Time to call out the horse racing industry

Slim Charles · 28-03-2020 08:31PM

Gretas Gonna Get Ya! wrote: »

Yes, all of this was wrong... It was wrong to enslave this beautiful animal for our benefit. Thankfully we don't do most of this anymore.

Keeping horses as slaves = bad.
Pollution from cars = bad.

They're both bad... but going back to using horses as slaves, does not resolve the problem. We need to find a solution to car and truck pollution. (which we will very soon I'm sure)

Oh, so you create this huge industry of enslaved animals... then wash your hands, and say okay you clean up our mess if you don't like it! Very classy! :rolleyes:

There is no doubt it would be a huge challenge, but people who truly love animals (not the phoneys putting saddles on their back), would find a solution eventually.

They never stopped being an animal, with feelings and emotions etc...

You think because you bred them for a specific task, that this means they are your creation? They are not your creation... you merely slightly influenced their very recent evolution. They belong to the world... the natural world.

I never said anything about thoroughbreds in my OP. You must be addressing this to someone else.

But yes, keeping horses for your own racing and gambling entertainment, is slavery... just because they're well kept and well treated, doesn't make them any less of a slave!

Yes, because of course you can prove conclusively that horses love being saddled up and being your slave and your entertainment.

I bet you think you know the mind of a horse too... you know what they want, but it's actually mostly based on what YOU want. Selfish people can convince themselves of almost anything!

Why not?

We leave other animals alone, to enjoy their life... why would we apply a different standard to a horse?

Have you ever seen horses running in the wild? It's a beautiful thing... sadly really very rare these days. But who knows, perhaps it might be more commonplace in the future!

It's an interesting insight when someone so clueless offers an opinion. It's like me telling people about love island. I know nothing about it, but apparently that's not in your criteria for knowledge.

Bowlardo · 28-03-2020 08:45PM

Horse are very well looked after.
Day Out at the races is a good day out
I’d only gamble in the grand national and wouldn’t have a clue about horses after that.
There should 100% be a tax on all bets.
The gambling adverts should be banned from radio and television.
It is a horrendous addiction and a woeful vice.
Lots of youngster heavily in to it.

Muahahaha · 31-03-2020 05:04PM

Strumms wrote: »

As an industry they employ a lot of people and it’s worth over a year a lot to the Irish economy. According to an article in the examiner back in 2017 the horse racing industry is worth over 1.8 billion euro to the Irish economy...

https://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/racing-industry-worth-over-18bn-to-economy-report-458568.html

The old jobs, jobs, jobs canard needs to be examined in further detail. Yes they employ alot of people but most of them are basically exploited young stablehands who are classed as agricultural workers and therefore do not have the same working rights as someone stacking shelves in a supermarket. They dont get minimum wage and they are forced to work way more than the legal 48 hours per week standard that all other employees in Ireland do.

They live in on the studs and some of them are expected to actually sleep in the stables above the horses they are tending to. 70 and 80 hour weeks are common for what is basically modern slave labour. They do this in the 'hope' of becoming a jockey but the vast majority never make it and are chewed up and spat out by the industry when deemed to be of no use and replaced by another bunch of kids. The phenomenon of the aspiring jockey turning into an alcoholic and gambling addict is a very real one- go into any pub near studs and racecourses in Kildare and you'll see them, small lads in their 30s and 40s who are completely broken men. Suicide amongst this group is more common than many would like to admit.

Deleted User wrote: »

There’s no evidence that any Irish Cheltenham racegoers brought the virus back with them.

Not yet but expect it to emerge. We already know that a barman and waiter working in Chameleon had it and they served thousands of people over the four days. They complained of the symptoms to their managers but were told to continue on working.

nelly17 · 31-03-2020 05:11PM

Muahahaha wrote: »

The old jobs, jobs, jobs canard needs to be examined in further detail. Yes they employ alot of people but most of them are basically exploited young stablehands who are classed as agricultural workers and therefore do not have the same working rights as someone stacking shelves in a supermarket. They dont get minimum wage and they are forced to work way more than the legal 48 hours per week standard that all other employees in Ireland do.

