Three Horses Die During England's Grand National 2011

All sports are dangerous to some extent. Equestrian sports are more dangerous than most, both to the rider and to the horse. Occasionally, riders and horses die. This is sad, but true. But consider, the rider chooses to compete. The horse has no choice in the matter. It is up to the riders and others involved in the sport to make it as safe as possible for the horses while still maintaining the spirit of the event. Of course, the only way to completely prevent the death of horses in equestrian events is to completely stop equestrian events. That seems a bit extreme. However, when an event has proven to be excessively dangerous to horses, it needs to be changed or stopped.

Over the past 11 years, 33 horses have died competing in England's Grand National which is held at Aintree Race Course, one of the most famously brutal racing tracks in the world. Surprisingly, there has been only one recorded human fatality in the event's history (Joe Wynne in 1862), though that may change if jockey Peter Toole, who was critically injured this year, fails to recover. The final race, John Smith's Grand National Chase, is four and a half miles long and the horses are supposed to jump all but two of Aintree's 16 steeplechase jumps twice, making for 30 jumps total. (Aintree Course guide) During this year's Grand National, which ran from April 7 – 9, 2011, three horses died. Two of the three died in the final race.

Below is a list of the horses that have died during or because of injuries sustained during the three days of the Grand National each of the past 11 years:

2000 – Strong Promise, Rossell Island, Architect, Lake Kariba and Toni's Tip
2001 – Outback Way
2002 – Last Fling, Manx Magic, Desert Mountain and Anubis Quercus
2003 – Goguenard and Coolnagorna
2004 – no deaths
2005 – Lilium de Cotte
2006 – Terivic and Tyneandthyneagain
2007 – Lord Rodney, Into the Shadows and Graphic Approach
2008 – Time to Sell, The High Grass and McKelvey
2009 – Hear the Echo, Exotic Dancer, Mel In Blue, Moscow Catch and Lilla Sophia
2010 – Pagan Starprincess, Prudent Honour, Plaisir D'Estraval and Schindlers Hunt
2011 – Ornais, Dooneys Gate and Inventor

That's an average of 3 fatalities a year. With only one year with no fatalities. That certainly seems like the event is excessively dangerous to horses.

Generally, fewer than half of those who compete in the John Smith's Grand National even make it to the finish line. The record for the most horses to finish the race was 23 in 1984. In 1929, only 2 horses were able to complete the course. In this year's race, out of 40 horses who started the event, 19 completed it. Ten horses fell, of which two died, two more were tripped by fallen horses, four unseated their riders and five were pulled up for various reasons. The fact that consistently less than half the horses who start the race even finish it, is yet another reason to re-examine the way this particular race is run.

Admittedly, some changes have been made to try and make the Grand National safer. The drops on the landing side of some jumps have been reduced. However, even though the brook at the infamous Becher's Brook fence was filled in, it is still a 4' 10” jump from the front with a 6' 9” drop on the back. In 2009, a bypass area was created around certain jumps, including the infamous Becher's Brook. Two of these bypass areas had to be used this year in order to avoid running over the dead horses still lying beside the jumps after the first circuit of the track.

Strangely, veteran trainer, Ginger McCain, who won the Grand National race three times with horse Red Rum, blames the safety improvements for causing the deaths of the horses. "It’s getting quicker and it’s speed that does it… They’ve taken the drops out for the do-gooders and it has encouraged the horses to go quicker. It is speed that kills." Considering the winner of the race, Jason Maguire riding Ballabriggs, was given a five day ban for excessive use of his whip, I don't think it's the do-gooders who are making the horses go quicker. (Maguire has been banned for excessive whip use before, and at least one ban was recently overturned in order to allow him to race.)

Also, if you actually look at the race times over the past 11 years and more, the race times have NOT consistently gone down. Although this years winning time of 9min 1.2sec is the second fastest recorded time following the record set in 1990 of 8min 47.8sec(According to most articles, that is. It looks to me like it's the third fastest time, since Rough Quest finished in 9min 0.8sec in 1996. Anyway...), winning times over the past years have varied upwards and downwards with no consistent pattern. And if you look at winning time vs number of fatalities, there is no correlation between speed of the race and number of deaths. In the past 11 years, the only year (2004) with no deaths had a winning time of 9min 20.3sec and the year(2009) with the most horse deaths (5) had a winning time of 9min 32.9sec. The changes made to the course have not made it noticeably faster. Unfortunately, they do not seem to have made it any safer either.

