Full Version: Horse racing is cruel and immoral
What about the abuse of the horses, or is profit the only factor ?
Apart from dogs and cats, racehorses are probably the most cosseted animals on earth. If they weren't allowed to race what would they do exactly?
Compared to animals that are slaughtered for human consumption, racehorses lead an enviable existence. I'm not going to pretend that I turn a blind eye to the fact that horses are killed in falls and other such accidents. That is a part of the sport that sits uncomfortably with me. There it is.
As a vegetarian of twenty years standing and a lifelong opponent of animal cruelty I realise my love of racing leaves me open to being labelled a hypocrite. My only excuse is that like the majority of human beings I have frailties stained upon my character.
Compared to animals that are slaughtered for human consumption, racehorses lead an enviable existence. I'm not going to pretend that I turn a blind eye to the fact that horses are killed in falls and other such accidents. That is a part of the sport that sits uncomfortably with me. There it is.
As a vegetarian of twenty years standing and a lifelong opponent of animal cruelty I realise my love of racing leaves me open to being labelled a hypocrite. My only excuse is that like the majority of human beings I have frailties stained upon my character.
It's not just the injuries while racing/training. It's physiological problems such as enlarged hearts brought on by inbreeding and over exertion, but most of all what happens when their racing career is over - the select few go to a stud farm and the rest are carted off to the knackers yard for dog food.
The "what do we do with them" argument really doesn't stand up - as you know.
The "what do we do with them" argument really doesn't stand up - as you know.
I hardly think it's in the interest of the bloodstock industry to inbreed thoroughbreds. I think you might have been misinformed in that regard.
As to the rest of your argument? Yes - it has a certain veracity I must admit.
Human's behave atrociously towards each other. Is it any wonder the majority of them treat animals with little or no respect?
We are imperfect beings living in an imperfect world. A few of us recognise this and live with it the best way we can. What's the alternative?
As to the rest of your argument? Yes - it has a certain veracity I must admit.
Human's behave atrociously towards each other. Is it any wonder the majority of them treat animals with little or no respect?
We are imperfect beings living in an imperfect world. A few of us recognise this and live with it the best way we can. What's the alternative?
One alternative is to not support the racing industry.
I really wish you'd take this somewhere else 
Another alternative would be to march on The House Of Commons and turf all the lying, cheating scum that inhabit the place out on their collective ear. That's not going to happen either.
The Horseracing Industry: Drugs, Deception and Death
They weigh at least 1,000 pounds, they have legs supported by ankles the size of a human’s, and they’re forced to run over 30 miles per hour around a dirt track carrying a person on their back. Racehorses are victims of a multibillion-dollar industry rife with drug abuse, injuries, race fixing, and for many horses, their career ends in a slaughterhouse. A New York Daily News reporter remarked, “The thoroughbred race horse is a genetic mistake. It runs too fast, its frame is too large, and its legs are far too small. As long as mankind demands that it run at high speeds under stressful conditions, horses will die at racetracks.”
The Starting Gate
Racehorses can cost millions of dollars and are often purchased by syndicates, which may be composed of thousands of members. There are also trainers, handlers, veterinarians, and jockeys involved, so a horse is rarely able to develop any kind of bond with one person or other horses. They travel from country to country, state to state, racetrack to racetrack, so few horses are able to call one place “home.” Most do not end up in the well-publicized races, but instead are trucked, shipped, or flown to the thousands of other races that take place all over the country every year.
They weigh at least 1,000 pounds, they have legs supported by ankles the size of a human’s, and they’re forced to run over 30 miles per hour around a dirt track carrying a person on their back. Racehorses are victims of a multibillion-dollar industry rife with drug abuse, injuries, race fixing, and for many horses, their career ends in a slaughterhouse. A New York Daily News reporter remarked, “The thoroughbred race horse is a genetic mistake. It runs too fast, its frame is too large, and its legs are far too small. As long as mankind demands that it run at high speeds under stressful conditions, horses will die at racetracks.”
