There's been two misinformed articles in two years by PETA director Mimi Bekhechi about the Grand National.
2014 article
1) "viciously whipped, and forced into jumping"
Horse whips are cushioned and are designed to create a horse to encourage a horse by creating a noise. They are not designed to cause pain. There was a documentary on Irish horse racing where jockey Barry Geraghty hit himself hard with a horse whip a number of times to show that it doesn't hurt. You can't force a horse to jump. If it doesn't want to jump it will refuse.
2014 article
1) "viciously whipped, and forced into jumping"
Horse whips are cushioned and are designed to create a horse to encourage a horse by creating a noise. They are not designed to cause pain. There was a documentary on Irish horse racing where jockey Barry Geraghty hit himself hard with a horse whip a number of times to show that it doesn't hurt. You can't force a horse to jump. If it doesn't want to jump it will refuse.
2) "breakdowns are inevitable. Last year, only 17 – fewer than half – finished the Grand National,"
No horses broke down during the 2014 Grand National. Jockeys will pull a horse up if they feel a horse's chance of running well has gone. The irony is that the one horse I know of who should have been pulled up was Cheers in 1982. His jockey pretty much forced him to complete. Because his jockey was the first woman to complete the course this issue was mainly overlooked and seen as a great triumph. I believe the poor horse died a few months later.
3) "Last year, Godolphin trainer Mahmood al-Zarooni was banned from racing for eight years after being found guilty of doping offences."
Cheats exist in many walks of life. He was indeed given an eight year ban. al-Zarooni was a trainer of young flat horses which has nothing to do with the Grand National.
It also needs to be noted that the Guardian had to publicise three different corrections to the article.
2015 article
1) "But when droves come out to cheer and applaud as horses crash face-first into the ground, break their necks and legs and die on the Grand National track,"
Inaccurate and libellous.
2) "Last year, only 18 horses finished the race – fewer than half the number that started. Some of them collapse from exhaustion,"
Sadly Hear The Echo collapsed and died in 2009 and before him Earthstopper did in 1984. No other horses have collapsed since the latter horse.
3) "while others simply stop racing, unable to go on."
Horses will refuse to jump if they don't want to. As I've written earlier jockeys will pull horse's up if they feel there is no point in continuing.
4) "riders are also required to carry a whip, which they regularly crack."
Even the RSPCA realise that it's a good idea for a jockey to carry a whip. They need a means to keep a horse under control for everyone's safety. Even dressage riders have whips. There are rules on whip use and as I've mentioned the jockey's whip is not the same as other whips.
5) "It's standard industry practice to give horses drugs to mask pain and keep them running when they should be resting or receiving treatment."
Drugs is an issue in horse racing in the US. The British Horseracing Authority has clear standards on this http://rules.britishhorseracing.com/Orders-and-rules&staticID=126842&depth=2
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/04/care-horses-boycott-grand-national
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/grand-national-2015-how-grand-can-a-race-be-when-some-horses-snap-or-die-before-finishing-10168443.html
No horses broke down during the 2014 Grand National. Jockeys will pull a horse up if they feel a horse's chance of running well has gone. The irony is that the one horse I know of who should have been pulled up was Cheers in 1982. His jockey pretty much forced him to complete. Because his jockey was the first woman to complete the course this issue was mainly overlooked and seen as a great triumph. I believe the poor horse died a few months later.
3) "Last year, Godolphin trainer Mahmood al-Zarooni was banned from racing for eight years after being found guilty of doping offences."
Cheats exist in many walks of life. He was indeed given an eight year ban. al-Zarooni was a trainer of young flat horses which has nothing to do with the Grand National.
It also needs to be noted that the Guardian had to publicise three different corrections to the article.
2015 article
1) "But when droves come out to cheer and applaud as horses crash face-first into the ground, break their necks and legs and die on the Grand National track,"
Inaccurate and libellous.
2) "Last year, only 18 horses finished the race – fewer than half the number that started. Some of them collapse from exhaustion,"
Sadly Hear The Echo collapsed and died in 2009 and before him Earthstopper did in 1984. No other horses have collapsed since the latter horse.
3) "while others simply stop racing, unable to go on."
Horses will refuse to jump if they don't want to. As I've written earlier jockeys will pull horse's up if they feel there is no point in continuing.
4) "riders are also required to carry a whip, which they regularly crack."
Even the RSPCA realise that it's a good idea for a jockey to carry a whip. They need a means to keep a horse under control for everyone's safety. Even dressage riders have whips. There are rules on whip use and as I've mentioned the jockey's whip is not the same as other whips.
5) "It's standard industry practice to give horses drugs to mask pain and keep them running when they should be resting or receiving treatment."
Drugs is an issue in horse racing in the US. The British Horseracing Authority has clear standards on this http://rules.britishhorseracing.com/Orders-and-rules&staticID=126842&depth=2
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/04/care-horses-boycott-grand-national
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/grand-national-2015-how-grand-can-a-race-be-when-some-horses-snap-or-die-before-finishing-10168443.html
