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They're silent for fifty weeks of the year, then won't fucking shut up about it for a fortnight.
Hello my friends, and you are all my friends, this is a call to arms because we are at an existential breaking point. I will be using strong language throughout much of this post because the antis (who from now on, will be known only as THE BASTARDS) fight dirty. If you cannot handle bad language, this fight is not for you.
If anybody is up for a fight, stand the fuck up. If anybody is not sure that they are ready, please make way for those who are. WE ARE ON YOUR SIDE.
Now if I am talking to those who want to fight, any support you can offer is vital, because this is not about You, Me, Fatjockey, Willie Mullins, Affordability Checks, Handicap Good Things or anything else we concern ourselves with for the other 50 weeks of the year. This is about our very living and our very passion. In a digital world that has gone beyond early sci-fi parodies, opinions of the most malleable are more potent and dangerous than ever before. The battle of “Anti’s” vs “Racing” is wholly existential. The end goal of The Bastards is to end horse racing completely and their argument (which is winning in public) is based entirely on ignorance and bad faith rhetoric. No other entity wishes for racing to cease entirely, which is why (for all that their arguments are invariably lightweight) The Bastards must be taken very seriously.
I will fight The Bastards on my own. But if others want to join in in their own way according to their own capacity, then we increase racing's chances of survival. This battle will not be won on the racecourse (whether it is horses showing their truest magnificence, or plonkers glueing themselves to a water jump). It will be won in the narrative.
The Bastards fight dirty using bad faith rhetoric and completely fallacious positions. THE BASTARDS ARE WINNING. If this fucks you off (because it sure as shit is fucking me off) then use that fucking energy for good. If you hear a conversation about how horse racing is cruel, do not be afraid to interject. The Bastards have absolutely no right to a monopoly on public opinion.
Remember that jumps racing in Australia, the source of Grand National Hero Crisp is banned in every state apart from Victoria, and they are on their way out. And let us not ignore the example shown by Greyhound Racing. The Bastards will stop at nothing to get horse racing banned. Not because it is beneficial to thoroughbred horses as a species, but it is beneficial for their patholoigical need to serve their egos. I argue that banning racing will make like a lot worse for thoroughbred horses. I will argue using FACTS. Not feelings. Not bad faith arguments such as "What about halal meat?". (Do not use this, by the way... it makes US and THE SPORT look like fucking loons).
I want this to be a repository. Our barracks. I am only one soldier, but these barracks are open to all who want to fight for our passion. If anybody has anything they wish to contribute, I will amend this OP accordingly because we are best organised when everything is in one place.
For starters, here are some arguments you may find beneficial There will be more to come. PLEASE FEEL UNRESERVEDLY FREE TO SUGGEST YOUR OWN. We can build and substantiate our FACTS together.
The Life of a Racehorse: The parents are selected, magic happens, and around a year later, out comes a foal. Unlike in most other livestock industries, the foal is kept with its mare (or a foster mare should that be required) for the sake of its physiological development and psychological wellbeing, before it is naturally weaned. From there, it is kept with other foals of its age for at least a year before being trained to take a rider. The horse is trained gradually until it is eventually of racing age. When in training, the horse is surrounded by people qualified to keep it sound and happy as the first priority, and fit (which is good for any animal to be) for racing on the foundation of good health. Training and schooling is NEVER any more intensive than it needs to be. Pushing a horse beyond its peak is counter-intuitive as it will not perform by the time it reaches the racehorse, and even risk getting the horse to the track in the first place. When in training, a typical day consists of the horse (stabled in a fashion where it can still communicate with other horses) being checked, fed and watered. When its breakfast has settled, it will exercise (which is moderate by default and only intensified close to a race) while someone will clean out its box, put down fresh bedding and refill the water and feed as per nutritional requirements. The horse comes back from training, drinks its water, eats its dinner (lunch), has a rest, and is then turned out loose in a field with some other horses so that it can do what horses do. Once again, the box is cleaned and replenished, and when the time comes to collect the horses, they are usually waiting at the gate because being domesticated animals, they quite enjoy home comforts. During the off season, they either stay at the yard or go to the owners/livery where they basically graze for a few months while getting checked at least twice a day. After racing, the majority (that it is not *all* is one area of reform I would support) will go into other roles/professions (as they do like a sense of routine) or simply become pets. The latter is OK if it includes care and some exercise/routine, although that example championed by Animal Rising last year of a disheveled “rescue horse” in a field containing buttercups quite rightly drew a lot of ire from horsey people. Not least because the fallacious nature of the post, but the fact that buttercups are POISONOUS to horses.
