topic Re: Wheeler Fortune euthanased after fall at Oakbank Easter Racing carnival in Community Spirit

Wheeler Fortune euthanased after fall at Oakbank Easter Racing carnival

davidc4430 — Sat, 15 Apr 2017 07:06:45 GMT

I'm so relieved it was just a horse and not the rider.

so everyone there could carry on enjoying the festivities of watching horses do what they love. jumping to their deaths.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-15/wheeler-fortune-euthanased-after-fall-at-oakbank-carnival/8445918

well thats what i heard one owner/trainer say....the horses love to jump, i've watched them galloping about in my paddock and jumping over obsticals just for the love of it.

ah hem! but those galloping horses jumping over things just for the love of it didnt have someone sitting on their back making them do it right?

kinda makes a difference doesnt it?

just because i might like to jump over hurdles doesnt mean id wanna do it with someone sitting on my back telling me too.

Re: Wheeler Fortune euthanased after fall at Oakbank Easter Racing carnival

Anonymous — Sat, 15 Apr 2017 07:12:51 GMT

How do I put this so I am not banned for life for foul language

Can't

Let's just say the individual that sprouted such a remark is very very lucky I was not within earshot at the time

Re: Wheeler Fortune euthanased after fall at Oakbank Easter Racing carnival

not_for_sale — Sat, 15 Apr 2017 07:39:40 GMT

A lot of horses just love to run too. But there's a difference between running willingly and freely in your own environment and on a race track surrounded by other great beasts, being crowded, bumped and sometimes bitten, all while galloping at full speed. Some horses become terrified. They occasionally fall and get euthanased too - it happened last week.

It all depends how you view it and where you think the line needs to be drawn.

Re: Wheeler Fortune euthanased after fall at Oakbank Easter Racing carnival

icyfroth — Sun, 16 Apr 2017 06:01:46 GMT

Poor horse.

I'm sure the rider was devastated as well.

I believe it's a very close bond between horse and rider.

Re: Wheeler Fortune euthanased after fall at Oakbank Easter Racing carnival

icyfroth — Sun, 16 Apr 2017 06:11:35 GMT

Which is a better way to go for a horse?

The RSPCA has seized 17 horses that were on the brink of starvation from a property on the Mornington Peninsula.

The animal cruelty watchdog made the seizure on Thursday after a tip-off from a member of the public who was concerned about the horses' welfare.

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/rspca-seizes-17-starving-horses-from-property-on-mornington-peninsula-20170415-gvlg2g.html

Either way, animal slavery is cruel.

Re: Wheeler Fortune euthanased after fall at Oakbank Easter Racing carnival

davidc4430 — Sun, 16 Apr 2017 06:44:08 GMT

@icyfroth wrote:
Poor horse.

I'm sure the rider was devastated as well.

I believe it's a very close bond between horse and rider.

I can't recall any rider being 'put down' after breaking a leg.

Re: Wheeler Fortune euthanased after fall at Oakbank Easter Racing carnival

icyfroth — Sun, 16 Apr 2017 06:51:34 GMT

You think it's ok for humans to be put down and and animals to be left to a slow and agonising death?

I beleive horses are put down after a limb breakage because it's too hard and long a process to heal a broken limb and in the long run creates too much stress on the horse without significant result and ends up in the demise of the poor animal anyway.

Re: Wheeler Fortune euthanased after fall at Oakbank Easter Racing carnival

davidc4430 — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 08:03:34 GMT

SA racing industry criticises Minister for 'insulting' comments in wake of horse death

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-17/thoroughbred-racing-sa-takes-aim-at-leon-bignell/8448032

thats it, attack someone who actually thinks forcing horses to jump so we can gamble on them is wrong.

if jump racing is no more dangerous for horses than flat racing then theres a problem with all horse racing. prolly not a good argument to make.

Re: Wheeler Fortune euthanased after fall at Oakbank Easter Racing carnival

davidc4430 — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 08:09:46 GMT

a bond between horse and rider? are you kidding? the jockeys in 99% of cases dont know a horse personally, they dont get up every day and take the horses out and feed em and excersise em and wash em ect ect.

they turn up at the track, climb on board and start hitting em with a whip until the race ends, then they get off and get on another horse!

no, i'm not saying we should put riders down.

but we do put down every horse that breaks its leg in racing.

could brocken legs in horses be fixed? i dont know but i rekon it might be if we thought money was no problem.

