Freda

Yes indeed. He'd have been a good age too. He nearly ran me over with his mobility scooter at the Ashburton races not that long ago, we had a giggle about it

Common what?

Jeez, C, ya don't get it. NZTR have withdrawn Rangiora's licence to run races and trials, it just ain't gonna happen. Perfect solution, of course. Yet another own goal by our industry.

One of the tracks that is very well managed. Facilities tired and old, but that is beyond the current administration to deal with.

Surface flooding, tie ups inundated, no brainer surely?

Bits in their mouths are far less of a problem than the hands at the other end.

And then we have the other side of the coin...the sight of J Mac throwing the kitchen sink at Romantic Warrior and Riff Rocket was not pretty. Would those horses have won without the striping? Probably not. So then, therefore, whipping works. Is there a happy medium? Should whips be banned altogether? No whip rules at all? For the future public acceptance of the sport, banning is probably the way to go.

No doubt, we do ask them things they aren't designed to do. Whipping, then, has to be both cruel, and stupid - as they are being punished for not doing what they can't do.

I'm a bit curious - no pun intended - as to how one might re-educate a horse which appears to resent being struck with a whip? Educating riders, I feel, might be more productive.

Never. Accountable? Doesn't happen. Just ask Reefton.

Excellent summation, Walt - as are your previous thoughts. Spot on as always.

Perception is everything.

Yes, I lost a nice horse as a result. Cost made surgery not an option. But not only thoroughbreds suffer, warmbloods and part-breds do too. I venture to suggest the condition may be even more debilitating [ although probably not as publicly visible ] for sporthorses, who have to suffer the fat arse of some overweight female for hours, not minutes.

A very astute observer has the same opinion.

Alligator Blood my sentimental choice. An amazing horse to be performing at this level, never mind at all, for what he has overcome.

IMO ? No.

That's a,good observation. Can't blame him if that's the reason. At the risk of being seen as negative, however, I can't see anything to be gained from these 'roadshows' that couldn't be achieved much more economically by regular Q & A sessions with stakeholders. For example, in the early days of Channel X, there was NZTR comment on a regular basis with the opportunity to post one's own questions. The Facebook presence on the other hand I don't like, but that is just me. Probably others find it ok. Either way, there is a prepared script, questions answered, if they are 'acceptable ', nothing much happens and things carry on the same.

So different from attitudes here.

'this area is under constant close management.' ffs, why, then, was the problem not addressed before stakeholders were inconvenienced yet again ? if, as they then indicated, 'this remedial work would mitigate the issue'. This sh#t just keeps on keeping on.

Well, that wasn't a very long spell. I wonder if the left hand knows what the right is doing?

Get off your asses and show how much welfare matters, and outline improvements that have been made and what is still in the pipeline for further action. Or not...

Outstanding win, no doubt about it, and great training . IWIW very good too. I feel he was unlucky, room to move and the result would have been interesting.

The pity for Ashburton is that their abandonment was weather -related, not track. The track was perfect. There are warnings out for strong winds again from midday. Hopefully they won't be as bad as Saturday. I don't know how the jocks managed, it was near impossible to walk upright at times, and some horses were very spooked.

Not sure about the 'silly' comment....was only five years ago that 2 year old trials were to be run on the CP with sprinklers going just inside the inside rail. We didn't think that was particularly bright. After a fair bit of comment, they were eventually turned off before the heats.

Yeah, these protocols are certainly working.