Icon: enlarge
Racehorse in England: The pictures caused a stir, especially in Ireland and Great Britain - but not only there
Photo: Alan Crowhurst / dpa
The photo shows a trainer astride an apparently dead horse, holding a cell phone to his ear and showing the victory sign at the camera.
In one video, jockey Rob James climbs onto an animal lying on a dirt track, and you can hear laughter from people around you.
Both horses had previously succumbed to heart failure, it turned out.
First the photo, then the video - both older - surfaced on social media last week and caused a scandal in Irish horse racing.
more on the subject
Photo with dead horse: Irish gallop trainer banned for one year
Irish horse riding scandal: Video shows jockey climbing on dead horse
Gordon Elliott: Irish riding trainer apologizes for photo with dead horse
The pictures caused a stir, especially in Ireland and Great Britain, which may be due to the fact that the Irish Gordon Elliott is one of the most renowned racehorse trainers.
He won the famous and controversial obstacle race Grand National in Aintree three times - in 2018 and 2019 with Tiger Roll.
But international media also took up the topic.
On Friday evening, the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) suspended Elliott for at least six months, and the British Association followed suit.
The photo demonstrates shocking bad taste (appalling bad taste), the reasoning said that the integrity and reputation of the sport had been seriously damaged.
The exact background remained unclear at first, the committee wrote of a "concerted attack" on Elliott.
Icon: enlarge
Horses trained by the 43-year-old Elliott have already won the famous Grand National race three times
Photo:
 © INPHO / Dan Sheridan / imago images / Inpho Photography
The decision had been eagerly awaited, there was no precedent for this PR disaster, judged the British Guardian.
Even when jockey Davy Russell (who rode Tiger Roll to victory in Aintree) whipped his horse in the face before a race in 2017, it didn't cause such a reaction.
What effect can the pictures have?
But what damage do the images produce for sport, in which brutal scenes often occur when horses fall during races, break bones and are euthanized on site?
Animal ethicist Dagmar Borchers explains the effect of the images - and why they are not excusable.
SPIEGEL:
The Guardian columnist Zoe Williams wrote that deaths on the racetrack would be accepted as "collateral damage" by most people, apart from animal rights activists, on the condition that it could be assumed that no one would be affected by the losses as the insiders: coaches, owners, jockeys, keepers.
Do the pictures of Elliott and James destroy that assumption?
About the person: Dagmar Borchers
Icon: enlargePhoto: University of Bremen
Dagmar Borchers
is Professor of Applied Philosophy at the University of Bremen and spokeswoman for the Center for Decision Research there.
She is a member of the ethics committee of the University of Bremen and the State of Bremen.
Animal ethics and equestrian ethics are two of her main research areas.
Borchers:
Yes, that is a very smart thought.
If a horse breaks a leg in a race, it is always terrible, also for the spectators.
However, it can be viewed as a regrettable and terrible accident and accepted as such.
Cynically speaking, you are embarrassed, it spoils the fun at that moment, but then the program continues.
The photo, on the other hand, shows an attitude, an attitude.
It is a snapshot that highlights a lack of appreciation for animals, and ultimately also for death.
In fact, I would say it is a document of contempt for the animal.
SPIEGEL:
Elliott tried to explain his behavior, he hadn't thought, he apologized, just like the jockey.
Are the pictures explainable or excusable at all?
Borchers:
You can't justify the behavior insofar as the people obviously weren't in an immediate pressure situation.
It wasn't a stressful situation in which you can react wrongly.
The phone is on the dead horse and there is laughter in the video.
It was precisely with these spontaneous actions that these people took a moral and ethical oath of revelation.
And you can no longer capture that with constructed stories and excuses.
It was precisely with these spontaneous actions that these people took a moral and ethical oath of revelation.
And you can no longer capture that with constructed stories and excuses.
Dagmar Borchers
SPIEGEL:
What effects does that have on sport?
Borchers
: The picture is so devastating for racing because it can be interpreted as a spotlight on a practice in which animals are systematically bred, taken into sport at the age of two and consumed there.
The animal as a commodity, if one is dead, the next comes.
That is always negated, it is always said that one is attached to horses and loves them, but these images can cast doubt on it.
Of course, it has to be emphasized that not everyone who has anything to do with racing treats horses that way or disregards their value.
The fact that there have been so many critical reactions to the pictures is also a good sign.
SPIEGEL:
In its reasoning, the IHRB writes that it was not about cruelty to animals in the strict sense (cruelty to animals in a strict sense).
The committee also has no evidence that Elliott does not look after his horses to "the highest standards".
Borchers:
After a briefly rational approach, one can argue that the animal was already dead and it didn't mind that someone was sitting on its back.
The coach usually does his job properly, that was a stupid story, he'll get something on his hands and then he'll go on.
I think that is inappropriate, it shows how racing sometimes acts: there is a short-term reaction and only the most necessary sanctions are implemented.
Whether there are deeper problems is not questioned.
SPIEGEL:
The people involved in equestrian sports are not horse owners who keep their animals as leisure partners.
Does it make a difference how you deal with the death of a horse?
Borchers:
Of course it makes a difference that these are professionals and not recreational riders who are heartbroken when their beloved horse dies.
Yes, they are professionals, they have a different relationship with the horse and that's okay too.
But from my point of view, animals deserve our respect, also in professional sport.
Icon: The mirror