The race is simply too grueling. Even horses that don't die from falls, sometimes collapse from being pushed too hard. After winning this years race, Ballabriggs was considered too exhausted to enter the winner's circle and had to be given oxygen to help him recover. In fact, three out of the first four horses to finish had to be immediately treated for exhaustion and were unable to appear in the winner's enclosure. Fortunately, they all seem to have recovered. Unlike other horses which have died of heart attacks during or immediately after the races. Somehow, I don't think those horses have willingly run themselves to death.

However, some participants claim to believe that the horses enjoy the race. Donald McCain, son of Ginger McCain, and trainer of Ballabriggs, is quoted as saying,”If it [the horse] does not want to jump at Aintree, he won't jump.” According to that logic, ill-trained, ill-tempered, nonathletic horses who refuse jumps or dump their rider, are simply expressing their belief that equestrian sports are inherently too dangerous for them to participate in. And well-trained, willing, athletic horses who behave properly, apparently understand the danger and have consented to risk their lives in the name of spectacle. I find that type of “logic” hard to believe.

Horses, although extraordinary animals, are not capable of understanding the danger of certain equestrian sports and cannot choose for themselves whether that danger is acceptable. It is up to those of us who truly care for the well-being of horses to mitigate the risks of racing and other horse sports. Admittedly, there is no way to remove all risk from equestrian sports, but when an event such as the Grand National has proven to be excessively dangerous for horses, something needs to be done.

The question is... what is excessively dangerous? Well, for comparison, the Omak Stampede and World Famous Suicide Race, which openly claims to be the most dangerous horse race in the world, had 15 officially recorded horse fatalities during the actual race between 1984 and 2006. Unfortunately, there is no official record of how many horses died or had to be put down after the race because of injuries sustained during the race. Unofficially, it is reported that apx 21 horses have died because of the race during the past 26 years. Even using the higher unofficial count, that's less than one horse fatality per year, compared to the Grand National's 33 horse fatalities in the past 11 years which averages out to 3 horse fatalities per year. I am not saying that I approve of the Omak Suicide Race, I very definitely do not. But compared to England's Grand National, it appears to be less dangerous for the horses forced to compete.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Omak Suicide Race. It is a race consisting of a galloping start leading quickly to a plunge down a 62 degree dirt slope that's 225 feet long and narrows as it goes down. The slope drops into a 100 yard wide river that the horse must swim across and then climb up a more gradual incline to a 500 yard sprint to the finish line. This race is run by the same horse three days in a row. The first two runs are done in the dark of night. It is considered by many to be an appalling abuse of horses simply for commercial gain. It is NOT as some people have claimed, a traditional rite of passage for Native American tribesmen. It was created by a local businessman purely as a financial endeavor. Local tribes agreed to participate in order to receive part of the profits. The United States Humane Society published a video denouncing the race in 2006.

The Omak Suicide Race is a fairly small and relatively unknown event compared to England's Grand National, but it has been widely denounced in the US and in other countries. The final race of the Grand National is one of the biggest and most popular races in the world. It is major national event in England. This year's live televised broadcast of the final race was seen by 8.8 million viewers on BBC 1 during the 15 minutes between 4:15 and 4:30pm alone. The estimated worldwide audience for footage of the John Smith's Grand National Chase is apx 600 million people in 140 countries. How can something that is so well-known and widely watched be allowed to continue to be so excessively dangerous to horses? Yes, there has been and continues to be some public outcry against the deaths of horses for public entertainment. But very little has actually been done. And what little has been done, has not improved the survival rate of the horses made to compete.

I would not have been surprised to have discovered such a brutal race being celebrated in a third world country where animal welfare is not much of a concern. But frankly I was shocked to discover that such a deadly race is not only allowed to continue, but is celebrated as part of the national culture of England.

Links for information about England's Grand National:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1375210/Grand-National-2011-Ballabriggs-wins-day-drama-Aintree.html (Warning: Graphic pictures)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1375569/Grand-National-2011-Do-gooders-safety-row-jockey-lies-coma-horses-die.html (Warning: Graphic pictures)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/racing/article-1375310/Grand-National-2011-Aintree-day-horror-millions-2-horses-die.html?ito=feeds-newsxml (Warning: Graphic pictures)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/apr/09/grand-national-2011-two-deaths

http://www.mauritiushot.com/video-two-horses-die-at-grand-national-2011/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2011/apr/09/grand-national-2011-live

http://www.horsechannel.com/horse-news/2011/04/12/grand-national-steeplechase-fatalities.aspx

http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/content/image_galleries/grand_national_09_historic_gallery.shtml?2

http://www.aintree.co.uk/

http://www.aintree.co.uk/grandnationalwinners

http://www.aintree.co.uk/pages/broadcasting-of-the-grand-national/

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art42064.asp

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/apr/10/grand-national-bullfighting-deaths (Warning: Graphic picture)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_National

