At the Maryland Hunt Cup (steeplechase) held this past Saturday, both Preseli Rock and Sideling Hill were fallers (at the same fence) in the 1st race, with neither finishing. Preseli, the stewards report, fractured a patella and was placed on the “Vet’s List.” While they have yet given a status for Sideling, they did note the following:
“It was clear that the horse was finished well before the 16th fence and jumped it from a standstill which resulted in a dangerous, slow-motion, rotational fall. After watching the video [jockey George] Daly admitted that he should have pulled the horse up and promised to do so if in a similar situation in the future.”
So, Sideling – who, by the way, is (was) ten years old – was spent, too tired to continue, but the miscreant Daly insisted the poor horse finish, making him jump “from a standstill which resulted in a dangerous, slow-motion, rotational fall.” No matter, say the stewards, for he has promised not to do it again. Vile, simply vile.
Idiocy. And p poor horsemanship. Fools ruin a good horse for what?
This is one of the many reasons this form of “horsemanship” is barbaric,abusive,disgusting and downright cruel. And they always call the horses that don’t make it over the”hurdles” fallers.
The replay is available. Two horses at the same hurdle. One went down and the other a ways behind second. Except the second one did a rotational. Miracle if he survived only with a patella injury.You can hear the spectators with their reactions. Sick En Ning
Watching them being paraded by the so called fans I would say a couple look like they have leg issues and one has an issue with the backend?Hips or spine maybe? I am no vet of course but it’s rather obvious. Do they just wrap and go or shouldn’t the owners check for soundness?
I think they have vets to check for soundness but maybe they are PAID TO PASS unfit horses to perform as though they were fit and sound to fill out the race card and to cater to the owners who are so uppity that nobody would dare say no to them. Of course, racing industry people appear to have a knock-off version of the definition of “soundness” in racehorses.
It’s willful killing and torturing of an animal …. and may they rot. What kind of a human can watch this barbarism?
The morally depraved s.o.b. needs to be punished severely, but all of the people involved in this heinous cruelty to horses should be punished severely. How is it any different than the other blood-thirsty, animal-killing bloodsports in the morally depraved mindset department?!!??!!!!
There is no TRUE HORSEMANSHIP involved in these kinds of barbaric activities!!!! Flat track RACING and steeplechase and/or jumps RACING are synonymous with ABUSING HORSES, NOT HORSEMANSHIP!!!!!!
I know that there are probably some people who read this page who actually jump their horses and participate in competitions but I think it’s absolutely despicable. How dare humans THINK that they have the God given right to submit another creature to movements that can cause accidents or bodily harm? ( I also think that riding is always wrong.)
The replay is at the link below. All the horses (except the leader, who has already cleared it) approach the fence in question starting at about 6:55. That second fall looks horrific. The horses are all visibly tired and the majority of them clip the fence; it’s a wonder there weren’t more falls.