- This topic has 58 replies, 41 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 3 months ago by
.
- Posts
Regardless, isn’t there a valid argument that perhaps they shouldn’t have been running him again, given that he’d shown problems before?
thejudge
Given that there is a significant level of physical problems with horses that go unreported then there might be a case for a thread discussing horses’ ailments and how animals are affected. I suspect there are many horses running that are far less healthy in general than was Many Clouds.
Rob
thejudge
Given that there is a significant level of physical problems with horses that go unreported then there might be a case for a thread discussing horses’ ailments and how animals are affected. I suspect there are many horses running that are far less healthy in general than was Many Clouds.
Rob
But this is a thread about many clouds
he was given oxygen before and was in trouble after his grand national win.
Surely regardless of the rights and wrongs, it’s at least valid to bring up a discussion of whether horses like this should be running again?
thejudge
You refer to ‘horses like this’ so surely you are wishing to discuss more than just Many Clouds? The very act of asking whether or not Many Clouds should have been running surely opens up a wider debate on horses running with ailments.After a recent race at Kelso I saw a horse in serious distress being cooled down with copious buckets of water in the unsaddling area. It was clear the horse was in serious distress after a big effort but on this occasion quick work by the Kelso veterinary staff allowed it to walk away safely. The vets made sure to keep the horse walking and making sure it didn’t have the chance to ‘go down’ and not get up again.
Rob
Perhaps this would be a good time to link to a report of the post mortem.
No significant underlying health issues were discovered in the autopsy, the BHA said, adding that Many Clouds had worn a heart-rate monitor in training on November 17, 2016 and the data collected on that occasion was within normal parameters in relation to both his heart rate during exercise and his recovery rate after exercise.
This quote from BHA acting chief veterinary officer Tony Welsh seems relevant to the discussion:
“Despite some reports following the incident, there is no existing veterinary evidence which links these symptoms [post-race ataxia] with racehorse fatalities, and the post-mortem results have categorically proved that the symptoms exhibited by Many Clouds in the past were in no way present or associated with his sad death at Cheltenham.”
The BHA have released the results of the PM and he died of heart failure, unrelated to any of the symptoms he showed at Aintree. Immediately after the race his ears were pricked, he wasn’t blown and showed no distress. Unfortunately he had to die at a high profile event which is grist to the Peta and Animal Aid mill I’m afraid.
They will not read the heart rending piece of writing by his stable lad or ever appreciate what a wonderful and courageous horse he was, who died quickly after doing something he enjoyed doing and came naturally to him. He wasn’t “whipped to death” or “ridden to death”.Many Clouds died from a severe pulmonary haemorrhage, the fatality rate in racing is just 0.048 per cent of runners.
I hate this sort of thing happening but god forbid i would ever end up crying over it or leaving a racecourse. ill save real emotion for the important things in life which are close to me.
Its a tough game and i can understand how conflicted many feel. But surely anyone genuinely upset by the occasional death of a horse in racing has got to rail against the national? I actually now find that to be a slightly distasteful spectacle and wouldnt bother me too much if the race was dumped.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.