Fingers crossed that no horses are injured this year :(

I saw Headhunter go down but couldn't see him getting up - hope he is ok :(

Hedgehunter fell heavily but got up and walked away. :)

It warmed my heart to see how Hedgehunter's jockey stood up in front of that fence to stop other horses jumping over onto his horse.

I have a lot of friends in the racing industry and they all love the horses they look after, so its not all about greed and money. The look of love and joy on the winners stable girl was lovely to see when she was leading him round to cool him off after the race.

I think Ginger McCain is one of the nicer of the trainer, in his interview before the race, did you see how he had brought a bouquet of rose and polo mints to lay on Red Rum's grave.  You can't tell me that he didn't love that horse.

I picked the winner!
:)

so the drinks are on you tonight :D :D

champagne all around :)

Well done JG :)
By the way I did mean Hedgehunter - don't know what I was thinking of with Headhunter :D glad he is ok anyway.

They've confirmed that all the horses are fine after the race.
:)

More get put down after the race than they do during.

That can happen after any race, flat, hurdle or 'chase, or even three-day eventing.

thats why I don't like any of them :)

don't like the National - hate the way horses fall because they are exhausted, hate the way the industry is all about money and greed, don't like racing full stop! :)

and Jeangenie, in their own 'backyard'. 

I know those horses are conditioned to jump but I am still fascinated how they continue to race even though they don't have a jockey on them.  It makes it hard to believe they don't enjoy it.

Had I not been so chicken about going in the bookies on my own, I would have been celebrating tonight too.  Although spelt differently, it's the name of mums house!

The horse that fascinated me this year was the aptly-named 'Bounce Back'. After he fell and unshipped his jockey he continued to race, falling twice more (very unusual for a loose horse to fall) and still got up to carry on!

I didn't see Hedgehunter get up, I kept looking for a while and he was just lay there with his jockey stood over him.  Hope he did come out of it OK, but I didn't see him get up.  Don't bet on it and only watched it for a few seconds as I felt awful for the horses that were going down.

His jockey was interviewed in the weighing room and he said he stayed with Hedgehunter till he got up and led him away.

Apparently Hedgehunter was winded when he fell, and that's why it took him a little while to get back on his feet, or should I say hooves :)
These horses are much loved, and very valuable, but this is what they've been bred and trained for. Accidents happen in all equestrian sports.

liberty

Hedgehunter fell because he was exhausted - jockey's fault for not slowing him up. Is that not cruel for that Jockey not to have slowed him earlier in the race? Is it not cruel for him to be put at a fence when he was that tired? Would you walk your dogs until they fell over? NO!

"Hedgehunter fell because he was exhausted - jockey's fault for not slowing him up. Is that not cruel for that Jockey not to have slowed him earlier in the race? Is it not cruel for him to be put at a fence when he was that tired?"

Is it possible to know that Chloe?

"Would you walk your dogs until they fell over?"

No, but some very keen fit sighthounds will run when hunting until they physically damage themselves, including small ruptures in their diaphragms. Often they will run on even when injured. Some will even 'assist' themselves to turn more sharply by deliberately shouldering a solid object ... at 30+ mph. And there is now way to slow them up. JMHO but I honestly believe that such dogs live are healthier, happier & more fulfilled than many overweight & under exercised lap dogs.

Yes, I think it is possible to know that. Why else would he fall at the last? If it was a technical fault with his jumping, then I'd say it was safe to say it was because he was tired - having jumped 29 big fences before.

As for the sighthounds...well, I don't think thats comparable at all. They are not jumping BIG fences, twice, with 40 other sighthounds that get in their way so they can't see where they are going! And they don't get shot if they break a leg!

I have just watched the re-run tonight, having earlier spoken to a racing friend of mine.

One of the reasons he fell was that his saddle was slipping further and further back, making the jockey very unbalanced, hence he was not able to place the horse correctly at the fence.

By the time he approached that last fence the girth was way back behind his ribs in the narrowest area.  The only thing that stopped it going any further was the breast girth he was wearing.

So no I wouldn't say that exhaustion was the main reason.

well then perhaps he should have been raced in a saddle that fit properly.

