paparappa

Horse racing seems to attract violent people, no wonder horse welfare is such a low priority Jockey suspended for illegal drug use pleads GUILTY to killing pensioner who was shoved to ground and beaten to death during pub brawl in Newmarket

People often say that "Britain is a nation of animal lovers". And yet, this image has been broadcast to millions of people across the country, and it STILL isn't enough for many of them to see anything wrong with it.

@Jan_Leeming herd animals and movement by other horses stimulates continued running.  Some equine behaviourists also describe this as behavioural “automatism,” where a learned locomotor pattern continues automatically once initiated. 

@Jan_Leeming As for the running for pleasure - interestingly only foals and youngsters run for pleasure. A horse is a prey animal. The point of a prey animal is to conserve energy so that they can always use their main form of defence against predators (speed) if their lives at risk

Running for pleasure is one thing - being whipped for more speed is quite another.

@Jan_Leeming speed the neurological “fight-or-flight” system continues to drive forward movement even without a rider directing them.  In racing contexts this is reinforced by training and by social facilitation, meaning horses tend to keep running with the group because they are herd

@Jan_Leeming A racehorse often continues running after the jockey falls because running is an innate flight response and a strongly conditioned behaviour. Horses evolved as prey animals whose primary survival strategy is to flee from perceived threats, so once they are already galloping at

@Jan_Leeming sorry posted too quickly - only run for pleasure as in when playing and only then in short bursts. Lucy Rees’s amazing work goes into this in huge detail - highly recommend.

@Jan_Leeming The evidence shows that whip strikes physically deform horses’ skin, often involve unpadded contact, hit skin that is anatomically capable of feeling superficial pain much like human skin, and can be delivered with substantial force

@Jan_Leeming afraid you’re both wrong (not @janleeming) - will explain (am equine behaviourist and scientist) - firstly a whip has to have an unpleasant effect in order to elicit a response - that’s how learning theory works - there are four quadrants. The use of an aversive (whip) only has

@Jan_Leeming difference in epidermal thickness

@Jan_Leeming Tong et al. (2020): the part of horse skin that detects superficial pain is essentially like ours in the area struck by the whip. This study compared human and horse gluteal skin microscopically and found no significant difference in epidermal nerve counts and no significant di

@Jan_Leeming McGreevy et al. (2013): backhand whip strikes can be delivered with substantial force, including greater force in some conditions. In a study of jockey whip mechanics, the researchers found that backhand action did not reduce impact force, and when jockeys used their dominant han

@Jan_Leeming effect if it is found to be unpleasant. Secondly I can point you to numerous scientific papers from those of us in the research world that show that whips ARE painful - McGreevy et al. (2012): whip strikes visibly deform the skin, and the “padded” whip does not reliably prevent

@W_Russell__M @Jan_Leeming The point is that from an equine perspective they have a terrible life. Everything about their management goes against the basic ethogram of a horse and all behavioural measures of welfare

@DrdoolittleFBPE @Jan_Leeming You prefer the horse meat trade then, we export tons of it already. What have you got against horses being well looked after and having a good life. That lost on you.

Don't like the language but thoroughly agree with the sentiments.😡😡😡

@KernowSabs dont forget Go Get George who’s leg SNAPPED mid race in teh 1.20 before the GN…also dead

Rant..... And just another word on the #GrandNational If you support horse racing, fuck you! Oh, and if you are Paul Townend, definitely a big fuck you!! Should be in prison. Absolute shocking scenes! RIP Gold Dancer. .....end of rant

@Donna__McLean his leg SNAPPED mid race back left. LOOK AT IT! this is due to repetitive microtrauma sustained over yrs of racing and training on bodies that are started before skeletally mature - horses skeletons mature at 6/7 years old - r/h started at TWELVE MONTHS. bone plates not fused.

I was comfortable with the inside of a betting shop as a kid, but this is not my culture. It's wicked beyond belief.

what racing should be saying don't cry over our modest loss of 150 horses a year when domestic pets, like cats and dogs are being abandoned to the tune of several hundred thousand a year- and tens of thousands are euthanised And, of course, every animal rights campaigner, has a cat. And they don't want that banned-do they?

@Wishitwasthewa1 with thanks to @eponatv

Is this an annual sacrifice ritual? It should be banned.