Have you all seen the Kings Dolly incident?
Absolutely disgraceful behaviour. No animal should ever be struck in temper!
Absolutely disgraceful behaviour. No animal should ever be struck in temper!
Davy Russell
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If you speak to any horse owner/ rider I'm talking non racing owner and if they say they have never hit their horse then I am afraid they will be lieing to you. I'm talking about if they bite you or whatever. I admit I gave mine a smack yday for biting me on purpose when i was brushing him (in some way my fault for not tieing him up tight enough) however a clenched fist in the head is something else. That is shocking and a punishment needs to be given at least to show that racing as asport doesn't put up with this behaviour! At a time where with horses being put down at Brighton, blindfolds being left on doesn't put us in a great light anyway
And Cyc you say about the stick! This is one occasion that the stick should be used to teach the horse and the importance of having it and why we need it, in the past I would have been bolted with on the floor and probably a lot more broken bones if I hadn't have had my stick But that is just my opinion
First time I'd seen this watching the video above and don't really see too much of a problem with it. Give horse a crack to make it behave so he doesn't get thrown from it and get hurt
Been a big overreaction to this imo, its the trainers fault really if his horse isnt well trained enough at 7yo to understand the instruction of someone as experienced as Davy Russell.
I wasnt watching that ****e so can only go on the short clip but it looks like it got the message quite quickly. A lesser jockey may have ended up getting thrown off and hurt there and maybe the horse will think twice next time.
I wasnt watching that ****e so can only go on the short clip but it looks like it got the message quite quickly. A lesser jockey may have ended up getting thrown off and hurt there and maybe the horse will think twice next time.
I never said he was going to get thrown off, I said a lesser jockey may have, but then you would have known that if you had read it properly instead of continuing with your panty wetting reaction to the incident.
He was asking the horse to stop long before it put the brakes on at the last second. It refused to listen to his instructions and if that was some mug jockey it could have ended up a lot worse, I think Russells reaction tells the story.
Should he have punched him, obviously not, but its easy to say that watching on tv when you are not the one being put in danger by an animal.
Id have thought that sort of behaviour in a horse needs to be corrected immediately and a punch to the head might have done the trick, it usually works withs humans but ive no experience in correction techniques with horses so I dont know what the correct response was.
Im not going to go overboard with faux outrage anyway, theyd get harder hits off foals in the field, especially after just finishing my dinner which came from another herd animals throat being slit.
He was asking the horse to stop long before it put the brakes on at the last second. It refused to listen to his instructions and if that was some mug jockey it could have ended up a lot worse, I think Russells reaction tells the story.
Should he have punched him, obviously not, but its easy to say that watching on tv when you are not the one being put in danger by an animal.
Id have thought that sort of behaviour in a horse needs to be corrected immediately and a punch to the head might have done the trick, it usually works withs humans but ive no experience in correction techniques with horses so I dont know what the correct response was.
Im not going to go overboard with faux outrage anyway, theyd get harder hits off foals in the field, especially after just finishing my dinner which came from another herd animals throat being slit.
A post on the Betfair forum on this issue.
"Some people losing the run of themselves here with utterly hysterical outbursts..."
"Some people losing the run of themselves here with utterly hysterical outbursts..."
The greatness of a nation can be judged in the way it treats its animals
Give me Mahatma Ghandi over the Betfair Forum any day!
Give me Mahatma Ghandi over the Betfair Forum any day!
If Davy Russell had kicked a puppy for barking, id be right with you in losing my ****, but as I said, this has been a massive overreaction and just typical of the bs in modern society.
We may all be guilty of assuming that Davy Russell actually punched a horse, we have no idea what that animal identifies as.
We may all be guilty of assuming that Davy Russell actually punched a horse, we have no idea what that animal identifies as.
I'm in the camp who feel there has been a huge overreaction to this - the abuse online is absolutely outrageous with threats being made by keyboard warriors and the like. People saying "If that were my horse I'd..." People jump on to the 'acquired outrage' train way too often.
I agree with DK in that a more inexperienced jockey may have gotten hurt and in that moment the horse needed to be conditioned in to not behaving like that again.
From the camera angle I can't tell if he actually struck the horse and to be honest, if someone with the experience of Davy Russell felt that a good whack was required then frankly, we aren't in a position to argue with him.
Unfortunately, people knee jerk to these things and no, it doesn't look good. He should be punished/banned short term - but that is only for the image of racing. To suggest he harmed the horse is incorrect - the trainer didn't see the incident but reported after that Kings Dolly was "...100%..."
