| 4 Apr 09, 7:07 PM MistressDainty UK(W), 4 yrs |
I would rather put my money on this. dangerdomme | |
| 4 Apr 09, 7:17 PM Tenderdom2 4 yrs  |
I think the OP is fair enough, in that it provides information about something that we don't normally get to hear. Whether horse-racing in general, or the Grand National in particular is cruel, is another question. Racehorses are bred to want to run, more than nearly all 'naturally occurring' horses; they just can't wait to get started. And that's real passion. You can argue that it's a passion that's artificially bred into them by the hand of man of course. But actually that instinct wasn't created by man, it's a natural thing that has been distilled to a high concentration through selective breeding (which is the human-interference part). Some humans just live the bejaysus out of their lives. They have a crazy passion that makes them live at 100mph. Sometimes they die young or become ill, but they do a hell of a lot of living when they have the chance. They haven't been artificially created by some eugenics experiment, they're just on the fringes of the natural bell-curve which is humanity. No doubt racehorses would exist in nature without our manipulation, but there would be far fewer of them. And they'd run like buggery till they dropped down dead; which would rather tend to take them out of the gene pool of course. Human beings are allowing those horses to live which would otherwise be weeded out by the 'natural' environment, at the expense of the more normal type of horse. So it's a question of whether we are doing horsekind any favours by our busy-bodying around with their genepool. Most people, whether the most mediocre or the most extraordinary, think they're doing alright. They will sometimes envy the ones at the other end of the spectrum: somebody with a humdrum life might quite fancy being a genius or a great athlete; the geniuses and great athletes love what they do but must think sometimes, I wish I could be ordinary. Either way, they have the potential to be happy. So if you asked a racehorse whether he'd rather just plod about in a field with all his lardy mates, he'd probably say, "Yeah, sometimes. But fuck me what a life I have!Aaaaaagh!", then go charging off somewhere. Whatever it is, I'm against it! - Rufus T. Firefly | |
| 4 Apr 09, 8:33 PM QuietD UK(WV), 7 yrs  |
I have to agree with you, this is one horse race that ought to be stopped, but if they have to run it every year, why can't they reduce the height of the fences or the number of them. I won't watch the race itself, I don't like to see horses falling and not getting up again, yes I also know horses can get injured down on the farm and its the same result. But I think this particular race is cruel, plain and simple. For high quality hand made fetish goods and many other items please visit http://www.qds-emporium.co.uk | |
| 5 Apr 09, 8:57 AM x_SIX_x UK(SN), 4 yrs |
Well if it was that bad why do the horses that lose there riders still carry on jumping all the fences instead of stopping? As for the distance being to long that is why they train them, just like humans train for a marathon and if that is to far they stop. Life is a journey not the destination Edited 5 Apr 09, 8:58 AM by x_SIX_x | |
| 7 Apr 09, 8:49 PM ian_wilts UK, 5 yrs |
Because the horse is naturally a herd animal, and if horses around it are running, it will run too. Simple instinct. I'm not a gambling man, but most places I've worked at have run a Grand National sweepstake. I boycott it every year, and make it clear why. | |
| 21 Apr 09, 2:36 PM Mistress_Dragonfly UK(B), 4 yrs |
Brilliant!!! |
