Back in the 19th century, the race was basically a brutal endurance test. Think of it like running a marathon over a minefield, but wearing wooden shoes.
Horses jumped stone walls and giant fences with no safety rails. If a horse fell, it was often a broken leg, and sadly, that was the end. The early Grand National was, frankly, a meat grinder.
Why did nobody stop it? Well, for a long time, nobody really kept track. Horses were seen as tools, not athletes. It’s a bit like ignoring the crash test dummy count before we cared about car safety.