They live in on the studs and some of them are expected to actually sleep in the stables above the horses they are tending to. 70 and 80 hour weeks are common for what is basically modern slave labour. They do this in the 'hope' of becoming a jockey but the vast majority never make it and are chewed up and spat out by the industry when deemed to be of no use and replaced by another bunch of kids. The phenomenon of the aspiring jockey turning into an alcoholic and gambling addict is a very real one- go into any pub near studs and racecourses in Kildare and you'll see them, small lads in their 30s and 40s who are completely broken men. Suicide amongst this group is more common than many would like to admit.

Not yet but expect it to emerge. We already know that a barman and waiter working in Chameleon had it and they served thousands of people over the four days. They complained of the symptoms to their managers but were told to continue on working.

Not to mention the largely pervasive cash in hand element that tends to be involved with stable staff - do they really contribute that much to the economy?

31-03-2020 06:35PM

Muahahaha wrote: »

The old jobs, jobs, jobs canard needs to be examined in further detail. Yes they employ alot of people but most of them are basically exploited young stablehands who are classed as agricultural workers and therefore do not have the same working rights as someone stacking shelves in a supermarket. They dont get minimum wage and they are forced to work way more than the legal 48 hours per week standard that all other employees in Ireland do.

They live in on the studs and some of them are expected to actually sleep in the stables above the horses they are tending to. 70 and 80 hour weeks are common for what is basically modern slave labour. They do this in the 'hope' of becoming a jockey but the vast majority never make it and are chewed up and spat out by the industry when deemed to be of no use and replaced by another bunch of kids. The phenomenon of the aspiring jockey turning into an alcoholic and gambling addict is a very real one- go into any pub near studs and racecourses in Kildare and you'll see them, small lads in their 30s and 40s who are completely broken men. Suicide amongst this group is more common than many would like to admit.

Not yet but expect it to emerge. We already know that a barman and waiter working in Chameleon had it and they served thousands of people over the four days. They complained of the symptoms to their managers but were told to continue on working.

What a lot of rot. Have you any actual proof of your claims?

As for Cheltenham, it finished 18 days ago. If people were infected, they’d have shown symptoms by now and probably have recovered. We’re those two workers ever shown to actually have the virus?

Fann Linn · 31-03-2020 06:38PM

nelly17 wrote: »

Not to mention the largely pervasive cash in hand element that tends to be involved with stable staff - do they really contribute that much to the economy?

Any links? Did you tell revenue?

Edgware · 31-03-2020 06:55PM

Bowlardo wrote: »

Horse are very well looked after.
Day Out at the races is a good day out
I’d only gamble in the grand national and wouldn’t have a clue about horses after that.
There should 100% be a tax on all bets.
The gambling adverts should be banned from radio and television.
It is a horrendous addiction and a woeful vice.
Lots of youngster heavily in to it.

Lots of young people like speeding in fast cars. Lets stop people under 30 from driving cars.

Muahahaha · 31-03-2020 07:08PM

Deleted User wrote: »

What a lot of rot. Have you any actual proof of your claims?

As for Cheltenham, it finished 18 days ago. If people were infected, they’d have shown symptoms by now and probably have recovered. We’re those two workers ever shown to actually have the virus?

jaysis you must be pretty clueless if you dont know how hard stablehands have it. Have a read of this article, its only the tip of the iceberg of what goes on behind the closed doors of these studs

At the time, O'Brien the elder was busy challenging a Workplace Relations Commission ruling against his Ballydoyle stable which said that employees worked 19-hour days and 28 days on the bounce. His retort wasn't that they didn't, rather it was an insight into the mindset. He argued training racehorses is exempt from working-hour rules because it is classed as an agricultural enterprise; Robbie Manton, head of the yard, talked of a telepathic bond with animals meaning it was hard for staff to stay away; Clem Murphy, the bloodstock consultant added, "They can have a rest, read a book, lie down [in the bunks in horseboxes]. There's plenty of downtime".

Racing had long traded on such attitudes and excuses. Somehow it still does.

Back in November that Ballydoyle appeal may have failed but all along there were those that were far too important with far too much at stake. It's a year since Minister for Agriculture, Fine Gael's Michael Creed, pushed on regardless for horse racing to be exempt from such workplace legislation around stable staff, and according to insiders the level of lobbying grew and then grew some more. Eventually, such was the weight and the pressure, that in December it led his party colleague, Minister for Employment Regina Doherty, to hand the industry right back its agricultural rights.