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/horse_racing/9406041.stm

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/apr/11/grand-national-tv-ratings

Aintree course guide: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sol/shared/spl/hi/horse_racing/05/grandnational/html/default.stm

1967 video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0n--QhZQgI

2011 video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GllKThibSLo

Links for information about the Omak Suicide Race:

http://www.paws.org/omak-suicide-race-faq.html

http://ida.convio.net/site/MessageViewer?em_id=5701.0

http://www.omakstampede.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_Race

http://www.paws.org/archives/PeopleHelpingAnimals/mainnews2005_06_05.htm

http://usesr.org/Omak-Suicide-Race.html

Humane Society video about the Omak Suicide Race: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4pig67unHo

Another blogger comparing England's Grand National to the Omak Suicide Race

http://fuglyblog.com/?p=2776

I've Decided to Joust

Jousting just looks like so much fun that I've decided instead of just helping out with the Lysts on the Lake: Lone Star Open Joust, that I want to actually compete as a jouster.

ummm...

Yeah, right, this is an April Fool's joke. There is no way that I will be jousting at the tournament. There is no way that I will ever joust, period. There is however an actual competitive jousting tournament being held in Austin, TX from April 29 - May 1, 2011. My good friend SH is producing it, and my husband will be competing in it. It promises to be one of the largest, if not the largest competitive joust in the US. At least as far as number of jousters goes. To find out more about the Lysts on the Lake, just click on the link.

My friend SH on his trusty steed Lucky(on left) tilting against another friend at a previous tournament

Roadside assistance for those hauling horses

Another blogger I read mentioned how useful she has found US RIDER. A roadside assistance service for people who haul horses. I've never tried it myself since we don't have a truck capable of hauling a horse trailer, but it seems like a useful service. So I thought that I would mention it in my blog in case someone else might find it useful.

Some Fireworks During a Lunge Session with Shadowfax

I've been lunging Shadowfax semi-regularly in preparation to starting to ride him again. I haven't been writing about our lunge sessions, because a lunge session that goes well is pretty boring. And he's been doing pretty well. Not perfect, but he generally listens and does what I say even though I may have to repeat myself several times. However...he was rather different today. I don't know what the problem was, or if he was just in a hyper mood or what. But today's lunge session had some fireworks.

I suppose I had a little warning of what was to come when Shadowfax didn't stand perfectly still while I was picking out his feet. He normally doesn't move a muscle, but today, he was wriggling around a little, not bad, but compared to how still he is normally, it was noticeable. But I didn't really think much of it at the time. Once I started lunging, things seemed to go normally at first. But then he kept speeding up. He broke into trot before I asked him too, and even though he slowed back down when I kept saying "Sloooowwweeerrr, sllooowwweerrr", he was just wanting to go faster. We went counter-clockwise first, as usual, and even though there were a couple of exciting moments when he kicked up his heels and tried to go faster, he mostly behaved.

But when we switched sides and went clockwise, things got rough. He just kept speeding up and starting to run. I could slow him down, but it took some work and he would shake his head and object. So finally after the third time he bucked and went into a gallop, I decided that if he wanted to run, then by damn, he was going to run. So I yelled, "RUN!" and just held him in the circle as he ran full out. And he ran. Boy, did he run. For a big boy, he can be fast when he feels like it. And he kept running. And running. My arms were shaking from holding him in the circle. However, when he finally started to slow down, I waved the whip at his rear and yelled, "RUN" and kept him running. He slowed to trot and I waved that whip and yelled, "RUN" and made him keep running. He tried to slow several times and I just kept yelling and waving the whip and made him keep going. If he was going to challenge me by bucking and running, then I was going to make him regret it by making him run until he never wanted to run while lunging again. Eventually, when he was looking truly tired and he slowed to a trot again, instead of forcing him to run flat out, I asked for a canter and got a decent canter. I cantered him around the circle a few times and then asked for a trot. He IMMEDIATELY dropped into a trot. I made him trot several more circles, then asked for a walk. He immediately slowed to a walk. I walked him around a couple of times, then said "Ho" and he stopped.