Re: Wheeler Fortune euthanased after fall at Oakbank Easter Racing carnival

icyfroth — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 08:12:21 GMT

horses aren't easily fixed after a breakage.

do the research.

Re: Wheeler Fortune euthanased after fall at Oakbank Easter Racing carnival

not_for_sale — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 08:48:59 GMT

@davidc4430 wrote:

"could brocken legs in horses be fixed? i dont know but i rekon it might be if we thought money was no problem".

It can be very difficult to mend a horse's broken leg and on occasions extremely unlikely if the break is compound. The horse suffers greatly. Highly expensive horses have been euthanased on race day and hearts have been broken. I don't think money has anything to do with it. The racing committees and organisations for the protection of animals would not permit unnecessary euthanasia.

Re: Wheeler Fortune euthanased after fall at Oakbank Easter Racing carnival

davidc4430 — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 09:01:43 GMT

i stand corrected

mankind can put a man on the moon

he can send space ships outside out universe

he can go to the bottom of the ocean and film the titanic wreck

but he cant mend a horses broken leg. thats truly amazing.

Re: Wheeler Fortune euthanased after fall at Oakbank Easter Racing carnival

davidc4430 — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 09:09:44 GMT

i bet london to a brick (now theres an old saying) the reason banning jumping horses isnt easily done has something to do with the fact its not done just in racing.

its done in show jumping and poney clubing. imagine all the little girls faces if they got told jumping they're poneys over logs and small obsticals was no longer ok

or that showjumping had to cease.

ive seen some cross country 3 day events (my younger sister did that for many years) and i bet theres been quite a few horses destroyed after not completely jumping over rediculously high obsiticals.

Re: Wheeler Fortune euthanased after fall at Oakbank Easter Racing carnival

not_for_sale — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 09:32:51 GMT

Mankind can put a man on the moon, but he/she can't cure the common cold or baldness either. Life's a boitch, ain't it.

Re: Wheeler Fortune euthanased after fall at Oakbank Easter Racing carnival

davidc4430 — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 10:12:11 GMT

conspiracy theory #435, the common cold was cured in 1963 but because millions of dollars every year was being made 'curing it' by huge companys it was deemed best to not tell anyone there was a genuine cure.

Re: Wheeler Fortune euthanased after fall at Oakbank Easter Racing carnival

not_for_sale — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 10:33:53 GMT

@davidc4430 wrote:
conspiracy theory #435, the common cold was cured in 1963 but because millions of dollars every year was being made 'curing it' by huge companys it was deemed best to not tell anyone there was a genuine cure.

And as I understand it, the Executive Board that made the decision to withhold the cure was comprised of a bunch of bald guys LOL.

Re: Wheeler Fortune euthanased after fall at Oakbank Easter Racing carnival

davidc4430 — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 12:16:14 GMT

how do you suppose the racing game would go if when a horse fell and needed destroying instead of putting a screen around the animal they had to film it and put it up on the huge tv screens? so everyone could see the real story of what they are enjoying.

no hiding the death side of the event.

i saw several race goers interviewed, all 'oh i love getting glammed up for a day at the races'

somehow i rekon if they had to watch an injured horse limping around with an obviously broken leg and then be 'humanely' put to sleep.

humanely put to sleep, sounds like a lovely way to die doesnt it? i wonder what its really like for the horse.

Re: Wheeler Fortune euthanased after fall at Oakbank Easter Racing carnival

lyndal1838 — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 12:41:40 GMT

@davidc4430 wrote:
a bond between horse and rider? are you kidding? the jockeys in 99% of cases dont know a horse personally, they dont get up every day and take the horses out and feed em and excersise em and wash em ect ect.

they turn up at the track, climb on board and start hitting em with a whip until the race ends, then they get off and get on another horse!

Have you ever had anything to do with race horses? Have you ever worked in a racing stable?