The Starting Gate
Racehorses can cost millions of dollars and are often purchased by syndicates, which may be composed of thousands of members. There are also trainers, handlers, veterinarians, and jockeys involved, so a horse is rarely able to develop any kind of bond with one person or other horses. They travel from country to country, state to state, racetrack to racetrack, so few horses are able to call one place “home.” Most do not end up in the well-publicized races, but instead are trucked, shipped, or flown to the thousands of other races that take place all over the country every year.
Racing to the Grave
Horses begin training or are already racing when their skeletal system is still growing and unprepared to handle the pressures of running on a hard track at high speeds. Improved medical treatment and technological advancements have done little to remedy the plight of the racehorse. One study on injuries at racetracks concluded that one horse in every 22 races suffered an injury that prevented him or her from finishing a race, while another estimates that 800 thoroughbreds die a year in North America because of injuries. Strained tendons or hairline fractures can be tough for veterinarians to diagnose and the damage may go from minor to irrevocable at the next race or workout. Horses do not handle surgery well, as they tend to be disoriented when coming out of anesthesia and may fight casts or slings, possibly causing further injury. Many are euthanized in order to save the owners further veterinary fees and other expenses on a horse who can’t race again. Given the huge investment in a horse, reported one Kentucky paper, “simply sending one to pasture, injured or not, is not an option all owners are willing to consider.” Care for a single racehorse can cost as much as $50,000 per year. Magic Man stepped into an uneven section of a track and broke both front legs during a race at Saratoga Race Course; his owner had bought him for $900,000 dollars, yet the horse hadn’t earned any money yet and, unproven on the track, wasn’t worth much as a stud, so he was euthanized.
Trainers may take calculated risks by running a horse they know is injured. War Emblem, the racehorse who won the first two legs of the Triple Crown in 2001, suffered from bone chips in one ankle and both knees. In spite of veterinary recommendations for surgery, which would have taken away from training and racing time, trainer Bob Baffert said, “Let the chips fall where they may,” and continued to race the horse. War Emblem lost the Belmont Stakes, no longer races, has changed hands twice, and has been diagnosed with “unwillingness to cover mares” at a breeding barn in Japan. Bone chips, which occur in up to 50 percent of racehorses by some veterinary estimates, are “like taking two pieces of rock, rubbing them together and seeing pieces of sand rubbing off,” explains one veterinary orthopedic surgeon. The same trainer continued to race a 3-year-old thoroughbred after knee surgery; the horse had to be euthanized after breaking his shoulder during a workout.
Horses begin training or are already racing when their skeletal system is still growing and unprepared to handle the pressures of running on a hard track at high speeds. Improved medical treatment and technological advancements have done little to remedy the plight of the racehorse. One study on injuries at racetracks concluded that one horse in every 22 races suffered an injury that prevented him or her from finishing a race, while another estimates that 800 thoroughbreds die a year in North America because of injuries. Strained tendons or hairline fractures can be tough for veterinarians to diagnose and the damage may go from minor to irrevocable at the next race or workout. Horses do not handle surgery well, as they tend to be disoriented when coming out of anesthesia and may fight casts or slings, possibly causing further injury. Many are euthanized in order to save the owners further veterinary fees and other expenses on a horse who can’t race again. Given the huge investment in a horse, reported one Kentucky paper, “simply sending one to pasture, injured or not, is not an option all owners are willing to consider.” Care for a single racehorse can cost as much as $50,000 per year. Magic Man stepped into an uneven section of a track and broke both front legs during a race at Saratoga Race Course; his owner had bought him for $900,000 dollars, yet the horse hadn’t earned any money yet and, unproven on the track, wasn’t worth much as a stud, so he was euthanized.
