[AusRace] They never let up re crops, do they?

Thu Nov 29 10:37:21 AEDT 2018

General comments on treatment of racehorses (and racing dogs).

I know horses are not humans, I know what anthropomorphism is, but
nonetheless there are traits that seem common to humans and many animals,
including horses.

I don't need to ask to know that every man I know would prefer the crop to
being gelded, yet gelding horses is almost never questioned whereas a few
whacks with a crop brings hysteria. Gelding causes much physical pain,
especially in the 20% of cases that have after-op complications, and a
number die. As to psychological pain, who can tell? Not this mere punter,
nor I believe, any person with certainty.

I'm not so sure about women, but my guess is a very large majority would
prefer the crop to being raped, but that is what humans subject mares to -
"hold them down" and have a male rape them, no choice, no foreplay for the
mare. The great mare Light Fingers was "racist" - she hated Greys and would
try to bite them on the track. So how would she have liked being held down
and raped by a grey stallion? She hated it so much that she failed to
conceive in her first two seasons. No protests about that, but hysteria if
horses are given a couple of whacks with a crop.

Pigs are generally acknowledged as much more intelligent animals than
horses, yet they are subjected to terrible conditions so humans can have
their Christmas ham, and the legislated minimum conditions are insignificant
compared to the hysteria that caused legislation to ban dog racing, albeit
withdrawn, and the calls to ban the crop, and indeed horse racing. I've seen
pigs slaughtered, and they are far, far from "lambs to the slaughter", they
are terrified but go down fighting.

Rats are generally acknowledged as more intelligent animals than horses, yet
they are subjected to terrible suffering before death mercifully brings
relief, by the use of poisons such as warfarin, sold as Ratsak in Australian
stores, which cause internal bleeding that can take days to kill - I have
seen rats jump into a fish pond attempting to mitigate the suffering. Yet no
outcry that I've seen, let alone the hysteria when a horse gets a few whacks
with a crop, or breaks a leg and is quickly killed; compare that to a horse
in the outback -when it breaks a leg can take a week or more to die of
dehydration.

I've lived where when a dog was ran over, the body was quartered and the
parts auctioned off, where the local boys would catch cats and spit barbeque
them for a bit of meat, yet do that in South Australia, and jail awaits -
how it is a rationally a crime to eat dog  (about the first legislation
passed by Rann when he won government in 2002), but ok to trap and eat
Thumper or Bugs Bunny is beyond me.  

From: Racing <racing-bounces at ausrace.com> On Behalf Of L.B.Loveday
Sent: Sunday, 25 November 2018 2:46 PM
To: 'AusRace Racing Discussion List' <racing at ausrace.com>
Subject: [AusRace] They never let up re crops, do they?

Just saw this looking through the Archives.  I have no idea what Jory's been
diagnosed as other than I know he's undergone prostatectomy. How you have
formed the opinion "Didn't think so" is beyond my comprehension maybe you
know him personally.

>From Merriam-Webster, my on-line English reference of choice:

Senile: of, relating to, exhibiting, or characteristic of old age

My grandfather's death certificate (died at 94) showed "Cause of Death:
Senility" which upset my mother until I explained to her the sense in which
it was used. Everyone's mental acumen decreases along with their physical
ability as they age, and Jory's certainly has.

I have had private communication debates with Jory, and some of what he has
written to me is at best rationally indisputably rubbish, and demonstrated
an inability to think outside what he what written. An example - he screamed
blue murder that a 83yo was on a waiting list for a hip replacement and that
he should be given priority because of his age. He accepted that there was a
waiting list of mostly, almost all even, younger people but would in no way
accept that they should not be moved back, that if the oldest were operated
on first, the young would have to wait for years more, possibly dying before
their turn came, as those older would always be prioritised, that there was
an economic case for the opposite - repair the youngest first so they can
work productively and pay taxes  which help to support the elderly - or a
fairness case that the old bloke had had 80+ years of good life, would it
not be fair to repair the young first so they could hopefully have the same.
I was not advocating anything other than saying it was wrong for an 83yo to
jump the queue simply because of age, but all Jory could do was write "But
he's 83"...

Chris Munce donated a crop to my old football club, and the boys belted each
other with it; of course it stung, like a slap from a missus stings, but it
did not break skin or result in a bruise, and I warrant the boys were
stronger even than Justin Sheehan and Mick Dittman. Horses of course have
far thicker hides than the boys.

Len,
Has he been medically diagnosed as senile?
Didn't think so.
He never stated that Gai et al are physically and psychologically cruel to
their horses, he said that whipping a horse to try and improve its
performance by running longer or faster has no place in racing and would be
considered cruel if done outside of an actual race.
I totally agree.
When riding horses, I carry a whip purely for safety purposes and so should
jockeys.
A horse can feel a fly on it's rear, so to even suggest that a horse doesn't
feel pain from a whip, makes no sense at all.
Smart horses dump the jockey after the line, some not so smart, tear
suspensory ligaments, have heart attacks, bleed, and quite a few die
post-race.
If it's not cruel to the horse, why do many stand flat footed at the gates
(forgetting Chautauqua).
Why have the rules been tightened on the type of whip, the number of
strikes, where the horse can be struck, and harness racing considering a
complete ban.
Working with ex racehorses, I see firsthand both the physical and mental
damage the use of a whip other than for jockey safety can cause.
Mostly the damage is irreparable.
Lindsay

From: Racing [mailto:racing-bounces at ausrace.com
<http://ausrace.com/mailman/listinfo/racing_ausrace.com> ] On Behalf Of
L.B.Loveday
Sent: Sunday, 26 August 2018 5:16 PM
To: 'AusRace Racing Discussion List'
Subject: [AusRace] They never let up re crops, do they?

Rex Jory is well into his 70's and somewhat senile. Does the idiot think Gai
et alia are "physically and psychologically cruel" to their horses?

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