Four more horses die in the name of ‘sport’

It's a disgusting so-called sport. Horses are bred to race and if they don't do well many young, healthy horses are destroyed. So it isn't just the injuries sustained that matter but the huge number of horses that are treated as commodities and dispensed with when they have no commercial use.

30 horses have been injured and destroyed already this year - see Race Horse Death Watch.

From Animal Aid:

"In 2021 the BBC aired a documentary called The Dark Side of Horse Racing, which featured Animal Aid undercover footage of horse slaughter in England. The documentary exposed the practice of slaughtering horses who had very recently raced and earned their owners and trainers thousands of pounds at ‘prestigious’ events. The appalling scenes of horses being so quickly sent to slaughter prompted the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) to declare that no horse who had raced in Great Britain would enter the food chain again.

This is a cleverly worded statement – as it excludes the many horses who the industry is still responsible for. These include horses who have raced in different countries, never raced at all, or been used for breeding, for example. Regardless, hundreds of horses with racing industry passports are still sent to slaughter each year.

"A 2024 RTÉ documentary also revealed horrific abuse and fraudulent practices at Ireland’s only licensed horse slaughter facility, Shannonside Ltd. This slaughterhouse has now been suspended, resulting in huge numbers of horses being exported before they are slaughtered – adding more suffering to their already unimaginable pain."

Not ignorant, but well-meaning and uninformed about what is entailed in caring for horses

So read the next two posts by Elothan after yours Allira she’s much more informed than me who is talking with my heart.

So the argument is we must continue racing these beautiful animals because what else can we do with them ??? Oh please

That’s not my argument. I’ve said from the start that I’m not in favour of breeding horses for racing.

What I’m asking for is honesty in accepting what a ban on horse racing will entail.

For posters, who think that the horses can be turned out to pasture to live simple horse lives, to accept that won’t be possible, both in terms of resources needed and in terms of what a horse needs to live a healthy life. That to do that would be another form of animal cruelty. Perhaps just to say Oh I didn’t know. I thought that was what we could do.

To acknowledge that a ban will inevitably mean death for many horses, but that they would still go forward with a ban because they believe the long term gains would be worth that. To take that responsibility.

For them not to wilfully deceive themselves because the consequences do not fit their comfortable vision of horses set free.

I’d also like to think that those who present themselves as champions of horses and are so concerned about their welfare would make a donation to an equine charity right here, right now.

Otherwise it’s just puffed up words really isn’t it?

I think it’s being a bit of a cop out to say it’s ‘puffed up words’

Let me understand you are you saying we have to carry on racing these animals because there’s nothing else can be done they can’t lead a normal life so we have to carry on …

I don’t think anyone it’s expecting an overnight ban ….all racing must stop all race horses slaughtered of course not…. it would need phasing out over a number of years, planned properly.
First it needs the breeding of race horses to STOP that can happen immediately and not effect any race horses already here.
Second it needs much tighter control over the whip and the height and difficulty of jumps etc etc while this winding down process takes place.
It would take some years to stop completely but they can start by removing and banning the Grand National and then gradually removing the more (exciting to some) dangerous races bit by bit. People would not be interested in the more mundane, none dangerous races so it would automatically die a death
Dog racing could stop over night most retired greyhounds fit in well to family life.
Fox hunting should be banned immediately not this half hearted government intervention
Bird shooting should also be banned immediately
Ok that’s my thoughts, now you can shoot them down

It’s not just the horses that will be retired and redundant

What do you suggest the 85,000 folk employed directly and indirectly in the racing industry do to pay their bills?

A blind eye to animal slaughter conditions doesn't just affect horses! I'm sure, like me, people on here are just as concerned about the way certain creatures are slaughtered in the name of religion! The RSPCA although vocal over many issues including racing, are remarkably quiet, in fact deafeningly so, about this particularly appalling way of slaughter, in fact DEFRA are even suggesting that country pubs should sell it! In the name of inclusivity of course. Quite extraordinary and deeply unpleasant.
We did at one time think about adopting a donkey, but they can be 'noisy ', and we do have neighbours!!!! So our boy, whom we have had since he was 4, now 23, is now sadly on his own, but copes well and is enough for us to care for properly.

Just to add to the above post: it's important to consider unintended consequences. Following the expose of the appalling conditions at the Irish horse slaughterhouse it was closed so there is no facility in Ireland now. The result is that 90% of the horses going for slaughter in England and Wales (there's no facility in Scotland) are transported from Ireland. Definitely not what anyone would want and actually says something negative to me about the racing industry in Ireland.

The reason that horses going for slaughter are young is actually simple to explain as the vast majority of older horses will have received a common medication (bute) that immediately means they are signed out of the food chain. Racehorses are microchipped and passported within 30 days of birth so are extremely traceable. So we know what happens to them throughout their lives. In the first half of 2025 14 British horses were sent for slaughter, the other 303 were from Ireland IMO the huge problem with over breeding is an Irish one.