While self-pronounced as the sport of kings, that implies it's built on serfs in a modern-day hangover from the feudal system. Little wonder. Manton himself has previously admitted that the day at Ballydoyle starts at 5am and could finish up at 1am. This in a yard that's as good as it gets with Seamus Power, a former TD who is president of the Irish Stable Staff Association (ISSA), telling me as that case unfolded that "no one leaves, it's where everyone wants to work". Others spoken to agreed, with the ISSA confirming they "only ever had one complaint from there that had nothing to do with hours or pay". As one worker says though, "They're the big boys and still don't use relief or weekend staff. Imagine the small boys. Working rules are broken all over".

It's about two years now since Clare Daly's office finished looking into all of this. In a report they noted that the ISSA is a private company rather than a trade union - receiving €100,000 from Horse Racing Ireland who get €64m from the taxpayer.

Those in the Independent TD's office also found that in an area that talks of 10,000 being employed, 2,328 were registered showing up the black market. They found of the tiny percentage of prize money allotted to stable staff, 1.7 per cent is taken by the turf club who have strong powers in areas such as animal welfare but no powers in the welfare of stable staff. They found the pension fund in place will add up to €3 a week after 10 years service, and €22 after 40 years of service. They found expenses often don't match guidelines.

Yet inspections on yards have been few and far between. There were no more than nine per annum between 2011 and 2016, with just two last year. Granted, by the time of their report in 2017, 70 had taken place with leaked data crucially hinting at more than 20 minimum wage issues and 57 per cent contravening employment legislation. This despite some yards inexplicably being given more than a month's forewarning around inspections and their timing.

Given that, if you want horror tales as the anecdotal behind the empirical, they aren't hard to unearth.

One leading trainer during end-of-day inspections expects a plat made of bedding straw, that takes about 30 minutes to complete, to be hung from each stable door. "It's to show who's in charge," says a source who knows well what seems punishment more than procedure. "He tears them apart to make sure you can't use it again the next day." Another trainer expects staff to show to church on Sunday mornings off as if they didn't, "you best not show on Monday".

That's not to say there isn't the flip-side on occasion. The likes of Enda Bolger is known to come in early on Sunday in order to pitch in and get his staff out early for a pint but he's an exception. As for the rule, if those above tales are extreme, there's a more common trend of basic exploitation too.

"It's not just racing either," says a former stable worker who got out to become a farrier. "There is one prominent show-jumper - and this isn't uncommon in any equine field - and his staff start at six, get 20 minutes of a break where food is bought in for them as if to say this makes it okay, finish at 11 that night, and head up to a room above the stable with mold on the walls and a stink in the place before starting at six again. Lads at the bottom, they might have a claim, they want to be jockeys for instance. They are told that if you do this and then you do that, you'll get this ride but they don't. Next thing they're in their 40s, alcoholics, still chasing the dream."

This person concluded: "That's what the industry runs on. It'll never change." Certainly not with the law remaining on the side of elitism and wealth, the sort built on poverty and exploitation in a real sense if not anymore a legal sense. Yet with that attitude not so much as hidden, it's as backwards as arrogant that it's a business that claims it cannot afford change. This despite government handouts, the money from the betting companies, the number of multi-millionaires involved.

During the Ballydoyle case, champion trainer Michael Hourigan suggested racing would be crippled without agricultural status. The Limerick man, who runs a yard where wages average around €400 a week, said he often worked 24 hours through. But if your boss ran a business that was hard up, does that mean you should be exploited? Holding onto the past is great if not at someone else's cost. Besides, it's not like racing doesn't have the money, it's just that its model is such that with most staying on high, they expect to be able to avoid the consequences of not adhering to workers' rights.

The government backs that model.

https://www.independent.ie/sport/horse-racing/ewan-mackenna-the-sport-of-kings-built-on-elitism-and-wealth-but-why-does-it-come-at-a-cost-for-staff-37839298.html

Stable staff sleeping in stinky stables alongside the horses? Check
57% of yards audited breaking employment legislation? Check
2,238 of 10k workers working in black market for cash in hand? Check
Exploitation with 19 hour days for 28 days in a row? Check
A pension fund of 3 euro a week after ten years service? Check
Owners who treat their staff like sh1t? Check

Its all there for you Maryanne. But as you've been told often enough on this website 'There are none so blind as those who refuse to see'.

