Went to the races on Saturday at Sandown Park and one of the horses broke a leg – subsequently found out it was destroyed (thankfully hidden behind screen).
Just curious to how they actually do it – electric shock / injection / stun gun – anybody know?

Dogs

bolt gun :o( very quick though

Yep, bolt gun. Quickest most humane way. Terribly sad whenever it happens.

Am sure someone will be along shortly to tell you that horse racing is teh evil badness, though.

Velociraptor that lives in the stables

It starts with the initial training.

Did you try the burgers 😮

Not trolling here… but why do they have to be killed?

Are they beyond repair or just beyond economical repair?

Could a damaged race horse happily spend the rest of its life in a field or would a broken leg lead to a lifetime of suffering?

Active horses need to be, err, active.

what about that horse in the news the other day, The one who likes to go to the pub. Thats not very active

And why do they use the word ‘destroyed’, rather than “executed” or “killed”. “Destroyed” gives me visions of the horse being systematically undermined and emotionally abused until it’s a nervous wreck. Or being put head first into a woodchipper or something.

Horses need 4 working legs to move around and have any quality of lfe, they are not like dogs that can happily (ish) wander around with 3 legs.

Whether that justify’s shooting them rather than imobilising them whilst a leg heals is a different matter all together.

Horses carry an awful lot of weight on long slender legs. It is very difficult to allow the leg to heal particularly with the type of compound fractures they get in the races.

It doesn’t seem nice but I have a whippet and to see how much she loves running I only assume the horses feel the same.

Something like this I thought…

But bigger.

It would just be chum if there were no pedigree race horses to make it from.

I know a pissed horse when I see one! Get it a kebab!

Depends on the fracture. A spiral fracture or chipped bone can be repaired but it takes time and a lot of money. If the bone is shattered, which is common in racing injuries, it’s unlikely the bone would ever be strong enough to support the horse’s weight. Like Lunge said, they need all four legs, they just can’t manage with three.
Not sure if a bolt gun is the most humane way though, the vet who treats the horses at my local stable uses lethal injection, they go very peacefully.

Just curious to how they actually do it

Pop a cap in the ass?

Pop a cap in the ass?

Horses, not donkeys.

Captive bolt gun usually. The problem when they break a leg is it’s almost impossible to set it and control the horse’s behaviour for the ensuing months, so that it heals properly. And a horse that can’t canter freely would be a v sad horse – give any horse (even a cart horse) an open field to gallop across and it can’t help itself! Presumably such behaviour is the result of evolving as a prey animal – the ones that love to run for fun are the ones that don’t get eaten when they have to run for their lives.

Horses, not donkeys.

Let’s not let semantics stand in the way of terrible puns.

Not sure if a bolt gun is the most humane way though, the vet who treats the horses at my local stable uses lethal injection, they go very peacefully.

You can’t sell em to the French if they are done with lethal injection though?

Most race horses have “Not for human consumption” on their passports (yes, they have passports), so can’t be sold for meat.
You can’t bury them in England either, but it is legal in Scotland and Wales. You need a bloody big furnace for a horse though!

I think they pwn them with something or other, i can’t remember

Broken bones can in some cases be repaired BUT a horse is a flight animal. To repair it’s leg you have to get it to stay off its leg for a few weeks so it can set correctly. Not easily done. I think (I’ve heard) they usually put the whole horse is some sort of sling. So it just there swinging about for a month. Not very humane if you ask me. A bolt to the head is a much more humane course of action in my opinion.

I’ve seen a horse put down by lethal injection and although slightly traumatic the horse just keeled over and went to sleep. Best way to go really.

Fairly sure burying a horse is also illegal in wales. If the horse has been killed by a gun/bolt they can be fed to the dogs (fox hunting).

Am sure someone will be along shortly to tell you that horse racing is teh evil badness, though.

it is.

Kev

long slender legs — equivalent to walking round on your fingers ==> it is i thnk to do with nature of the break and the economies of it – a race horse, whilst a valuable asset isnt likely to race again, so less liklely to get fixed up (unless it is a valuable stud animal). I have seen plenty of animals in casts but only for minor breaks – and operating on a horse soon mounts up in terms of fees – its really easy to run up 4-5k bills without even getting anywhere.

seen plenty of horses euthanized – depends where, usually a bolt but have seen a rifle used – one thing is for sure they dont half kick!!
(I’ve run anatomy classes for vet students as well as been to abbatoirs to collect clinical material for vetinary research – thankfully dont do that anymore – redundancy and an allergy to the old nags!)

BUT a horse is a flight animal

Pfft!!

Hark at Bellerophon!

no point saving damaged race horses anyway

or the google cache version that hasn’t been pulled
as it was

Pah.

A proper vet would do it with a service revolver in front of the crowd.

in some less developed countries I’ve heard that they sit them in front of STW and bore them to death..
cruel and unnecessary (IMO)

Canvass-covered truck, horse has its lapels stiffened, draws on a cigarette, then the canvass is raised to reveal a heavy duty machine gun

Most race horses have “Not for human consumption” on their passports (yes, they have passports), so can’t be sold for meat.

Shame, horse is quite tasty. Is it because they’re all doped?

How do they Destroy horses at the races?

“Hey horse, you’re slow, you’ve got a stupid face and your mother was a right sl*g”

🙂

Isn’t the frog of the hoof effectively a pump, supplementing the heart?
Walking on the hoof activates the pump.
Not walking causes circulation problems, gangrene, etc.

Wot I woz told anyway. Is there a vet in the house to confirm/deny?

I think (I’ve heard) they usually put the whole horse is some sort of sling. So it just there swinging about for a month. Not very humane if you ask me. A bolt to the head is a much more humane course of action in my opinion.

So be bored in a sling for a month or be dead? How is that more humane?

I’m no bleeding heart animal rights activist, I get that it is probably more economical to “destroy” the horse than pay for a lot of treatment for an animal who’s useful life has just expired. But let’s not just dress it up as being more humane eh?

I thought you had to use a special gun to kill a horse.

A colt.

Or……..its useless to them now a la greyhounds after they’re racing career is over?

Or they use a thing called a Humane Killer – which is really just a pistol that takes 38 specials and has a blunder buss like end. I think its called a Stephen Grant Humane Killer. Strait to the head.

the problem with eating them is that they have to be bled properly whithin an hour, which can only be done at the horse abbatoir (nearest to us is bristol) so if it get shot at exeter then it won’t get there in time. If you do lethal injection then you defo cannot eat them, barbituates.