My daughter was a stable hand for Gai Waterhouse.....she cleaned out stables, fed horses, washed them down after exercise. She also rode the horses from the stables to the race track every morning so the race jockeys could exercise them on the track.

There was a bond between the stable hands and the horses and the jockeys and the horses.

The jockeys do know the horses personally as you put it. When a jockey starts out he is expected to front up 7 days a week in the early hours of the morning to exercise the horses on the track. Race day jockeys have well and truly put in the hard yards every day of the week....they do not just turn up at the track, climb aboard and hit the horse with a whip till the end of the race.

Most of the top jockeys turn up at the race track and the first stop is the stables to check on the horses they will be riding that day. They talk to the stable hands to see if there is anything that they need to know. And they don't just hop off one horse onto the next one....who do you think saddles and unsaddles the horses? Yep, those uncaring jockeys who just hop aboard. No jockey worth his salt would let someone else saddle the horse he is going to ride....it could mean the difference between life and death if it is not done properly.

Most trainers have a couple of Stable Jockeys who ride the majority of their horses and the trainers soon work out who rides a certain horse best. They ususally put the same jockey on that horse for all it's races. The top horses are always ridden by the same top jockey and they develop a very close bond. The top jockeys often follow horses from one stable to another, especially if the owner requests it.

Most jockey's are real horse lovers.....racing is more than just a job to them.

When we were showing there were a few children always looking for a lift to local shows. One young lad was always wanting a lift as his father worked on Saturdays. The kid was a lovely kid and always very grateful when we took him and his horse to the shows.

It was a while before we realised what his full name was and that his father was a well known jockey. One Sunday morning after a very big race meeting the boy called us to come and look at his new pony....and there was his father mucking out the stable just like any other parent. That year he won the Premier Jockey Award.

Before you start knocking the racing fraternity maybe you should talk to some of them and understand that it is not just about money.

Most horse people really do love the animals in their charge.

Re: Wheeler Fortune euthanased after fall at Oakbank Easter Racing carnival

lyndal1838 — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 12:56:33 GMT

@davidc4430 wrote:
how do you suppose the racing game would go if when a horse fell and needed destroying instead of putting a screen around the animal they had to film it and put it up on the huge tv screens? so everyone could see the real story of what they are enjoying.

no hiding the death side of the event.

i saw several race goers interviewed, all 'oh i love getting glammed up for a day at the races'
somehow i rekon if they had to watch an injured horse limping around with an obviously broken leg and then be 'humanely' put to sleep.

humanely put to sleep, sounds like a lovely way to die doesnt it? i wonder what its really like for the horse.

Oh puleeese.................no horse limps around when it has a broken leg. Horses just can't walk with a broken leg which is why they are destroyed very quickly after diagnosis. And it is not just left to one Vet to decide if it should be put down. There are usually at least 3 Vets at City Race Meetings.

Putting a horse down is just as humanely done as when your dog or cat has to be put to sleep. Why does it have to be any different just because it is a large animal rather than Fluffy or Rover.

And just to make it clear....the screens are not to spare the sensitivities of the racegoers.....believe it or not, it is just as much for the horses benefit. There are an awful lot of ghouls out there who would be only too happy to watch every gory detail. The ambulance chasers of the animal world, if you like.

Re: Wheeler Fortune euthanased after fall at Oakbank Easter Racing carnival

not_for_sale — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 13:34:40 GMT

@davidc4430 wrote:
how do you suppose the racing game would go if when a horse fell and needed destroying instead of putting a screen around the animal they had to film it and put it up on the huge tv screens? so everyone could see the real story of what they are enjoying.

no hiding the death side of the event.

What makes you think that people who follow horse racing don't know the "real story"? I have seen the screen placed around quite a number of horses at the race track and it is absolutely tragic. Everybody's mood is sombre. I have heard race callers cry when a horse is euthanased at the track. I assume thousands of other people heard too. Horse racing is called by some the sport of kings because those magnificent beasts are truly magnificent when in full flight. And believe it or not, some run as fast as they can because they want to win. When a tragety does occur it can be a wake up call for some and I hope we can try and make the sport safer. But to infer the people involved in horse racing don't care about the horses is most unfair.