Trainers may take calculated risks by running a horse they know is injured. War Emblem, the racehorse who won the first two legs of the Triple Crown in 2001, suffered from bone chips in one ankle and both knees. In spite of veterinary recommendations for surgery, which would have taken away from training and racing time, trainer Bob Baffert said, “Let the chips fall where they may,” and continued to race the horse. War Emblem lost the Belmont Stakes, no longer races, has changed hands twice, and has been diagnosed with “unwillingness to cover mares” at a breeding barn in Japan. Bone chips, which occur in up to 50 percent of racehorses by some veterinary estimates, are “like taking two pieces of rock, rubbing them together and seeing pieces of sand rubbing off,” explains one veterinary orthopedic surgeon. The same trainer continued to race a 3-year-old thoroughbred after knee surgery; the horse had to be euthanized after breaking his shoulder during a workout.
Drugs and Deception
“Finding an American racehorse trained on the traditional hay, oats, and water probably would be impossible,” commented one racing reporter. Many racehorses are turned into junkies by their trainers and sometimes by veterinarians, who provide drugs to keep horses on the track when they shouldn’t be racing.
Which drugs are legal and which are not varies from state to state, with Kentucky holding the reputation as most lenient. According to The Washington Post, every horse at the 2003 Kentucky Derby was given a shot of Lasix (which controls bleeding in the lungs), and most were probably given phenylbutazone (an anti-inflammatory). Those drugs, although legal, can also mask pain or make a horse run faster. Labs cannot detect all of the illegal drugs out there, of which there “could be thousands,” says the executive director of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium. Morphine, which can keep a horse from feeling any pain from an injury, was suspected in the case of Be My Royal, who won a race limping. Baffert has also been suspended for using morphine on a horse. One trainer was suspended for using an Ecstasy-type drug on five horses, and another has been kicked off of racetracks for using clenbuterol and, in one case, for having the leg of a euthanized horse cut off “for research.”
A New York veterinarian and a trainer faced felony charges when the body of a missing racehorse turned up at a farm and authorities determined her death had been caused by the injection of a “performance-enhancing drug".
“There are trainers pumping horses full of illegal drugs every day,” says a former Churchill Downs public relations director, “With so much money on the line, people will do anything to make their horses run faster.”
“Finding an American racehorse trained on the traditional hay, oats, and water probably would be impossible,” commented one racing reporter. Many racehorses are turned into junkies by their trainers and sometimes by veterinarians, who provide drugs to keep horses on the track when they shouldn’t be racing.
Which drugs are legal and which are not varies from state to state, with Kentucky holding the reputation as most lenient. According to The Washington Post, every horse at the 2003 Kentucky Derby was given a shot of Lasix (which controls bleeding in the lungs), and most were probably given phenylbutazone (an anti-inflammatory). Those drugs, although legal, can also mask pain or make a horse run faster. Labs cannot detect all of the illegal drugs out there, of which there “could be thousands,” says the executive director of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium. Morphine, which can keep a horse from feeling any pain from an injury, was suspected in the case of Be My Royal, who won a race limping. Baffert has also been suspended for using morphine on a horse. One trainer was suspended for using an Ecstasy-type drug on five horses, and another has been kicked off of racetracks for using clenbuterol and, in one case, for having the leg of a euthanized horse cut off “for research.”
A New York veterinarian and a trainer faced felony charges when the body of a missing racehorse turned up at a farm and authorities determined her death had been caused by the injection of a “performance-enhancing drug".
“There are trainers pumping horses full of illegal drugs every day,” says a former Churchill Downs public relations director, “With so much money on the line, people will do anything to make their horses run faster.”
Even the Winners Lose
Few racehorses are retired to pastures for pampering and visits from caring individuals or are glamorized in movies.
An insurance scandal cost the life of Alydar, who came in second in all three races of the 1978 Triple Crown and fathered many fast horses. After being retired to stud at a Kentucky farm, he was originally believed to have shattered his leg by kicking a stall door and was euthanized when he wasn’t able to maintain a splint. Ten years later, an FBI investigation revealed that his leg was broken deliberately with a rope tied to a pickup truck.