Horses enjoy racing: On a video of the Irish Arkle 23 Note that without any prompting or coercion from its fallen rider, Saint Roi not only continued the course jumping every remaining fence (despite having the clear option of navigating around the jumps, as many loose horses will), but when he drifted towards El Fabiolo (green colours), you can see him pull out an extra gear and draw clear of the legal winner. Moreover, it was not a case of a vastly superior runner gliding past a plodder. El Fabiolo is widely regarded as most likely to be the next Champion Chaser
People care about the horses: The idea that people in racing do not care about the horses goes contrary to the sincere love that many who own and work with horses will feel for those with which they are directly involved, and have developed a genuine and mutual affection. The tears that are shed in the cab of an empty horsebox returning from the races are very real. The loss of a horse can stay with their stable lad/lass for the rest of their lives.
Euthanasia: In terms of injury, a racehorse is probably the luckiest animal in this respect. When a pet gets injured, it suffers at the hands of untrained owners for however long it takes before it is eventually bungled into a car and taken to a vet to be euthanised. If a racehorse gets a life-ending injury, it is never far from a vet who can either determine if the animal can be saved, or swiftly be put out of its misery. If it is a decision made away from sudden impact injuries, it is done in as calm a fashion as is possible.
Freedom in domestication: If humans did not hold dominion over horses, horses would not be free. (3) They would instead be under the dominion of nature, which is considerably more callous in its indifference than man. We do not even have to entertain how well a thoroughbred horse might fare in the wild as the answer would be an unequivocal “poorly”. By contrast to the life of a racehorse as described above, a horse born in the wild is under constant threat of predation from the moment it leaves the womb. It is not merely the being eaten alive that is horrifying, but it is also the stress that comes from waiting for one of several daily attacks from predators. If that was not enough, there is the constant search for food and water, and constant battles for dominance within the pack. If you have a graze which is infected, a case of colic or grass sickness, or heaven forfend, a knock or fracture anywhere on the body, there is no vet to fix you or grant you mercy. You are going to suffer and suffer until you are eventually eaten alive.
UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL
Ideologically, I am a socialist. I am also a vegan and I do not identify with any gender. I was born in Germany and I am stonkingly working class. None of these factors are relevent. Neither are your cultural or social identifiers. I do not give the slightest fuck whether you are male, female, tory, green, lib dem, conservative, anarchist, old, young, went to public school, homeless, butcher, farmer, teacher, manager, cleaner... None of that fucking matters. Let's deal with that once we have used our words to send The Bastards back to their trust fund hobbies.
Hello my friends, and you are all my friends, this is a call to arms because we are at an existential breaking point. I will be using strong language throughout much of this post because the antis (who from now on, will be known only as THE BASTARDS) fight dirty. If you cannot handle bad language, this fight is not for you.
If anybody is up for a fight, stand the fuck up. If anybody is not sure that they are ready, please make way for those who are. WE ARE ON YOUR SIDE.
Now if I am talking to those who want to fight, any support you can offer is vital, because this is not about You, Me, Fatjockey, Willie Mullins, Affordability Checks, Handicap Good Things or anything else we concern ourselves with for the other 50 weeks of the year. This is about our very living and our very passion. In a digital world that has gone beyond early sci-fi parodies, opinions of the most malleable are more potent and dangerous than ever before. The battle of “Anti’s” vs “Racing” is wholly existential. The end goal of The Bastards is to end horse racing completely and their argument (which is winning in public) is based entirely on ignorance and bad faith rhetoric. No other entity wishes for racing to cease entirely, which is why (for all that their arguments are invariably lightweight) The Bastards must be taken very seriously.
I will fight The Bastards on my own. But if others want to join in in their own way according to their own capacity, then we increase racing's chances of survival. This battle will not be won on the racecourse (whether it is horses showing their truest magnificence, or plonkers glueing themselves to a water jump). It will be won in the narrative.
The Bastards fight dirty using bad faith rhetoric and completely fallacious positions. THE BASTARDS ARE WINNING. If this fucks you off (because it sure as shit is fucking me off) then use that fucking energy for good. If you hear a conversation about how horse racing is cruel, do not be afraid to interject. The Bastards have absolutely no right to a monopoly on public opinion.
Remember that jumps racing in Australia, the source of Grand National Hero Crisp is banned in every state apart from Victoria, and they are on their way out. And let us not ignore the example shown by Greyhound Racing. The Bastards will stop at nothing to get horse racing banned. Not because it is beneficial to thoroughbred horses as a species, but it is beneficial for their patholoigical need to serve their egos. I argue that banning racing will make like a lot worse for thoroughbred horses. I will argue using FACTS. Not feelings. Not bad faith arguments such as "What about halal meat?". (Do not use this, by the way... it makes US and THE SPORT look like fucking loons).
I want this to be a repository. Our barracks. I am only one soldier, but these barracks are open to all who want to fight for our passion. If anybody has anything they wish to contribute, I will amend this OP accordingly because we are best organised when everything is in one place.
