Help Find' Wavin Flag'

We will also send a grand to her

They were rehomed to a dodgy home, and had to be rescued by Brett who sent them to Jenny

If these two horses were found in the disgraceful state they were then it begs the question what state the rest of the horses who took part in this so called bush meeting are in or are we going to turn a blind eye to them?However we have heroes who post on this forum who have been caught selling horses to bush racing and if it werent for a certain miss hughes and the help she got these horses would have perished ...double fucking standards

There are a lot of cans that have been opened and even more worms that are crawling.
They were both at Jenny's (Who operates from the farm that used to be Hyjo Stud) to be rehomed to suitable homes. Maximum Flo had just found his new person 2 weeks earlier, who is naturally shattered that his horse went through what it did, and still it wasn't enough to save him.
I am in awe as to how many people and how much effort went into finding and getting these horses back.

Shocking is all anyone can say. And yes Pirates is 100% correct about certain people who post on this forum. Selling horses for bush racing is a crime in my eyes and owners or trainers who knowingly do this should be dealt with accordingly. Even worse people who support and try and promote this should be ashamed of themselves. I know these horses were stolen but it's because this barbaric bush racing is allowed to continue. As Pirates points out what's good for the goose is not always good for the gander. Our wonderfull insightful administrators should be ashamed of themselves..

Excuse my ignorance, but what is bush racing? How does it work in SA? With dogs I can understand, but with animals as big as race horses, you would need a massive track/bush, actual people to ride them etc. Surely its easier to get caught with bush racing horses given the magnitude?

I just cant understand this. Its more aligned to something I would read in a Dick Francis novel, as opposed to a reality in Cape Town.

I am dumbstruck, and feel a little naive. I don't wish to make insensitive comparisons but having read this thread, I had this pit in my stomach like when I read about kidnapping cases and child abuctions etc. I battle to understand how this could happen. I feel raw that in this day and age with technology and how we are aware about all the evils that are out there, the very fact some were aware that here was this bush race meeting and still could not protect these animals.
I am a teacher by trade, and my main passion for the younger ones when I teach World War One is to focus on animals. Millions of humans died in WW1 because they were naive enough to follow the ideals and egos of a few... so excuse the crusade but I focus on the animals of the war. Why?
If we can't get our kids to look after our own pets from an early age and respect how animals show blind loyalty in the face of what we ask them do for our own gain or pleasure... how will we ever expect them to engage with humanity with any empathy?
This story is an idictment of that.
Shame on us!

As no-one else has dived in, I'll have a go at answering Press and Flydubai's questions. I have sketchy knowledge of the bush racing 'scene' in the Western Cape from a previous incident with Fantasia a few years ago. Just to be clear, I am not trying to generalise. I am discussing my experience in particular and what seems to happen down here.

Bush racing, It is essentially informal, illegal racing. Like dog fighting, it is something of a secretive, underground endeavour and it is occupied by similar characters. There are no tracks - events are held around urban blocks and horses are raced on tar roads. There are not formal sites, dates or advertised times, so it is difficult to even known when they are happening, never mind prevent them. The characters involved are apparently so unpleasant that even the police are reluctant to get involved. It will not be shut down in a hurry - if ever - so the sensible thing is to accept that it exists and hope the relevant authorities eventually get a grip on it. In the meantime, we need to be aware of the possibility that our horses can and do end up there and do everything we can to make sure that it doesn't happen.

It is worth knowing that there are different and more formal versions of bush racing in other parts of the country. These tend to be a lot more structured (formal tracks, dates, etc) and some of our welfare organisations have already made inroads - see the Dundee July, etc. These are generally termed 'rural racing'. Our Racing Trust contributes funds towards this informal racing sector, which I will happily state I am very ambivalent about.

@OTA - very kind of you to say, but believe me, there are lots of amazing people in this industry who work very very hard to keep our horses safe. I try and do my bit which is unfortunately woefully inadequate and the fact that we are sitting here discussing yet another incident means that I have failed.

If I may be so bold, I think it means we have all failed. We are all in this game / sport / industry together. We need to drive it together and insist on change where we see it is necessary. We all let those horses down this week. This is on all of us.

I know that racing - like most other sectors - is under pressure. Resources and manpower are scarce. So, seemingly, is foresight and it means that we constantly shoot ourselves in the foot in a variety of interesting, entertaining and ultimately costly ways. Instead of putting safeguards into place BEFORE tragedies like this happen, we seem to operate on some kind of wing and a prayer hoping that it won't and then when it does, the damage is nuclear and the repair bill is way higher than installing adequate safety precautions would ever have been.

Sometimes, even when events show clearly that there are very serious flaws in the system, either the parties involved are not deemed important enough and it gets shrugged off as not all that serious, or occasionally they are TOO important and then we're not supposed to talk about it at all.

Well, it has happened. And I hope that these horses, thanks to the high profile names attached, and the extent of the horror of what they went through, will prove the right 'recipe' to make sure that those responsible will not just shirk their responsibilities and walk away until next time.

I have been saying for some time that our system is vulnerable and this is an important story because it shows beyond any shadow of a doubt that there are flaws in the system and that they leave the associated parties with their backsides in the wind. While that may give some of their detractors some personal satisfaction, it would be a serious mistake to sit back and feel smug - there but for the grace of God go I. Our system is incredibly weak and that could as easily have been any of us. So we need to take a long, hard look at the system and where it can be improved. Then we need to insist that those improvements are made. Otherwise we simply leave ourselves vulnerable and open the door to yet another 'next time'. And we may not only lose one horse.

Life is busy and memories are short - but I hope everyone who has read this story and felt its rancid breath will take up the cause and petition the powers that be to make sure this doesn't happen again. We need better administration of our horses retiring out of racing and we need a better system for finding second careers for them. But it's not going to happen on its own. We need to ask for it. Demand it, even. So let's do it. Our new MD / CEO / whatever his job title is this week, Lyndon Barends can be reached by email via his secretary - cindy@nhra.co.za. Racing Executive Arnold Hyde is also our Welfare Officer and his email address is also on the website - arnold@nhra.co.za.

Drop them a line and state your views. Share this story, make suggestions, post on ABC, Sporting Post, social media, mainstream media - make some noise and don't stop until we see some change.

As always suz, thanks very much for your valued inputs.

Sorry (last post, I promise!!)

I realise that this is an extraordinary situation and that there are a number of rehoming programmes around the country - all of which are very deserving of support.

However, if anyone would like to support / assist Jenny or the THRC team (and believe me, even a simple thank you goes a very long way), you can contact their admin lady Colette Cochius by email at ccochius@gmail.com

www.sportingpost.co.za/2017/04/jenny-millington-stolen-horses/

Bravo, so the NHRA are launching an investigation into this disaster. I am sure that this will give Maximum Flo and his owners much relief. I have been reliably informed that the NHRA were made aware of the situation BEFORE the illegal racing took place and that promises were made that action would be taken. Apparently running a marathon was more important for some. Why was the Investigator based in Cape Town not immediately utilised? Oh right, he was retrenched because he wasn't needed.