Anyway, everyone here has agreed that the actions of this one stupid individual were callous and wrong. But some have tried to put what happened into perspective alongside the many deaths of horses at the Grand National alone. If you want a legitimate target, have a go at the racing industry. Not to mention the hunting fraternity.

I'd like some more evidence for the idea that the horses' heads are regularly held under water. Most of the sites I've looked at refer to the horses simply being washed in the river each day using washing-up liquid. This is also how Roud reports it (The English Year, pp 213-14)