For starters, here are some arguments you may find beneficial There will be more to come. PLEASE FEEL UNRESERVEDLY FREE TO SUGGEST YOUR OWN. We can build and substantiate our FACTS together.
____________
ARGUMENTS
____________
ARGUMENTS
____________
The Life of a Racehorse: The parents are selected, magic happens, and around a year later, out comes a foal. Unlike in most other livestock industries, the foal is kept with its mare (or a foster mare should that be required) for the sake of its physiological development and psychological wellbeing, before it is naturally weaned. From there, it is kept with other foals of its age for at least a year before being trained to take a rider. The horse is trained gradually until it is eventually of racing age. When in training, the horse is surrounded by people qualified to keep it sound and happy as the first priority, and fit (which is good for any animal to be) for racing on the foundation of good health. Training and schooling is NEVER any more intensive than it needs to be. Pushing a horse beyond its peak is counter-intuitive as it will not perform by the time it reaches the racehorse, and even risk getting the horse to the track in the first place. When in training, a typical day consists of the horse (stabled in a fashion where it can still communicate with other horses) being checked, fed and watered. When its breakfast has settled, it will exercise (which is moderate by default and only intensified close to a race) while someone will clean out its box, put down fresh bedding and refill the water and feed as per nutritional requirements. The horse comes back from training, drinks its water, eats its dinner (lunch), has a rest, and is then turned out loose in a field with some other horses so that it can do what horses do. Once again, the box is cleaned and replenished, and when the time comes to collect the horses, they are usually waiting at the gate because being domesticated animals, they quite enjoy home comforts. During the off season, they either stay at the yard or go to the owners/livery where they basically graze for a few months while getting checked at least twice a day. After racing, the majority (that it is not *all* is one area of reform I would support) will go into other roles/professions (as they do like a sense of routine) or simply become pets. The latter is OK if it includes care and some exercise/routine, although that example championed by Animal Rising last year of a disheveled “rescue horse” in a field containing buttercups quite rightly drew a lot of ire from horsey people. Not least because the fallacious nature of the post, but the fact that buttercups are POISONOUS to horses.
Horses enjoy racing: On a video of the Irish Arkle 23 Note that without any prompting or coercion from its fallen rider, Saint Roi not only continued the course jumping every remaining fence (despite having the clear option of navigating around the jumps, as many loose horses will), but when he drifted towards El Fabiolo (green colours), you can see him pull out an extra gear and draw clear of the legal winner. Moreover, it was not a case of a vastly superior runner gliding past a plodder. El Fabiolo is widely regarded as most likely to be the next Champion Chaser
People care about the horses: The idea that people in racing do not care about the horses goes contrary to the sincere love that many who own and work with horses will feel for those with which they are directly involved, and have developed a genuine and mutual affection. The tears that are shed in the cab of an empty horsebox returning from the races are very real. The loss of a horse can stay with their stable lad/lass for the rest of their lives.
Euthanasia: In terms of injury, a racehorse is probably the luckiest animal in this respect. When a pet gets injured, it suffers at the hands of untrained owners for however long it takes before it is eventually bungled into a car and taken to a vet to be euthanised. If a racehorse gets a life-ending injury, it is never far from a vet who can either determine if the animal can be saved, or swiftly be put out of its misery. If it is a decision made away from sudden impact injuries, it is done in as calm a fashion as is possible.
Freedom in domestication: If humans did not hold dominion over horses, horses would not be free. (3) They would instead be under the dominion of nature, which is considerably more callous in its indifference than man. We do not even have to entertain how well a thoroughbred horse might fare in the wild as the answer would be an unequivocal “poorly”. By contrast to the life of a racehorse as described above, a horse born in the wild is under constant threat of predation from the moment it leaves the womb. It is not merely the being eaten alive that is horrifying, but it is also the stress that comes from waiting for one of several daily attacks from predators. If that was not enough, there is the constant search for food and water, and constant battles for dominance within the pack. If you have a graze which is infected, a case of colic or grass sickness, or heaven forfend, a knock or fracture anywhere on the body, there is no vet to fix you or grant you mercy. You are going to suffer and suffer until you are eventually eaten alive.
UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL
Ideologically, I am a socialist. I am also a vegan and I do not identify with any gender. I was born in Germany and I am stonkingly working class. None of these factors are relevent. Neither are your cultural or social identifiers. I do not give the slightest fuck whether you are male, female, tory, green, lib dem, conservative, anarchist, old, young, went to public school, homeless, butcher, farmer, teacher, manager, cleaner... None of that fucking matters. Let's deal with that once we have used our words to send The Bastards back to their trust fund hobbies.
LET'S GET THE FUCKING BASTARDS!!!!
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