With regard to injuries sustained whilst racing, all horses are subject to ligament and tendon injuries, it's the most common injury sustained by horses and ponies regardless of how they spend their lives, it is not specific to racehorses. Recovery is based on months of box rest and then months of controlled exercise with a pretty poor long term prognosis for a complete recovery. Frankly, it's pretty difficult to do with a child's pony but with a racing fit TB a severe injury can be life ending as would a broken bone. fwiw my 17 year old cousin died after playing football, he was a fit young man with an undiagnosed heart condition. He didn't die because he played football, he died because he had a heart condition and the football put extra strain on his heart, this is what happens to some horses when racing. It's not the racing per se which kills them, it's the heart condition which is undetected and as I've said up thread I've seen it happen at a very low key pony club event.

Anyway I'm all for continually striving to improve horse welfare but tbh I've seen worse cases of abuse at local horse shows and terrible neglect in the fields and paddocks within a five mile radius of where I live!

Another excellent post foxie48

I think if you reread my posts you will see that at no time have ai said we should carry on racing because there is nothing else to be done. On the contrary several times I have said that I am not in favour of breeding racehorses and likened it ti the overbreeding that happens with show dogs. I would like you to acknowledge that you are misrepresenting me I suggesting that I have ever said racing should continue because there is nothing else to be done.

What I have continuous done is challenged posters fantasies of racehorses being freed to run around fields as a healthy, happy life for a horse. It is not. It would be neglect and cause suffering. There is enough of that going on right now by those who have bought a horse and thought it could fend for itself.

Or the fantasy of there being a mass of animal lovers who will shoulder the costs of maintaining racehorses for their life span. Equine charities cannot cope now, hence my suggestion that those who really care could make a donation. If not you who? if not now, when? as the saying goes?

What I have asked is that those in favour of a ban do face the reality of the consequences. It will be brutal. Many posters have made the point that the industry is driven by money. A phasing out may work for a couple of years but once the rewards decrease the horses will hold no further interest for their owners. They will be a liability to be discarded like any other financial liability.

I want those in favour of the ban to approach its consequences realistically, not as a storybook tale about f some kind of horse nirvana.

If it is to be done with the minimum possible suffering it must be done realistically, fully acknowledging all the difficulties and the pain.

The attitude of “I don’t like to think about that, so I’ll pretend it isn’t true”frustrates me in many walks of life.

A reply to Bluebell

Lowering the height of fences just makes the race faster leading to an increased number of falls and fatalities.

So read the next two posts by Elothan after yours Allira she’s much more informed than me who is talking with my heart.

We can all Google.

Allira

^So read the next two posts by Elothan after yours Allira she’s much more informed than me who is talking with my heart.^

We can all Google.

Or those who have owned and been around horses all their lives (myself included) can speak from their life experiences

The Grand National is now just like a glorified hurdle race as it has been modified greatly in recent years. It is now won by top class graded horses and the smaller stables with slower long distance horses don’t stand a chance.

GrannyGravy13

Allira

So read the next two posts by Elothan after yours Allira she’s much more informed than me who is talking with my heart.

We can all Google.

Or those who have owned and been around horses all their lives (myself included) can speak from their ^life experiences^

Yes and those posre are very informative and interesting, thank you.
As well as chatting to a family member who spends much of her time around horses.

TheWeirdoAgain60

I've been online petitioning for years, several times a year, to try to get it banned, but the scumbags won't, as they only care about themselves and the money. They don't give a hoot about all the gorgeous horses they torture and murder.

The same with I'm a Celebrity, and others similar, I've been doing the same to try to get those vile things banned too.

Good for you Weirdo! I did so too in my more active days, even a one-woman protest outside a gambling shop on Grand National day.

Horses and donkeys are trained to work until they drop---men profit from their suffering.

Horses and donkeys are trained to work until they drop---men profit from their suffering.

Not something that could be generally applied to the UK; not even to horse racing. There might be some individual cases but over all horses are very well treated. And when did you last see a working donkey in the UK?

MaizieD

^Horses and donkeys are trained to work until they drop---men profit from their suffering.^

Not something that could be generally applied to the UK; not even to horse racing. There might be some individual cases but over all horses are very well treated. And when did you last see a working donkey in the UK?

Nowadays, so are some people!

That is probably truer, Mollygo

Actually a bigger problem generally is that too many horses are overfed and under worked, hence there's a huge welfare problem because horses and ponies are obese. Obesity in horses causes laminitis and equine metabolic syndrome as well as causing issues with lameness. Add to that the number of riders who are obese and far too heavy for their riders and it's easy to see the problem, often literally!

Even with the new Highway Code rules regarding horses on the road there are still many accidents with horses and motorists. Some horses got onto the motorway near me after escaping from their field and were killed. It must have been horrific. Nobody still knows the cause of grass sickness, even though a lot of money has been ploughed into research. A horse on our field died from it.

And when did you last see a working donkey in the UK?

I think the donkeys at Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight, demonstrating how to draw water from a well by working a treadmill, might be a bit put out by that comment. 😂😂

Not to mention the donkeys at our local open farm whose job is to carry small children
And their cousin on Blackpool beach

Going off at a tangent here but didn’t want to start a thread about it, but has anyone been following Endo the Blind on Facebook over the years? I still well up every time I think about him and can’t believe that he’s no longer with us. I hope someone writes a book about him one day as he and his owner were so inspirational. I’ve never known such a worldwide outpouring of grief over a horse before. He was so beautiful and brave .