Saddles can slip in all sorts of circumstances - that's why they have breastbands. We've all come across the horses who puff themselves up when their girths are tightened - ten minutes late the saddle is under the horse! It's the sort of thing that happens everywhere; riding schools, at show jumping competitions - it's not the fault of racing.
:)

No, sorry...if a saddle fits properly it doesn't need a breastband - certainly not for normal riding activities. Only if the horse has particularly high withers or indeed no withers should anything extra be needed. None of my horses have saddles that slip - and if they did, I would spend whatever it took getting a new made-to-measure saddle that fitted properly!

If a horse was caused to fall by a slipping saddle - then thats even worse than it falling through exhaustion! :)

PS - its customary (as I am sure you are aware) to stop after ten minutes to re-tighten your girth :)

Sorry Chloe but that made me laugh, the thought of jockey stopping their horses ten minutes into a race, what happens then do all the others stop too and wait, and then carry on the race!!! :-D

To be honest if you know anything about racehorses you will know that they do tend to be high withered and because they are so fit they don't have rolls of fat to keep the saddle in place. They are also groomed to perfection making the coat very slippery.

The saddles actually belong to the jockeys not to the individual horse, hence the need to have breast girths in place. I don't know whether you have ever seen a racing saddle but they are not like any normal saddle and need other things to keep them secure for the protection of both the horse and the jockey.

I have myself in the past had to resort to various means to keep saddles in place, particularly in ponies where sometimes a crupper is needed as well as a breast girth. Not every horse or pony is made correctly, they same as with dogs, its what we strive for but mother nature says otherwise.

Every care is taken to ensure that the saddles do stay in place, hence the horse before the start that held things up whilst the saddle and girth were redone.  But accidents do happen to the best of people.

I loaded one of my mares up the other day in a well fitting leather headcollar that had been well cared for and looked in good condition, she pulled back after being tied and the head collar broke, it was an accident which couldn't have been forseen!!! :-(

Every care is taken to ensure that the saddles do stay in place, hence the horse before the start that held things up whilst the saddle and girth were redone.

Isn't that just what i said?

I answered JG's point of doing up a pony's girth which is then loose ten minutes after. Yes, I know what racing saddles look like - I rode for years at a stable where racehorses were kept.

I loaded one of my mares up the other day in a well fitting leather headcollar that had been well cared for and looked in good condition, she pulled back after being tied and the head collar broke

Thats exactly why I use a leather headcollar - so if my horse pulls back in a panic it breaks whats that got to do with a horse faling at the 30th fence of a Grand National because "the saddle slipped"?

EDIT - so if the saddle was slipping - why didn't he pull the horse up? And I have to say that opinion is not one shared with other folk, who all agree the horse was exhausted?

I think that we are on a hiding to nothing Chloe :-D

Lets just agree to disagree.

I love racing, hunting and all country pursuits,including working my terriers,  but I totally understand that there are people who don't. :-)

Lady D - I am pro choice over lots and lots of things, including hunting and terriers etc... but, I cannot condone, nor support a sport that pushes an animal to the extremes of physical and mental limits - just because its worth a lot of money. Thats all :)

Because horses are herd animals - they run with the herd. Although I beg to disagree that all riderless horses continue with the field

I've seen horses refuse to start ...! If they decide not to, there's no way you can make them!
:)

But because they are herd animals and it's natural for them to run as a herd that means logically it can't be cruel to organise them to run in a certain place at a certain time.
:)

OK then - if they love running with the herd and jumping with the herd - why do the jockeys need to carry whips? Without whips there would still be a winner...and if they enjoy it so much, why the need to use/pretend to use a whip? :)

I don't know if you noticed, but the jockey of the horse that came second had lost his whip several fences back and was riding hands and heels. Also the whip is used as a means of steering - if it is waved to the right-hand side of the horse's head the horse will steer left, and vice versa. It is not often used to actually make contact with the horse; in fact last I heard a rule had been brought in stipulating a horse could be hit no more than three times during a race because in the past there were cases of overuse of the whip.

But you still haven't answered my question. You can ride and steer a horse without the the use of a whip - so why not ban it completely and all of the riders use their hands and their heels? Or is it just that the whip makes it a more exciting race?

As for overuse of the whip - all they do is get suspended - so?