The disappearance and suspected murder of candy heir Helen Voorhees Brach was traced to the Chicago horse “mafia,” whose leader was known for burning barns and killing horses for insurance money.
Ferdinand, a Derby winner and Horse of the Year in 1987, was retired to Claiborne Farms, then changed hands at least twice before being “disposed of” in Japan; a reporter covering the story concluded, “No one can say for sure when and where Ferdinand met his end, but it would seem clear he met it in a slaughterhouse.”
Exceller, a million-dollar racehorse who was inducted into the National Racing Museum’s Hall of Fame, was killed at a Swedish slaughterhouse.
The United States has a multimillion-dollar horsemeat export business and slaughters tens of thousands of horses every year. One Colorado State University study found that of 1,348 horses sent to slaughter, 58 were known to be former racehorses. There are only two equine slaughterhouses left in the U.S., both in Texas, so most horses who come from other states have to endure days of transport in cramped trailers. Usually, there is no access to water or food, and injuries are common: A University of California, Davis, study of 306 horses destined for slaughter found that 60 of them sustained injuries during transport. Some must travel in double-decker trailers designed for cattle or sheep; these vehicles are are not tall enough for horses. The United States Department of Agriculture has banned the use of these trailers for horse transport as of 2006. Horses are subject to the same method of slaughter as cattle, but since horses are generally not used to being herded, they tend to thrash about to avoid the pneumatic gun that should render them unconscious before their throat is cut.
Few racehorses are retired to pastures for pampering and visits from caring individuals or are glamorized in movies.
An insurance scandal cost the life of Alydar, who came in second in all three races of the 1978 Triple Crown and fathered many fast horses. After being retired to stud at a Kentucky farm, he was originally believed to have shattered his leg by kicking a stall door and was euthanized when he wasn’t able to maintain a splint. Ten years later, an FBI investigation revealed that his leg was broken deliberately with a rope tied to a pickup truck.
The disappearance and suspected murder of candy heir Helen Voorhees Brach was traced to the Chicago horse “mafia,” whose leader was known for burning barns and killing horses for insurance money.
Ferdinand, a Derby winner and Horse of the Year in 1987, was retired to Claiborne Farms, then changed hands at least twice before being “disposed of” in Japan; a reporter covering the story concluded, “No one can say for sure when and where Ferdinand met his end, but it would seem clear he met it in a slaughterhouse.”
Exceller, a million-dollar racehorse who was inducted into the National Racing Museum’s Hall of Fame, was killed at a Swedish slaughterhouse.
The United States has a multimillion-dollar horsemeat export business and slaughters tens of thousands of horses every year. One Colorado State University study found that of 1,348 horses sent to slaughter, 58 were known to be former racehorses. There are only two equine slaughterhouses left in the U.S., both in Texas, so most horses who come from other states have to endure days of transport in cramped trailers. Usually, there is no access to water or food, and injuries are common: A University of California, Davis, study of 306 horses destined for slaughter found that 60 of them sustained injuries during transport. Some must travel in double-decker trailers designed for cattle or sheep; these vehicles are are not tall enough for horses. The United States Department of Agriculture has banned the use of these trailers for horse transport as of 2006. Horses are subject to the same method of slaughter as cattle, but since horses are generally not used to being herded, they tend to thrash about to avoid the pneumatic gun that should render them unconscious before their throat is cut.
What You Can Do
Tracks are trying to revive interest in horseracing by introducing slot machines at dog and horse tracks; in Arizona, though, voters recently rejected a proposition to allow such an expansion of gambling at tracks. To quote comedian Bill Maher, “Horses were not meant to serve as gambling icons.”
Help phase out this exploitative “sport”: Refuse to patronize existing tracks, work to reform and enforce racing regulations, lobby against the construction of new tracks, and educate your friends and family about the tragic lives of racehorses. If you have the money, acreage, and time, consider adopting a rescued racehorse from an organization that rehabilitates them.