So now where's your proof that the horse racing industry is such a lovely place to work? I await with baited breath because all the evidence shows the complete opposite.

Fann Linn · 31-03-2020 07:13PM

Muahahaha wrote: »

jaysis you must be pretty clueless if you dont know how hard stablehands have it. Have a read of this article, its only the tip of the iceberg of what goes on behind the closed doors of these studs

https://www.independent.ie/sport/horse-racing/ewan-mackenna-the-sport-of-kings-built-on-elitism-and-wealth-but-why-does-it-come-at-a-cost-for-staff-37839298.html

Stable staff sleeping in stinky stables? Check
57% of yard audited breaking working legislation? Check
2,238 of 10k workers working the black market doing cash for hand? Check
Exploitation with 19 hour days for 28 days in a row? Check
Owners who treat their staff like sh1t? Check

Its all there for you Maryanne. But as you've been told often enough on this website 'There are none so blind as those who refuse to see'.

So now where's your proof that the horse racing industry is such a lovely place to work? I await with baited breath because all the evidence shows the complete opposite.

My daughter is a stable hand/exercise rider. Not too far in fact from that yard. However she has been treated great. Pays all her taxes/USC prsi and she gets her b/h money, share of race winnings and has been all over the world.

Agreed, there are scum employers, but again they are everywhere, but the legislation is there to deal with it. Very unfair to tar all with the one brush.

31-03-2020 07:46PM

Muahahaha wrote: »

jaysis you must be pretty clueless if you dont know how hard stablehands have it. Have a read of this article, its only the tip of the iceberg of what goes on behind the closed doors of these studs

https://www.independent.ie/sport/horse-racing/ewan-mackenna-the-sport-of-kings-built-on-elitism-and-wealth-but-why-does-it-come-at-a-cost-for-staff-37839298.html

Stable staff sleeping in stinky stables alongside the horses? Check
57% of yards audited breaking employment legislation? Check
2,238 of 10k workers working in black market for cash in hand? Check
Exploitation with 19 hour days for 28 days in a row? Check
A pension fund of 3 euro a week after ten years service? Check
Owners who treat their staff like sh1t? Check

Its all there for you Maryanne. But as you've been told often enough on this website 'There are none so blind as those who refuse to see'.

So now where's your proof that the horse racing industry is such a lovely place to work? I await with baited breath because all the evidence shows the complete opposite.

If it’s such an awful place to work, why stay? There are bad eggs in every industry.

Any figures for people who attended Cheltenham having the virus?

Outlaw Pete · 31-03-2020 08:14PM

suicide_circus wrote: »

lol all the sick gamblers scrambling to defend the sport of kings

Sick gamblers?? I'd be one for regularly placing money on the horseracing but that doesn't mean I'm addicted to it for heaven sake. The horseracing has been off for a good while now and will likely be for the foreseeable, and until it does return I know I'll not gamble on anything else. I'll bet you a hundred euro I won't.

ILoveYourVibes · 31-03-2020 08:18PM

Montage of Feck wrote: »

From the toff's flaunting their conspicuous consumption to the ethnic minorities flaunting animal cruelty and road laws, the whole thing reeks of self entitlement and arrogance.
The current Cheltenham festival being an example of this arrogance. I have no doubt that it will be proven to be a major cause of the Corona virus spread here.
Then of course there's numerous moral issues from gambling to animal cruelty.

I agree with you on Cheltenham this year it was a disgrace.

Toffs have to exist somewhere what are you going to do?

Gambling ...no one forces people to gamble ...you could shut down the gambling industry and leave the racing.

I mean we have other equestrian sports too ..i think racing would be fine. Probably get rid of a lot of people who shouldn't be near racing.

You have dressage showjumping eventing etc ...nothing to do with gambling there.

