Cristiano Ronaldo put down after fall.

[nightporter]

Not really, but Kauto Star, the race horse once likened to footballer Cristiano Ronaldo has been put down after a fall. Highlighting the Shocking treatment of race horses.

Bet they didn't even eat it.

[Filo]

The money that horse must have won for them and they couldn't even be bothered to let it retire gracefully

[The Red Baron]

I believe he had become a dressage horse. He had a fall in his paddock so it wasn't as though he was injured jumping or even in competition. An unfortunate and sad accident that could happen to any horse.

[mushRTID]

I was at Donny races on Friday where there was a fall in the last race. The horse tried to get up but couldn't walk and fell back down. Within a minute there was a shield going up around it and you knew what was happening.

Awful to witness and left a sour taste.

Sad thing is the horse props ably could have been treated but I guess that's not worth the cost as it's no value to anyone then.

[Donnywolf]

Yes very sad outcome for Kauto Star and the Donny horse

They say horses make bad patients and cant be treated. Sometimes the injury MUST be too bad but sometimes it would be possible but "uneconomical". As you say most horses with a mended broken leg would probably have no chance of a viable racing future either - though there are ones I have heard of that broke certain bones and had a good career

Its an unfortunate "by product" of that industry that horses end up with injuries that end their life but in the end of their career most of them WILL be slaughtered anyway. Probably they get eaten abroad - who knows for sure

There are people who rehome Racehorses and Greyhounds - and a big up to them - but probably a drop in the ocean

[Dagenham Rover]

I've rehomed retired Greyhounds they make fantastic pets, mild mannered couch potatoes and they don't need that much exercise!

[Donnywolf]

Have a read of this ... and pick any horse for a sad story BUT good to know there ARE people who CAN be bothered to rehome these horses .... some winners and some injured early in their careers

Most seem to be discarded when they are no longer viable. Even Fujiama Crest the horse which Frankie Dettori rode for his 7 in a row was spotted by him in a field doing "nowt". Full credit to him for sorting it out and hopefully he still has it somewhere !

http://racehorserehoming.co.uk/horses.html

[Donnywolf]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/racing/article-3020635/Frankie-Detorri-pays-emotional-farewell-Fujiyama-Crest-legendary-racehorse-bought-pet-famous-Ascot-victory.html

Big up to him ... it lasted till 23 years of age ! A lot longer than the industry "average"

[podrover73]

the main reason for this :

There are a number of reasons why vets tend to choose euthanasia over trying to fix a horse’s broken leg, but as a general rule it’s because it’s very expensive and not very successful.

Horse’s legs tend to shatter, making them tricky to rebuild. The lower legs have a lot of tendons but not much muscle and a limited blood supply, which makes healing time longer and fighting infections harder.

In those few cases where broken horse legs are fixed, the animals often re-break their limbs when they thrash around as they wake up from the anaesthetic.

Even if they don’t do that, they then need to have their body weight supported in a sling for a long time - it’s an intensive and expensive treatment, which rarely results in a horse that can be ridden like before.

All of this means that horses will usually be destroyed if they break their leg.