HBO cancells 'Luck' after third horse dies on set

iguana

I didn't see a thread on this but I think it's a shocking story.

HBO has cancelled race horse drama Luck starring Dustin Hoffman after a third animal was killed during the production.

HBO have canceled production of the series Luck, citing safety concerns after the death of a third horse working on the show, which was built on characters involved in thoroughbred racing.

Cancellation of the series, starring Dustin Hoffman and Nick Nolte, follows the euthanisation on Tuesday of an injured horse that had reared, fallen backward and hit its head. The show had suspended filming with the animals pending an inquiry. The decision was made yesterday to end the show permanently.

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http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/tv-radio/hbo-axes-luck-after-third-horse-dies-3052676.html

I guess fair play to them for deciding to cancel the show as it became clear that the animals involved weren't safe. I know it wouldn't have been an easy decision to make, once a series like that is given the go ahead several hundred people's livelihoods are at stake. My husband is a contract tv editor so I know how destructive it can be to so many families when an income you thought was guaranteed is lost, so I do have sympathy with the crew.

But I can't understand why even one horse died due to an accident in production and there must have been something seriously wrong for three deaths to happen. HBO series usually have huge budgets, just imagine what Dustin Hoffman's salary would have been like, so it's really shocking that every precaution wasn't taken to protect the horses.

Here's hoping that the rest of the horse stock go to good homes now that production is being wound up.

Bubblefett

I think it's a really good decision to cancel the show if they can't guarantee the horses safety. I'm really impressed that HBO made the hard call and called a hault to it before more horses needlessly lost their lives. No show is worth the lives of an animal imho.

iguana

bubblefett wrote: »

I think it's a really good decision to cancel the show if they can't guarantee the horses safety. I'm really impressed that HBO made the hard call and called a hault to it before more horses needlessly lost their lives. No show is worth the lives of an animal imho.

It was obviously the right decision to cancel the show but I still find it hard to understand exactly how it got this far. I can just about understand the death of the first horse, mistakes happen. But a second and then a third? It starts to seem less like a mistake and more like the right precautions weren't been taken.

Heroditas

Can they not just film the series without using action sequences involving horses?
I know that horses play a key part in it but they filmed Game of Thrones without any battle scenes...

scudzilla

Maybe me being cynical here but what were the viewing figures like?

Wouldn't surprise me if they were crap and HBO decided to use the Horses Deaths as an excuse to can the series

blindside88

I assume the horses died due to injuries while filming the racing scenes (eg broken leg, burst blood vessel etc). It's an unfortunate fact that horses need to be put down due to injuries from racing. I was really enjoying the series and will be said to see it go. I had heard that the humane society had stopped endorsing it after the first horse died

iguana

blindside88 wrote: »

I assume the horses died due to injuries while filming the racing scenes (eg broken leg, burst blood vessel etc). It's an unfortunate fact that horses need to be put down due to injuries from racing. I was really enjoying the series and will be said to see it go. I had heard that the humane society had stopped endorsing it after the first horse died

The article describes how the last horse died. It reared, fell over and hit it's head resulting in it being euthanized.

blindside88

iguana wrote: »

blindside88 wrote: »

I assume the horses died due to injuries while filming the racing scenes (eg broken leg, burst blood vessel etc). It's an unfortunate fact that horses need to be put down due to injuries from racing. I was really enjoying the series and will be said to see it go. I had heard that the humane society had stopped endorsing it after the first horse died

The article describes how the last horse died. It reared, fell over and hit it's head resulting in it being euthanized.

Sad that the horse had to be euthanised but no amount of h&s precautions can stop a horse from rearing. I can't see it being the shows fault but can see why they would cancel

planetX

says a lot about horse racing when they can't even make a show about it without horses dying. I guess they were making it too realistic.

LostCorkGuy

Two horses broke their legs in race scenes on in 2010 and 2011 , the other acted up in the stable and cracked his head .

Personally I think theres an ulterior motive for shutting down the series , they were aware of the risk .
The practice I find amnoying is the putting to sleep of a horse with a broken leg , two of our horses have broken bones (hip and hock ) were put in box rest for 2/3 months and are now living out in the fields enjoying retirement , theyre never going to compete again but its not right to put them down . But thats too much money and cost for companies worth millions :rolleyes:

ppink

LostCorkGuy wrote: »

Two horses broke their legs in race scenes on in 2010 and 2011 , the other acted up in the stable and cracked his head .

Personally I think theres an ulterior motive for shutting down the series , they were aware of the risk .
The practice I find amnoying is the putting to sleep of a horse with a broken leg , two of our horses have broken bones (hip and hock ) were put in box rest for 2/3 months and are now living out in the fields enjoying retirement , theyre never going to compete again but its not right to put them down . But thats too much money and cost for companies worth millions :rolleyes:

were your horses race horses? I always thought it was an issue with trying to keep a thoroughbred calm for so long to allow repair, especially just off the track?

I actually just found this info for anyone who may be interested:

http://animals.howstuffworks.com/mammals/broken-leg-horse.htm

LostCorkGuy

No not race horses , they were eventers , one was of national hunt breeding and the other is an Arab , the arab is particulary fiesty alright ,she once managed to rear up after being sedated for 5 min when getting her teeth rasped , but when they're locked up in the stable there's not much they can do to themselves .

But for the horses killed racing you can be sure the owners weigh up the costs , its a business for them not a hobby , as the recovery is very expensive , ultra sound treatments and stabling in the vets yard for 6 weeks ect , and if its a young race horse who's relatively unknown hes not going to make the money back by going to stud so the owner will put them down