ILoveYourVibes · 31-03-2020 08:23PM

Muahahaha wrote: »

Stable staff sleeping in stinky stables alongside the horses? Check
57% of yards audited breaking employment legislation? Check
2,238 of 10k workers working in black market for cash in hand? Check
Exploitation with 19 hour days for 28 days in a row? Check
A pension fund of 3 euro a week after ten years service? Check
Owners who treat their staff like sh1t? Check

Its all there for you Maryanne. But as you've been told often enough on this website 'There are none so blind as those who refuse to see'.

So now where's your proof that the horse racing industry is such a lovely place to work? I await with baited breath because all the evidence shows the complete opposite.

I've been a stable hand ...although not in a racing yard. It was riding school in france that had a stud farm and they bred TBs. Also in two riding schools in Ireland.

And yes sometimes they sleep in the stables...but they do have rooms ...its just sometimes you might want to keep an eye on something on a stud farm. But its rarer now as you can use cameras etc.

I was never treated like ****.

19 hr days ?? Nope.

ILoveYourVibes · 31-03-2020 08:25PM

Deleted User wrote: »

If it’s such an awful place to work, why stay? There are bad eggs in every industry.

Any figures for people who attended Cheltenham having the virus?

At least one got it after returning from a weekend in cheltenham. He actually was a healthworker for the hse and worked a full shift in a hospital after coming back and feeling symptoms...he felt 'ah im fine im young'

He tested positive 24 hrs later. He was from Galway.

Worked a whole FULL shift in a hospital.

I agree its totally wrong that festival went ahead this year.

You would expect more from a healthworker in a hospital tbh.

ILoveYourVibes · 31-03-2020 08:36PM

Gretas Gonna Get Ya! wrote: »

A horse doesn't want you or your stupid saddle on their back!

I don't care how many people try to tell me otherwise, no animal wants to be used by you as a mode of transport or a fun play thing to be exploited.

They are powerful but gentle animals... so they can and do endure a lot of punishment.

Anyone who says they love horses, but then puts a saddle on them and jumps up on their back... you are a hypocrite and phoney!

How do you know if you have never tried it?

And wouldn't it be more sensible to think people who spend their entire day around horses and have spent years studying them might know more about horses than you?

And they are not always gentle. In fact if you watch them in the field with each other they can be quite rough in their play. It can be a sign of something being wrong if they aren't.

Horses play with each other every day ..its fast and its often rough. They large with bigger bones and take the damage from a horse kick. Its play fighting for them.

How would YOU feel after being kicked by a horse? Horses get kicked by each other like we play football.

auspicious · 31-03-2020 08:49PM

Didn't Davy Russell punch one in the back of the head?!

Muahahaha · 31-03-2020 08:56PM

Fann Linn wrote: »

My daughter is a stable hand/exercise rider. Not too far in fact from that yard. However she has been treated great. Pays all her taxes/USC prsi and she gets her b/h money, share of race winnings and has been all over the world.

Agreed, there are scum employers, but again they are everywhere, but the legislation is there to deal with it. Very unfair to tar all with the one brush.

Thats great and everything but will respect it is only anecdotal. The article states that of 60 yards audits 57% of them were in breach of employment legilation and almost 25% of staff were working in the black economy of top of that. Thats all aside from stable hands having to work 19 hour days for 28 days straight, slaves in America didnt work as hard as that.

Deleted User wrote: »

If it’s such an awful place to work, why stay? There are bad eggs in every industry.

Any figures for people who attended Cheltenham having the virus?

As expected from you Maryanne, 'just a few bad eggs' :rolleyes: Like I said there are none so blind as those who refuse to see. You said there was nothing wrong in the horse racing industry and now you've been provided with a wall of evidence to show that you are wrong. But all you've got in response is 'just a few bad eggs' :rolleyes: Lord give us patience....

As for Cheltenham, as I said you'd want to be some idiot to argue that 60,000 or 70,000 punters mixing closely when a very contagious virus is doing the rounds is not going to infect anyone. Is that really your argument? In any case ILoveYourVibes has said a hospital worker was infected over there, perhaps she'll provide a link. But one thing is for certain- people were infected in Cheltenham just the way they were infected in northern Italy too.

ILoveYourVibes · 31-03-2020 08:58PM

auspicious wrote: »

Didn't Davy Russell punch one in the back of the head?!

I think you are correct. Obviously not on.

However ...don't know if i should say this ..