I walked up to him and patted him and talked to him as I switched the lunge line to the other side of his bridle. He was sweaty and tired, but wasn't even close to being in any distress. I started him going counter-clockwise again and this time... he listened to me. He really, really listened. He had one ear facing forward and the other facing me the entire time. I walked, trotted, walked, trotted, cantered, trotted, walked. And he did everything exactly when I asked. I ended the session by just walking him for what seemed a really long time. It probably felt even longer to him. He was so tired that he wasn't picking his feet up as high as he ought and tripped over uneven ground a couple of times. As soon as I felt that he had walked enough to cool down slowly from this rather intense session, I asked for a stop and got it.

I led him over to the trailer to untack. Most of his sweat had dried and he felt cool. So I gave him a nice grooming/rubdown and gave him a few carrot sticks. I tried to do some carrot stretches with him, but he really doesn't know how to do them properly (that's something I need to teach him). He kept trying to bow instead of doing the stretches, so I asked him to bow a few times and rewarded him for doing so. I unhaltered him and let him go, but he started following me back to gate, so I worked a little on having him stop when I stopped as we walked towards the gate. That trick he knows pretty well, but it's something we've always worked on with him haltered. However, he did great even though he was at liberty. Paying as much attention to my body's movement as he did to my verbal command. At the gate, I gave him another carrot stick and told him he was good boy. Which he is, even if there were some fireworks during the lunge session.

Singing Chickens

Right after one of my hens lays an egg, she stands around and sings about it. Frequently, other hens will join in and there will be a whole chorus of singing chickens. It's very loud.

Why do they do that? It seems like it would be the reverse of a survival tactic. Sort of like announcing to all the predators nearby that here is a nice fresh egg, come and get it. Oh, and by the way, there's a loud and none too bright hen available for eating as well.

So... can anyone come up with any ideas why it would be a good idea for hens to loudly announce their success every time they lay an egg?

Anyone?

Riding Red in a Jousting Saddle

This past Sunday, there was another jousting practice at DASH's arena. DA was kind enough to trailer Ziggy over so that Foxfire could could get some work in on him. (We really need to get a truck of our own.) I went along to watch and be social. However, I ended up helping train SH's new jousting horse, Tinkerbell, by standing at the end of the jousting lane and giving her baby carrots when she would come to me and stop instead of continuing to run around the arena. Tinkerbell is a huge Frisian/Percheron cross, and I have to admit, it was a little scary to see her coming at me. But she always stopped, or at least slowed down enough so that all I had to do was take one step to the side and she would end up beside me instead of in front of me. She was trying to stop, she just mis-judged her distance a little.

I also got up on Red and rode around the arena a little at a walk. Red was wearing his jousting saddle which I had never ridden in before and I hope to never ride in again. The saddle seams are in exactly the wrong place for me and really dug into my inner thighs. Ouch. Also, the stirrup leathers which were sized for SG were way too long for me, so I had to ride without stirrups. Not really a big deal, since all I was going to do was walk. But it was really nice for JJ (and SG who is actually the one who rides Red for jousting) to let me ride him, so I shouldn't complain. I'm not sure exactly how long I rode. Maybe 20 minutes? The saddle was hurting my thighs and, I have to admit, it really is rather boring to just walk around an arena. But I need to get more time in the saddle at a walk before I'll be able to do anything else. Sadly, my tailbone still hurts when I put pressure on it, so I'm a little leery of trying to trot yet, even on as sweet a horse as Red.

Ah well, one step at a time.

Shadowfax Playing

A while back, my husband managed to get some pictures of Shadowfax running around the pasture and playing. This is quite an accomplishment, because usually, as soon as the critters hear us open the door to come outside and take a picture, they stop whatever cute thing they are doing and turn and look at us. It is very frustrating. I just want to yell,"Ignore the human and keep playing!"

Anyway, my husband's camera is pretty fancy, and if you hold down the button, it will take a picture every 1/4 of a second. The following seven pics were all taken only 1/4 of a second apart.

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superhorse! (Maybe I should have named him Pegasus.)

Yup. My horse can do a complete 180 in a little over half a second. That's how he threw me. He didn't buck. He just sort of ducked his head and did a 180 so fast it sling-shotted me off his back.

Here are a couple of more pics of him showing off his athleticism.

And another sequence of pics shot 1/4 of a second apart.

Not something you really want to see up close.

Don't worry, for that last shot, the photographer, Foxfire, was actually about 20 feet away and on the other side of a fence. Shadowfax was not trying to kick him, he was just playing.