Grand National - Horse Welfare

Horse Welfare

See also: List of equine fatalities in the Grand National

Modern steeplechase races have an average of six horse deaths per 1,000 horses taking part; deaths in the Grand National are higher than the average steeplechase, with six deaths per 439 horses between 2000 and 2010. Due to the high number of injuries and deaths suffered by participating horses, animal rights groups have campaigned to have the race modified or abolished. In recent years, Aintree officials have worked in conjunction with animal welfare organisations to reduce the severity of some fences and to improve veterinary facilities. In 2008 a new veterinary surgery was constructed in the stable yard which has two large treatment boxes, an X-ray unit, video endoscopy, equine solarium and sandpit facilities. Further changes in set-up and procedure allow vets to treat horses more rapidly and in better surroundings. Those requiring more specialist care can be transported by specialist horse ambulances, under police escort, to the nearby Philip Leverhulme Equine Hospital at the University of Liverpool at Leahurst. A mobile on-course X-ray machine assists in the prompt diagnosis of leg injuries when horses are pulled up, and oxygen and water are available by the final fence and finishing post.

Five vets remain mobile on the course during the running of the race, and can initiate treatment of injured fallers at the fence. Additional vets are stationed at the pull-up area, finishing post, and in the surgery.

Some of the National's most challenging fences have also been modified, while still preserving them as formidable obstacles. Becher's Brook has had its brook covered and the landing slope levelled off; the drop on the landing side of Becher's was also reduced by 4 to 5 inches after the 2011 race. Screening at the Canal Turn now prevents horses being able to see the sharp left turn and encourages jockeys to spread out along the fence, rather than take the tight left-side route. Additionally, work has been carried out to smooth the core post infrastructure of the fences with protective padding to reduce impact upon contact, and the height of the toe-boards on all fences has been increased to 14 inches. These orange-coloured boards are positioned at the base of each fence and provide a clear ground line to assist horses in determining the base of the fence.

Parts of the course were widened in 2009 to allow runners to bypass fences if required. This was utilised for the first time during the 2011 race as fatalities at fences four (a plain 4 ft 10in obstacle) and six (Becher's Brook) of the first circuit resulted in marshals diverting the remaining contenders around those fences on the second circuit. This was the first time in the National's history that not all of the 30 fences were jumped.

After the 1989 Grand National, in which two horses died in incidents at Becher's Brook, Aintree begun the most significant of its modifications to the course. The brook on the landing side of Becher's was filled in and the incline on the landing side was levelled out, whilst retaining a drop to slow the runners. Other fences have been reduced in height, and the entry requirements for the race have been made stricter. Welfare groups have suggested a reduction in the size of the field (limited to a maximum of 40 horses) should be implemented. Opponents point to previous unhappy experience with smaller fields e.g. only 29 runners at the 1954 Grand National, only 31 runners at the 1975 Grand National, and a fatality each at the 1996 Grand National and 1999 Grand National despite smaller fields, and the possible ramifications in relation to the speed of such races in addition to recent course modifications (part of the "speed kills" argument).

Some within the horseracing community, including some with notable achievements in the Grand National, such as Ginger McCain and Bob Champion, have argued that the lowering of fences and the narrowing of ditches, primarily designed to increase horse safety, has had the adverse effect by encouraging the runners to race faster. During the 1970s and 1980s (following only one fatality in the 1960s) the Grand National saw a total of 12 horses die (half of which were at Becher's Brook); in the next 20-year period from 1990 to 2010, when modifications to the course were most significant, there were 17 equine fatalities. The 2011 and 2012 races each yielded two deaths, including one each at Becher's Brook.