Jan - I am not totally anti-racing - but I do think that although this race has got better and I am glad no horses where hurt - there are still too many runners and the distance is too extreme :)

I can see where you're coming from (ghastly phrase!) but the GN is now only different from most other 'chases because of its name. When I was a lass ;) I remember fields of 60+ horses - now the limit is 40. And the distance? Steeplechases were originally just that - a race across country from village church to village church, so they always involved several miles. And originally of course the ground would be ordinary countryside, hazards and all, not the carefully tended and constructed course there are now.

At speed it is difficult to steer a horse using only reins. Don't forget you can't use the usual weight-shifting method or heel position because of the shortness of the leathers - shift your centre of balance and you're off! Especially in flat-racing where the leathers are even shorter (horses find it easier to run fast with the jockey's weight off the middle of their backs which is why they are so far over the shoulders).

If the jockeys get suspended they have no income - they are paid to ride. Their wives tend to have something to say about it! ;)

If we compare the length of time that horses have been bred purely for racing, and compare that with the length of time that most breeds of dog have been specialised, the thoroughbred's racing instinct has been encouraged for a couple of centuries longer. Only hunting hounds can compare.
:)

So if they can't use the body. hands or heels to steer the horse - then perhaps the racing postion needs to be re-evaluated?

I still stand by my statement that if a race was run without a whip then there would still be a winner... and if they couldn't steer using a whip they would have to find a way TO steer using their position :)

Having worked at a racing stud in my youth, I've seen how the majority of those horses are cherished and cossetted. Of course you get wrong'uns, just as in any other occupation, but the whole industry doesn't deserve to be tarred with the same brush. Just as there are disreputable dog breeders who con people for money doesn't mean every one is rotten.
:)

If these horses were not loved and cherished how would anyone explain the parade of the oldies before the race....if they were just a commodity they would be disposed off when they were of no more use.
Ginger McCain was offered a huge amount of money for Red Rum after he was retired...he refused.There are always bad uns in every walk of life but it does not mean we should think bad of everyone.
Horses are maimed and killed in everyday activities.I have known 2 horses jump from their fields and be hit by cars(inadequate fencing),a pony get scared by a low flying helicopter..it ran into a fence and died a few days later ,there was a story of a race horse that was deliberately driven into by a car because the driver was annoyed he was being held up and when I was younger there was a spate of deliberate horse mutilations and stable fires....Does not mean I like or agree with horses being killed on a race track but I do think that maybe people should look at the wider picture.There are horses left in fields neglected,tethered on roadsides,beaten and not fed etc.
Its like when people say that people who show their dogs are cruel(think there was a post about it a few weeks ago)....maybe its not ideal in some situations but then compare that to the suffering of some of the 'pet' dogs in this country,the puppy farm dogs used to produce puppys or the dogs bred for the meat trade abroad and I know which I think needs more urgent attention.
Archer

well i thought hedgehunter would win as i heard he was a good jumper plus i know a jockey whos riden him before :) , at the end he was just so tired he fell at the jump , no horses were pts or got injured although a jocky broke his wrist , more horses get hurt 3 day eventing then any other horse sport , and that insent just one day a year . having said that horses get hurt everyday riding or by people trying to hurt them ...slashing them or even hanging them :( . 3 horses not far from me were slashed and thats happening everyday .i do think 6ft 2 is a little high to jump def think they should be lowerd .

What a fantastic race!  Brilliant atmosphere! I had a pulled up and a fell!!  Never mind always next year!  Would love to watch it "live" next year, right in amonst the Aintree crowd.
Dawn.

We had a laugh yesterday. My brother is married to a Slovakian girl and he asked her who she thought would win the Grand National, she said "Manchester" :D (They beat Arsenal yesterday) He explained that he meant the horse racing and showed her the paper with the list of horses. She chose Amberleigh House!  When she realised how much she would have won by betting on both her choices to win she just said "Oh sh*t" in perfect English :D

Kath.

