HILL SIXTEEN broke his neck falling at the first fence of this year’s Grand National race at Aintree in the UK. Animal rights activists say the 10-year-old Thoroughbred would still be alive today if he hadn’t been forced to race over the jumps. The horse’s trainer blames the death on animal rights activists – the very ones hoping to protect horses as they rushed onto the track just before the race started, triggering a huge police response.

This chaotic scene is emblematic of the greater problem facing horse sports: they are losing the approval of a well-meaning but underinformed public. If …