager to please than others. Therefore I think a high percentage of horses will still race (or run with the herd!) even though they might not be feeling 100% or dont want to do it – because they are trained to do so.
On the other hand there are a percentage of more willful ones which wont… they are the same that will repeatedly buck you off or refuse to go out the gate for a hack, because they have learned that that action = not having to work/be ridden/leave home.
I have a horse who would do anything I asked – he would let me ride if he was on 3 legs. I have another that would have me off and trample me into the ground for suggesting it.
fully accept your description of different horse personalities.
but not that therefore the co-operative horse is co-operating because it is succumbing to duress: why is it not just making a different choice to the non-co-operative horse ?
in the anthropomorphic parallel:
is it their different reaction to duress that results in some children going willingly to school, and others not? or some adults going willingly to work, and others not?
duress – physical or economic – involves removing all choice so as to render an act totally involuntary.
isn’t duress something different from wanting to please / being persuaded ? are both morally unjustifiable?
Reading this thread, it’s hard with Days like to day when Rewilding, (RIP) has broken a leg, from a racing family that is truely bred in the purple, and is a tragic loss for racing and breeding that morally racing is justifiable; that horses should run for our entertainment. But then there’s days like when the horse you’ve taken care of for 3 seasons breaks his maiden and he is on top of the world with his eyes shining out, and the sheer adrenalin that the horse is high on, as well as you.. well you can’t help but love the sport. They wouldn’t run if they didn’t love it- just ask Sariska!
Can I just say, I work for Nick Mitchell and was looking up on Google for photo’s of Newbay Bob and Ellerslie George racing for our website and Facebook page, and I stumbled onto this thread, and I was deeply touched by the comments on this site about them and pleased Geordie (Ellerslie George) was so many people’s favourite.
Geordie was a fantastic racehorse and he had been on top of the world at home before the race at Huntingdon, and we thought him winning could be a good tonic for our Loss of Newbay Bob only the week before at Wincanton. Sadly not, but we remember him with a smile (he would always love to run away with whoever tried to hold him in behind up the gallops!)
The loss of Newbay Bob was possibley even more heart wrenching. He was a legend, one of the most consistant racehorses at his moderate level and though he had no heroic listed wins, the day he broken his maiden at 10 years old round Exeter we all cried our eyes out, he was such a star, the big 17hh black gelding would give his heart to you (and take care of you when you had a hang over!) and looked after Robbie Henderson in his first steps under rules like the big gentle giant he was. Even a heart attack didn’t stop him taking care of Robbie, he made sure he took off and Robbie was thrown clear. He was truely what the sport is all about, and he died doing what he loved absolutely more than anything! He was jet black and bouncing that day, we were convinced he was the winner. We like to think he was just preventing the MASSIVE arguments there would of been, had he lived to be retired- EVERYBODY who knew Bob wanted him forever!
Missing the big black chasers very muchly this season, but hopefully the Hendersons will have luck with the two new horses they’ve sent us- Betabob and Simply Ben. Thanks for your condolences.
Racing right or wrong, it’s a lifestyle and I truely love it, despite my own losses, and I know those big black chasers loved it too.Thank you so much for writing that. I’d seen Ellerslie George at Bangor..been told to look out for him after I’d mentioned how ‘Presenting’s’ took your breath away the minute they walked into the paddock [and he did!]. I struggled with most of last season; right from the start, with the death of Me Voici it seemed relentless, losing one old friend after another. Today was as bad and, as it is with flat racing, almost made worse by the fact that it was so unexpected….a race that I’d looked forward to all day left me in floods of tears. However, what you’ve said has made me realise what brought me to racing in the first place.It reminded me of a letter I received from someone who worked for Henry Cecil many years ago, telling me of the relationship she and the staff had with a horse that I’d fallen in love with when I saw her win a race on the telly [Madame Dubois]. Good luck with the new horses..I’ll watch out for them.
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