Epic WTF

Ah, good to know. Less wtf then.

Interspecies boxing at the Olympics

I watched that, there was no way that horse was going to finish the course.

WAFC
I read that a horse was put down after sustaining injuries in the cross country course. This needs to stop right?

It won't.

Horses love being trained and riden, they've done it for a thousand years, but they also get badly hurt too. The argument that riding horses is cruel has been raging for a century and it's not even half a step closer to being banned. Just too much money involved I guess.

I'd like to see an end to horse competitions but it just ain't going to happen, ever.

I mean, tens of thousands of greyhounds are shot every year in the UK and ROI and dog racing is still a thing and UK and ROI are nations of dog lovers.

Edit: Just rechecked the numbers and tens of thousands night be a small exaggeration. In ROI, 16,000 greyhounds are born every year, of which 6,000ish are euthanised for being too slow. Figures for UK are similar so prob 15k deaths a year tops.

This just makes me sad.

Horses love being trained and riden

Somehow I can't believe this but it's probably true. In the same way dogs have been selectively bred and taught to obey humans over centuries, it's because we've done it, not because they're naturally attracted to humans right?

but it just ain't going to happen, ever.

I bet this has been said about many things and wasn't true in the end. Hopefully in this case as well. Not in my lifetime I guess. Sad

Also the greyhound thing is sad.
Is there a way that someone can take these "slow" dogs in after it has been decided that they can't race anymore?

Somehow I can't believe this but it's probably true. In the same way dogs have been selectively bred and taught to obey humans over centuries, it's because we've done it, not because they're naturally attracted to humans right?

Both can be true, right? There is also the argument that domesticated dogs and horses live longer, are better fed and are healthier than their wild counterparts so the whole picture is complex I think. Obviously some huge exceptions there for the horrendous way that human's breed certain types of dog.

Regardless, humans should strive to not harm animals. I grew up around horses and just never felt ok with such amazing creatures being in captivity. I saw both sides though. Just like how border collies are born with an innate desire to herd sheep, some horse breeds are born with an innate desire to be riden. As you say, that's not a fully natural thing though.

Is there a way that someone can take these "slow" dogs in after it has been decided that they can't race anymore?

There's just too many of them. Loads of people rescue Greys. But if you've got countries like the the ROI and UK who breed that many of them, its a losing battle. Thankfully, dog racing has hit hard times...I hope its terminal.

I guess the horse thing gets me when they're being ridden for sport to entertain large crowds. And as we've seen, when the horse doesn't comply some humans think punching them is an ok thing to do (possibly an outlier but I don't trust humans)
I bet there are horse owners who have a great relationship with their horse and the horse does love being ridden and live a healthy happy life.

dog racing has hit hard times...

Ah, interesting news

I suppose there is another subtle distinction to recognise.

Even if its possible to own a horse or dog, treat it fantastically well and both animals enjoy the racing and a comfortable retirement after racing, that doesn't mean that the industry itself isn't bad for horses and dogs. Maybe its not the responsible owners who are the problem.

I guess my opinion isn't aligned with PETA's "ALL ANIMAL RACING IS CRUEL" position, more that these industries encourage cruel behaviour. Change needs to happen and if that change isn't possible, its time for those industries to end.

I guess the horse thing gets me when they're being ridden for sport to entertain large crowds

Perhaps that is the source of the problem. The crowds are where the money comes from. Its what makes it a multi billion dollar industry in the case of horses and a multi million pound industry for dogs. If there was no money in it, people would only do it for the love and fun.

Fun fact, this horse was named after me and my cousin Alex. It was shit.

https://www.racingpost.com/profile/horse/14918/aledan/form

selectively bred and taught to obey humans over centuries millennia

Yeah of course, cheers

Fancy a BakjanGondon? and would you pay over £7k and ship it from Kazakhstan?

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@psg1ben @Stonehedge But if you are an alpaca it goes to Ministerial level

I was reading about that in the Thornbury Gazette last weekend.
Amazing that it's gone national now.
#SaveGeronimo

Fuck Spotify.

https://twitter.com/StrikeFourth/status/1423674697007370247?s=19

damn, I needed two of them.

In the same way dogs have been selectively bred and taught to obey humans over centuries, it's because we've done it, not because they're naturally attracted to humans right?

You're wrong there. Self-domestication is a thing. Some species have found advantages in living close to humans (e.g. cats, dogs, rats); where we have also found an advantage in the association (not rats), it gradually became an active partnership. Importantly, this means their evolution was already favouring association with humans before we began altering them further (something we mostly didn't even try with cats until quite recently).

Nobody's made that claim for horses, though, and I'd question the confidence of some of @Stonehedge's assertions.

Not entirely wrong. I can accept that some level of companionship must have been natural. It must have taken a long time and human input to get to jumpy the dog

Anyone know the best streaming service from the artists perspective? I have a Spotify premium account but am not happy with the information in that link (if true).

Nobody's made that claim for horses, though, and I'd question the confidence of some of @Stonehedge's assertions.

I didnt actually make a claim of self domestication about any animals in my posts...only learned what it is from the link you just posted! I meant that horses and dogs can benefit from their links to humans, and in some ways get enjoyment out of it. I hadn't really considered that some animals might seek that out.i was thinking purely from a human breeding/training perspective.