I used to date a guy ...who trained horses .....he had this one really asshole horse ...and one day after being thrown many times ...my ex lost it and in frustration punched the horse in the face. From that moment on ..the horse behaved well and totally respected him. He was a good trainer too.

I am not condoning it . If i had seen him doing it i would have stopped him.

Obviously he still shouldn't have done it. Its not necessary. There are better ways to get a horse to respect you.

Times move on. Or they should.

I have never been one to be heavy handed with horses.

But that horse was one of the worst my ex ever worked with ...threw everyone. Not to be recommended kids ..even with asshole horses.

ILoveYourVibes · 31-03-2020 09:04PM

Muahahaha wrote: »

As expected from you Maryanne, 'just a few bad eggs' :rolleyes: Like I said there are none so blind as those who refuse to see. .

Dude i worked in stud farm that bred horses for the french racing industry...i was taught to ride sometimes by ex jockeys and the sister of an ex jockey ..they work in every riding school ..livery yard ...stud farm in the country...nearly all of them have an ex jockey.

I went out on a regular hack up in carrickmines that was led by ex jockey. In fairness he was mental and had us galloping down hill...but he was a good guy.

I know an equine vet who works in the industry...in fairness he is a dick and i don't like him right now..but he loves animals ..just hates humans.

Its not the way you think.

There are some issues that need to be improved on. The age at which horses are backed ...the way some companies race to invent new drugs that haven't been banned yet..these are borderline supplements borderline drugs and

ILoveYourVibes · 31-03-2020 09:05PM

Muahahaha wrote: »

As expected from you Maryanne, 'just a few bad eggs' :rolleyes: Like I said there are none so blind as those who refuse to see. .

Dude i worked in stud farm that bred horses for the french racing industry...i was taught to ride sometimes by ex jockeys and the sister of an ex jockey ..they work in every riding school ..livery yard ...stud farm in the country...nearly all of them have an ex jockey.

I went out on a regular hack up in carrickmines that was led by ex jockey. In fairness he was mental and had us galloping down hill...but he was a good guy.

I know an equine vet who works in the industry...in fairness he is a dick and i don't like him right now..but he loves animals ..just hates humans.

Its not the way you think.

There are some issues that need to be improved on. The age at which horses are backed ...the way some companies race to invent new drugs that haven't been banned yet..these are borderline supplements borderline drugs. Some will be banned after a while ..some won't.

auspicious · 31-03-2020 09:08PM

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

I think you are correct. Obviously not on.

However ...don't know if i should say this ..

I used to date a guy ...who trained horses .....he had this one really asshole horse ...and one day after being thrown many times ...my ex lost it and in frustration punched the horse in the face. From that moment on ..the horse behaved well and totally respected him. He was a good trainer too.

I am not condoning it . If i had seen him doing it i would have stopped him.

Obviously he still shouldn't have done it. Its not necessary. There are better ways to get a horse to respect you.

Times move on. Or they should.

I have never been one to be heavy handed with horses.

But that horse was one of the worst my ex ever worked with ...threw everyone. Not to be recommended kids ..even with asshole horses.

Think I'm correct? No I'm definitely correct. Video there through Google.

If a child was punched in the face for misbehaving I certainty don't think they'd respect you in an admiring way. It would be more out of pain and fear.

ILoveYourVibes · 31-03-2020 09:11PM

auspicious wrote: »

Think I'm correct? No I'm definitely correct. Video there through Google.

If a child was punched in the face for misbehaving I certainty don't think they'd respect you in an admiring way. It would be more out of pain and fear.

I know ...that's why i said ..i think you are correct.

He didn't punch a foal ..he punched an adult horse.

If had punched a foal ...that would have been different they are much more physically fragile. In fact most lay people don't realize how fragile.

You shouldn't compare an adult horse to a child.

And yes the horse did respect my ex after the incident in an admiring way. Would always go up to him in the field ...never had to be caught.

I was kind of jealous actually ...same horse didn't like me at all ....and i was the sweet one!

auspicious · 31-03-2020 09:27PM

I think you need your head checked.

ILoveYourVibes · 31-03-2020 09:33PM

auspicious wrote: »

I think you need your head checked.

How long have you worked with horses?

Randy Archer · 31-03-2020 09:39PM

6 wrote: »

Their funding should be slashed. Give it to proper sports where kids can actually get fit and improve their health.

