I hope there is an explanation and action taken

What would make me happen is that sop's are introduced from avoiding and preventing this from happening again boet.

NO Shane Welman something must be done and maybe this is the time that we all STAND UP and STAND TOGETHER to ensure that incidents like this never ever happen . And do the stipe reports have to say the horse was destroyed is euthanized not a better description even though in the above case destroyed might be a more apt description. My sympathies go out to the owner.

What has the trainer of the horse had to stay.

www.metacafe.com/watch/727890/having_to_put_down_the_horse/

Here a suggestion as punishment for the offenders

I will also try to demand an enquiry into the incident.

Do we all agree, for whatever reason, that poor Saturnus needed to be euthenased if he did indeed have a seriously fractured skull? I believe so, but I also understand that a mere hairline crack of the cheekbone also constitutes as a fractured skull. I suppose a vet can determine a seriously fractured skull without xrays?

Oscar, but the horse didnt get up after he fell. But I'm with you as for the unexplained reasons which led to this tragic event.

the welfare of the horse has never been high on the agenda in the south african racing industry..when trainers who have mistreated their horses continue to get given their licenses back what does this say...ffs cyril naidoo was a fucking prime example and look how long it took for the nhra to get rid of him. while horses suffered..it is time that a party outside of racing was made aware of what is happening and let them take legal action as it is very clear that the nhra is a toothless useless organisation..

Pirates, Mac and Superstar also Zoro who was with me witnessing this tragedy thanks for supporting this thread. We all make mistakes in life but when we do we need to accept responsibility in a transparent, open way with the integrity it deserves.

I work in hospital theatres most days of my life and any mistakes made where it gets blamed on tired overworked nurses has long gone. An event which leads to a death has to be fully explained and investigated by a specially appointed commitee which is unbiased.

Yes in this case it was the death of a horse and not a human being however the same principle has to apply and on reading all the above I am now more convinced than ever that some sort of action has to be taken to prevent this from happenning again. A one line 5 word statement is not sufficient and Im very very happy this thread has been kept alive.

Still awaiting for a response from the authorities on this barbaric event.

not gonna get one

I had no further replies from emails sent.

One morning a couple of years back, one of our horses got a fright and fell over and hit her head - I witnessed the whole incident, and it was a freak accident. She was stunned when she got up, with blood coming form both nostrils, and one of her ears. She was also battling to keep her balance, and kept her head tilted to one side - clearly she had sustained a serious head injury in the fall. We took the horse ambulance to her, and managed to get her back to the stable (about 100m away) - a trip to the vet for extensive head x-rays would have been too traumatic and painful for her. She was given a huge dose of butorphine to help her cope. It soon became very clear that she would not lead a comfortable and normal life if she remained alive - the decision to euthaniase her was the kindest option, even though my instinct was to try and nurse her back to health. In retrospect, I feel we should probably have euthanased her at the site of the accident to save her the trauma of being moved

If the horse had a history of not wanting to go down to the start, then that is very different - They should not be allowed to become abusive towards a horse (especially in front of the public) if it is regulary difficult. This is extremely unacceptable, and like Oscar says, deserves a serous investigation. IN that case, the abuse of the horse caused it's over reaction, which caused it to fall and fracture it's skull, which in turn lead to it's death. Every person involved in this incident should be investigated and the findings should be made public.

In some cases a horse may sense that someting is wrong. Often on raceday, with adrenalin surging, one would not be able to differentiate between an excited or distressed horse... If the horse perhaps had an embolism or a fit of some kind, then it could have hit it's head hard enough to fracture it. In any case euthanasia is the correct action in both of these situations.

I have left my beloved horse racing industry for exactly this very reason. The powers that be allow cruelty to happen right under their noses, and the offenders get away with a slap on the wrist in most cases. I will never work in or support an industry that condones cruelty to horses by lack of action...

Is this not the 3rd incident of a horse being DESTROYED at Turfontein before a race in the last YEAR ????