A National Disgrace?

[endlessrarities]

Here's a first. I'm cross-posting this from Dreamwidth. But never fear, folks, my LJ friends will definitely come first!

I managed nineteen miles on the bike this morning, which means that at last I'm clawing back some fitness. We were supposed to do the whole run without a cafe stop, but after fourteen miles, I went on strike. It was a fortuitous decision! They were serving the most delicious chocolate and beetroot cupcakes at our usual cafe, which of course I felt compelled to sample.

I'll stick to the sporting theme for this post...

This weekend sees the running of two historic sporting events which are renowned for being gruelling tests of courage and endurance for the athletes involved. One forms an integral part of the horse-racing calender, the other is in cycling.

The Grand National is the one that most people have heard about: an arduous National Hunt race which arguably forms the highlight of the NH year. The other event is Paris-Roubaix, commonly dubbed 'The Hell of The North', which takes the field over 259km (around 160 miles) of cobbled tracks and gruesome climbs in the north of France.

As a child, I used to watch the National religiously. Then one year I backed a horse called Alverton. He fell at a fence, and died. And suddenly, the casualties mattered to me. Instead of looking forward to the National, I dreaded the day, in case another horse suffered an unnecessary end in the name of sport, like Alverton did, all those years ago.

Two horses died at Aintree yesterday. They broke their necks. There's much twittering from the commentators, of course. 'It's a tragedy', etc. etc. But I don't think any of the common or garden punters give a toss about what happens to the horses that compete. If they did, a lot more questions would be asked of the horse-racing industry, full-stop. Why, just a few weeks back, the BBC came out with a horrific news item detailing the impact of the recession on the bloodstock industry in Ireland. A total of 4618 healthy thoroughbreds were sent to slaughter there last year, because their owners couldn't afford to keep them in the face of the economic downturn.

Those interviewed shrugged their shoulders and said that horses should be viewed the same way as any other form of livestock. If there's no use for them, they must be destroyed. But I'm a horse-lover. I can't condone this attitude. And that's why no amount of emotive trailers on BBC or enthusing by the sports journalist will entice me to watch That Race. The price in horses' lives is too high.

That's why I'm happy to have traded in the National for Paris-Roubaix. Make no mistake: this race is HARD! I've witnessed top professional cyclists from Spain and the Basque country mincing their way over the cobbles like nervous grannies navigating ice-covered pavements on their shopping bikes. When it rains, the going's so slippery they can hardly stay upright. Cyclists get injured, sometimes quite horribly. Those who make it to the end come back physically and mentally shattered, their features caked with mud or dust, depending on the weather conditions.

It's not very nice, to see these noble athletes scattered like ninepins across the tarmac. But as far as I'm concerned, there's one major difference which makes this a sporting event worth supporting: unlike the horses, the cyclists get a choice in the matter...

Comments

[rowangolightly.livejournal.com]

Oh, I hate to hear of horses in horrid accidents or being put down for stupid reasons.

So I'm trying to add people to my Dreamwidth account. Are you named the same over there?

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

Yes!!!

Will you be my fwiend??? (Said in goofy Violet Elizabeth type voice...)

There's not much of a journal in there at present, but I'm hoping to amend this soon!!

[rowangolightly.livejournal.com]

*hee* Yes, I'd love to....

Yeah, I've only done an "I'm here" post myself at this point.

[puddleshark.livejournal.com]

I don't watch the Grand National and won't join in the sweepstake at work. The casualty rate in that race is unacceptably high.

Yet I do love to watch the cross-country in one-day eventing, and I accept that horses will occasionally get injured or even killed in that sport... But watching them fly over the fences with their ears pricked, you can see it's what they were bred for and what they love to do.

So I'm inconsistent, I suppose.

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

It seems to be quite rare for horses to get killed in cross-country. Half the time, it's the riders that die!!

I think what bugs me about the National is the size and quality of the field. If they had less horses, selected to be at a more experienced, elite standard, then perhaps there wouldn't be so many fatalities.

Let's face it: if you come a cropper at Bechers, and there's thirty humungous pieces of horseflesh thundering over the fence behind you, the chances of NOT getting a broken neck, leg or femur are pretty remote.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

I think scale is always the problem with racing - once you have so much balanced on top of the race, all the betting, entertainment, all the pyramid of horses bred that weren't quite good enough but had to be disposed of somehow, owners that barely see the animals - it gets very dodgy.

Greyhound racing is similar only (IMO) worse cos most people at least wouldn't try to breed racehorses in their garden shed.

I like Paris-Roubaix as an alternative, it certainly offers plenty of pain and angst! The dust this year was beautiful to watch on TV, but must have been absolute hell to cycle through, I imagine. Not normally one for sport, but cycling is so epic!

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

You're so right. Like I said, I'm not much of a dog person, but greyhounds are one of my favourites! They remind me of horses in that they're so genuine, and uncomplaining, and so often they pay a heavy price for their compliance.

When any sport becomes mainstream and trendy, it's almost guaranteed to attract its fair share of sharks and charlatans. I'm sure there's loads of numpties out there who want their horse to run in the National, because it's THE race to be seen in. I have a lot of time for Desert Orchid's owners: they were under immense pressure to run their horse in the National, but they refused because they didn't want anything to happen to him.

The co-incidental timing of the Grand National and Paris-Roubaix is quite uncanny, giving their similarity...

[green-knight.livejournal.com]

the size and quality of the field

Exactly. And that's something that can be fixed without abolishing the Grand National itself.

I hate it when horses die in that race; but National Hunt racing make a significant contribution towards keeping many horses alive and well, and I'd rather see the odd death than a world without the National; and I don't believe that it's a choice in the first place. That race can be made safer - other races over the same course don't suffer the same problems, and we need more long races as an incentive to fitten horses up, not less.

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

I always preferred NH racing to flat racing, for the simple reason that there seemed to be much more long-term investment in the horses. For years, it was less rewarding for those involved, and it was generally supported by people that were more horse-oriented, if you know what I mean.

I think the exponential rise in status of the National has been really detrimental to the sport. Any Johnny-come-lately now buys a horse and wants to be seen to run it in the National. I'd much prefer them to keep the course exactly as it is, but to run it as an elite race which only the best performers of the season can attend.

I suppose the organisers don't want it to seem elitist.

[bellakara.livejournal.com]

It's a national disgrace that makes money, which is why nothing will be done about it. I despise the attitude that people can make money out of horses and then when the poor animals have outlived their economic usefulness, they're killed. They deserve a decent retirement.

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

I almost find it worse that you get folk mouthing insincere platitudes about how terrible it is, and how they really, really do what they can to minimise the risks, etc.

I wonder if the heat had something to do with yesterday's debacle. Even the winning horse was having problems at the end with exhaustion, presumably caused by dehydration - add a second trainer or owner who doesn't understand what an athlete requires to perform adequately in unusually hot conditions, then you'll have a horse whose judgement is impaired and whose ability to negotiate the obstacles is compromised. When the penalty for such mistakes is death, it really doesn't seem fair or sporting.