Well I had £4 to win on Clan Royal :-(  And £2 both ways on Monty's Pass and Amberleigh House :-)  The Clan Royal was my choice with Shannon backing Monty's Pass and Kane backing Amberleigh House :-)  So at least the kids have won a (very) few quid :-D  Silly of me really to only place the bet on to win- it's the national and anything can and usually does happen :-)

This is the only race I put a small bet on each year and allow the kids to pick one and they get a few quid put on it- I can remember my Dad letting us choose a horse for this race when we were kids and putting £1 on for us :-)

Stacey x x x  

I had my money on Clan Royal...but on the run in I was willing Amberleigh house to win. I think Ginger McCain is one of the nicest trainers...did you see his interview before the race...he said hes got a 5 year old filly at home related to Red Reum..said shes no good but he won't part with her because of the 'family conection' awwww.
Archer

Apparently he'd knotted a piece of Red Rum's mane onto Amberleigh House's bridle. So the old horse did it again!
:)

i won a tenner !:) :)

My hubby is a horse race fanatic,we have arguments all the time about it.
I think it is cruel,he thinks the horses love it.
I refuse to watch any horse racing,especially this sickening national,when i hear of a horse falling,i ask about the horse,i couldnt care less about the jockey,as he had a choice,the poor horse didnt.
Why do they have to make this race so long,what is the point! I honestly cannot understand people who actually enjoy watching horses run to the point of mental and physical exhaustion,my heart goes out to all the horses that are made to run in this arcaic race every year.
Maybe next year they could saddle up the jockeys and someone can run behind them with a whip until they fall from sheer exhaustion and hopefully break a few legs and get shot for their troubles!
I do not want to start any arguments by stating my views,i wish i could understand how people can sit and watch and actually enjoy it,it escapes me.
I am too much of an animal lover to condone any animal suffering.Any animal who is made to suffer and pushed to run faster and further when it is so obviously exhausted is cruel. It should have been banned long ago,along with public hangings etc.

christine

Something I noticed was that clan royals (2nd?) jockey had dropped his whip quite early on.  At the elbow he rode as if he still had it..Clan royal himself was running as if he was drunk but it was nice to see that he wasnt getting any smacks while he was that tired - I say ban the whips, when your horse is done he is done! 
By the way, I dont think almost a ton of equine running at speeds of up to 40mph can be MADE to do anything - one horse unseated his rider and carried on, in fact it fell 3 TIMES!!!  And atill carried on until it decided to pull itself up...What I think is cruel is stabling a horse 24/7!!!
Sarah

"and still it carried on until it pulled itself up"

that says to me that it was running with the herd as a fear/flee response until it could run and jump no more :(

Hi Chloe :) - we own or have owned horses and we of all people should know that horses dont run soley out of fear??  Agreed they are flight animals and if they weren't prey species they wouldn't have hooves to aid their speed or eye's on the sides of their heads.  But as well as being a prey species they are also a social one with many different types of body language and I for one have seen excited groups/herds leaping, jumping, chasing and galloping!  I learnt to ride because I envied anyone that could get on a horse, develop a partnership and just go off on a canter across an open field.  I love jumping and thoroughly enjoyed gymkhana's as a kid (and so did my pony) and when I was 12 years old my pony was incredibly easy to steer through a clear round course...Once she even fell on her knees, but we picked ourselves up and carried on, I'm not convinced that I bullied her round the course or that she agreed to it out of fear???  A few years back there were a number of equine and human fatalities during some very high profile three day events (inc. badminton) but this doesn't seem to get the same bad press...I respect your opinions Chloe and I am grateful for horse owners as caring as you..Shame more of them aren't as knowledgeable and caring :)....But I personally get the best adrenalin rush from riding at speed and jumping across country - I would be most upset to think that these animals only ever run through fear.
Sarah :)

I always love to see the Young's brewery dray horses let out into the field on their annual 'summer holiday' in Kent. They kick up their heels and gallop off (Shires galloping is a daunting sight!) with great enjoyment, then have a good roll in the grass. They aren't galloping through fear - they are thoroughly enjoying themselves!
:)

I personally think that racehorses are just that.  Doing what they were bred to do, run and in hunt racing jump.  Risks are there but such is life, if you don't like it, don't watch it!  The thing I cannot abide with horses is "Dressage"  Horses performing tricks for people, no more than circus acts! yet I constantly hear how many people think this is perfectly ok.  Me thinks its most unnatural.
Dawn.