Let the gambling industry fund them.

And watch many rural areas die on their arses even further as the equine industry slows down . That’s a lot of Skilled (vets ) and unskilled kids without much jobs ...oh well, here’s hoping they get a job on the construction site in the towns, eh

You clearly have no clue as to the kind of money that comes into Roscommon and Kilbeggan and Killarney town during the summer months due to racing. Towns of Kildare and Nass would be nothing ,likewise many towns in Tipperary . Galway City more or less centres it’s entire year on one week at the beginning of August and no, it ain’t for the Arts festival (which is great ) Unless you follow Dundalk FC, there ain’t much happening open Dundalk on a Friday night during the winter . All BEFORE a bet is laid down , which as you should know, you don’t need to be at the course to lay one down due to the Internet

Hotels, bars ,agriculture businesses ,employment ........ all rely on the race course

No other sport does that ,not even the GAA which brings much colour to provincial towns who have big stadiums once or maybe twice a year. Rugby lads travel and spend the entire weekend in Dublin but that’s no more than 3 times in February March depending on how the fixture list goes

By the way, you are off your rocker of you think the bookies actually contribute even a quarter of to their proceeds To racing . And the same time the bookies simply aren’t making most of their money from racing at all. !betting Football has taken over And many shops rely on slot machines .

There’s a lot of take from the bookies than there is give, and the racing authorities are always looking to Other corporations to sponsor their races, near in mind too the limitations that there are in being allowed to be sponsored by booze and cigarettes companies due to the nanny states in Britain and Ireland .

You have a perverse and grossly ill informed notion as to the fitness levels of professional racehorse jockeys .

auspicious · 31-03-2020 09:47PM

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

How long have you worked with horses?

You've shown your colours.
They're bred for profit and if they don't comply you grind them down until they submit out of fear.
Might makes right eh.

ILoveYourVibes · 31-03-2020 09:51PM

auspicious wrote: »

You've shown your colours.
They're bred for profit and if they don't comply you grind them down until they submit out of fear.
Might makes right eh.

So that is a never then?

No ...I would be the total opposite of what you just described.

Look i could tell from your first post you haven't a clue what you are talking about.

People with no clue about horses are more of a danger to them then anyone in my experience.

auspicious · 31-03-2020 09:59PM

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

So that is a never then?

No ...I would be the total opposite of what you just described.

Look i could tell from your first post you haven't a clue what you are talking about.

People with no clue about horses are more of a danger to them then anyone in my experience.

What are you on about.
Our conversation is over.

Huntergonzo · 31-03-2020 10:06PM

Muahahaha wrote: »

Thats great and everything but will respect it is only anecdotal. The article states that of 60 yards audits 57% of them were in breach of employment legilation and almost 25% of staff were working in the black economy of top of that. Thats all aside from stable hands having to work 19 hour days for 28 days straight, slaves in America didnt work as hard as that.

It's a tough business to be in and it's a tough business to survive, plenty of people dream big when they start off but only a very select few will make it, that's the reality.

As for breaking employment regulation, 57% doesn't look great but assuming it's the truth what's the breakdown? Employment law is presumably quite extensive, it'd be nice to see a detailed breakdown of the areas concerned.

Anyway look, I never worked on a stud farm but I grew up on a dairy farm and there wasn't much regard paid to employment legislation there let me tell you. The days could be long (even longer during calving season), they could be tough and the pay was nothing spectacular.

But I loved it, some of the best memories I have were made on the farm, I'm sure the same is true for many working in stables. It's not the sort of job people stumble into, it's often a labour of love and yes sometimes that's taken advantage of but unfortunately you'll get that in every walk of life.

Ps to compare stable hands to slaves in America is very disrespectful to people who actually were bought and sold. You might want to re-think that one.

ILoveYourVibes · 31-03-2020 10:11PM

auspicious wrote: »

What are you on about.
Our conversation is over.

You are talking about something you clearly have never been around nor any actual knowledge or experience of.

What are YOU on about?

That conversation is over thing only works in movies in reality the conversation continues without you. And its shaped by the people still left.

And honestly if what you know about horses is from reading black beauty the conversation is better without you.

Time to call out the horse racing industry

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