YOU couldn’t make it up. Last Saturday, for the first time in my life, I decided to watch the Grand National. I have always boycotted it despite the boos and shouts of ‘don’t be such a kill joy’. When it comes to animals, I’m totally mush. If those adverts on Freeview come on showing cruelty to donkeys then I’m done for.

I blame my childhood. I was brought up watching Johnnie Morris’s Animal Magic on TV. He would have conversations with animals at Bristol Zoo who appeared to talk back. Aged nine, I was the ‘only vegetarian in the village’, at a time when you were given two choices in restaurants – extra veg or a stuffed pepper. Aged thirteen, I organised my first protest when a Science Teacher produced a dead rat for dissection, face up, pinned down. At the time, we were overrun with cute baby guinea pigs, not realising just how quickly the little furballs get it on. And I was having riding lessons on a pony called Silver. The thought of horses having to be put down because of human entertainment, as I saw it, crossed a line for me.

But this year when, in holiday mode, Himself said let’s put a bet on the National and watch it, I thought why not. It’s bound to be more safe now and I’m fed up of being called boring. So I sat down in front of the wide screen TV, with my two-way bet on Velvet Elvis, (no idea what that is exactly), later than the start time, expecting to have missed it. If only we had. 

My goodness, carnage unfolded didn’t it. Halfway through I was reduced to tears. When I realised the race was rerouted around a jump on the second lap because a horse could not get up (which usually means one thing), that was it. I left the room. It was horrible. Seeing horses tumble after failing the ridiculously high fences. Watching riderless horses galloping to the front, fearing they would cause jockeys and horses fatal accidents.

Yes, the delay from protestors likely unsettled some horses at the first jumps but did that really cost the lives of three of these beautiful animals as some insist? Envoye Special. Dark Raven. Hill Sixteen, RIP. Yes, these superb creatures are trained for these equine Olympic events.  Maybe they do have, as one jockey said ‘the race of their lives’. But all that use of the whip towards the end doesn’t quite match the industry rhetoric of the welfare and love of horses always being at the fore of this sport.

Even Roly Owers (real name), head of the respected organisation World Horse Welfare said the race was “difficult to watch” and that progress had been “too slow in implementing the Jump Race Risk Model”.  Surely the British Horseracing Authority and Aintree Race Course are not the organisations to lead any enquiry and make recommendations. They’ve been too complacent.  World Horse Welfare should take the lead.

It's crucial to do this quickly to pre-empt high-risk, protests during races. The racecourse is a dangerous place to be for horses and jockeys at the best of times. Everyone could take inspiration from WHW founder Ada Cole. She worked in a practical, peaceful way, forging strong, friendly links with those who had the power to implement effective change.

But big dramatic protests are in vogue. This week, a Just Stop Oil protester at the World Snooker Championship jumped onto a table, dispersing orange powder. “It’s a first,” said Stephen Hendry. This weekend, Extinction Rebellion will be active in London. And with the Coronation looming, how must the police and security services be working overtime to secure the event from protesters. Thanks to Prince Harry’s pointed and mean indiscretions, his presence has heightened the terror risk for the public and for attendees.

These are dangerous times to be horsing around.