The blokes reputation shouldn't be in tatters because of this and we need to apply a bit of common sense - how much damage could a 10st man do to half a ton of horse anyway?
I agree with DK in that a more inexperienced jockey may have gotten hurt and in that moment the horse needed to be conditioned in to not behaving like that again.
From the camera angle I can't tell if he actually struck the horse and to be honest, if someone with the experience of Davy Russell felt that a good whack was required then frankly, we aren't in a position to argue with him.
Unfortunately, people knee jerk to these things and no, it doesn't look good. He should be punished/banned short term - but that is only for the image of racing. To suggest he harmed the horse is incorrect - the trainer didn't see the incident but reported after that Kings Dolly was "...100%..."
The blokes reputation shouldn't be in tatters because of this and we need to apply a bit of common sense - how much damage could a 10st man do to half a ton of horse anyway?
Racing is increasingly coming under scrutiny regarding the welfare and safety of horses from many angles, animal aid the RSPCA and all number of agencies looking to stop the sport completely.
WE continually tell them how loved these animals are and how well we look after them and treat them. Then along comes Davy Russell and punches one in the head for all to see just because it approached a show hurdle faster than he liked. If he is that ****ing brilliant why didn't he have it under control long before that.
He punched the animal out of temper, it had **** all to do with teaching the horse a lesson and the sport as a whole suffers because of his angry reaction!
WE continually tell them how loved these animals are and how well we look after them and treat them. Then along comes Davy Russell and punches one in the head for all to see just because it approached a show hurdle faster than he liked. If he is that ****ing brilliant why didn't he have it under control long before that.
He punched the animal out of temper, it had **** all to do with teaching the horse a lesson and the sport as a whole suffers because of his angry reaction!
Not much with a fist but quite a lot with a shotgun. However Stick is spot on in his later post. Horse racing is up against it with a lot of folk who think it's cruel. Much as I like Davey Russell as a jockey his actions are an own goal regardless of how little damage he did to the horse.
Like I said, it doesn't look good and a punishment/ban is wholly appropriate but only to repair the image of racing. The horse is perfectly well. I'm sure he will be given advice and guidance by the RSPCA if they felt the need to become involved.
He's much more experienced than us and if he felt a short, sharp shock was needed in that moment then I trust his judgment. If it was a moment of madness, he will be disappointed in himself, as will I.
If that is the case, let's not get carried away here as we are in danger of demonising an extremely talented jockey who does so much for charity.
He's much more experienced than us and if he felt a short, sharp shock was needed in that moment then I trust his judgment. If it was a moment of madness, he will be disappointed in himself, as will I.
If that is the case, let's not get carried away here as we are in danger of demonising an extremely talented jockey who does so much for charity.
Two issues for me here chaps. First the behaviour of Russell and secondly, does this act define him as a person/horseman?
First point is I think it was a pretty disgusting act, no one should strike an animal in my book, and any punishment he receives should be substantial or adequate.
However I don't think it should be used to define him or suddenly turn him into a #### etc He's a man whose entire life is horses and it's obvious to me he's made a mistake like anyone in life can. Let him serve his punishment like a man but don't demonize him because of one out of character event. Of course if you didn't like Davy Russell to begin with you're not likely to now!
First point is I think it was a pretty disgusting act, no one should strike an animal in my book, and any punishment he receives should be substantial or adequate.
However I don't think it should be used to define him or suddenly turn him into a #### etc He's a man whose entire life is horses and it's obvious to me he's made a mistake like anyone in life can. Let him serve his punishment like a man but don't demonize him because of one out of character event. Of course if you didn't like Davy Russell to begin with you're not likely to now!
personally I dont care how racing is viewed, its a dying game that has tried and failed badly to pander to a wider public, usually at the expense of actual fans, the general consensus is already that its a barbaric bunch of crooks, farmers and humans right breaching royalty, a horse getting punched in Ireland is hardly going to be the fatal blow for its perception
bottom line for all of us who bet on it is that there is some right dodgy stuff going on and plenty of actual animal cruelty in many yards behind closed doors, including high profile ones, we believe we arent as bad as the americans with their drugs but thats probably only because our prize money is ****
if you really are against it then you should probably think about chucking it rather than acting outraged at a non event
bottom line for all of us who bet on it is that there is some right dodgy stuff going on and plenty of actual animal cruelty in many yards behind closed doors, including high profile ones, we believe we arent as bad as the americans with their drugs but thats probably only because our prize money is ****
if you really are against it then you should probably think about chucking it rather than acting outraged at a non event
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