Tracks are trying to revive interest in horseracing by introducing slot machines at dog and horse tracks; in Arizona, though, voters recently rejected a proposition to allow such an expansion of gambling at tracks. To quote comedian Bill Maher, “Horses were not meant to serve as gambling icons.”
Help phase out this exploitative “sport”: Refuse to patronize existing tracks, work to reform and enforce racing regulations, lobby against the construction of new tracks, and educate your friends and family about the tragic lives of racehorses. If you have the money, acreage, and time, consider adopting a rescued racehorse from an organization that rehabilitates them.
hapy new year mark.
thanks for posting off topic. this is a thread for racing tips. if you want to bleat on about the wrongs and wrongs of horse racing, could you please do it somewhere else? perhaps in the campaigns and lobying section?
thanks for posting off topic. this is a thread for racing tips. if you want to bleat on about the wrongs and wrongs of horse racing, could you please do it somewhere else? perhaps in the campaigns and lobying section?
So, Saturday Boy not only supports animal abuse but is also a condescending twat. How nice.
So, nevski is happy to support gross abuse of animals because "it's alright to have a little flutter innit". And I'll keep prodding his cosy comfort zone....while being very much on topic.
I've created a new topic on the morality, or otherwise, of horse-racing. This is the place to discuss the matter, not the Sport forum.
QUOTE(The Saturday Boy @ Dec 31 2004, 08:46 AM)
Apart from dogs and cats, racehorses are probably the most cosseted animals on earth. If they weren't allowed to race what would they do exactly?
Hunt?
QUOTE(The Saturday Boy @ Dec 31 2004, 08:46 AM)
Apart from dogs and cats, racehorses are probably the most cosseted animals on earth. If they weren't allowed to race what would they do exactly?
I'm there'd be a reduction in the need to breed so many racehorses - so there'd be less around.
I agree with Braggtopia that the animals are exploited. They are bread for our fun and if they are of no more use to us, they are killed.
While they are of use, they are pampered and have quite a good life.
Maybe this isn't a question of bad and worse, but I do believe compared to most animals kept by mankind, the racehorses haven't got the worst end of the stick.
While they are of use, they are pampered and have quite a good life.
Maybe this isn't a question of bad and worse, but I do believe compared to most animals kept by mankind, the racehorses haven't got the worst end of the stick.
I totally agree with Mark on the issue, but problems are always the same where animals are being used as pieces of sports equipment to push their owners ego. Sports with animals is not very traditional here, except with horses, but we have the same problems here with sleddogs, and lately we have even organisations that arrange new homes for retired greyhounds from Ireland.
Additionally it needs a lot of breeding and therefore a lot of `useless´ overhang to get one useful racer.
I´m not even sure if the physical construction plan of horses genuinly included the idea of carrying heavy weights on their backs, because of the relative big distance between their front and back legs. Let alone racing and jumping barriers with a fat lady on their back.
Additionally it needs a lot of breeding and therefore a lot of `useless´ overhang to get one useful racer.
QUOTE
Apart from dogs and cats, racehorses are probably the most cosseted animals on earth. If they weren't allowed to race what would they do exactly?
I´m not even sure if the physical construction plan of horses genuinly included the idea of carrying heavy weights on their backs, because of the relative big distance between their front and back legs. Let alone racing and jumping barriers with a fat lady on their back.
Does anyone think that they (the jockeys) use the whip way too much
QUOTE(banerjee555 @ Jun 29 2005, 03:50 PM)
Does anyone think that they (the jockeys) use the whip way too much
Neigh ...
QUOTE(Leontien @ Jan 10 2005, 12:26 PM)
I agree with Braggtopia that the animals are exploited. They are bread for our fun and if they are of no more use to us, they are killed.
While they are of use, they are pampered and have quite a good life.
Maybe this isn't a question of bad and worse, but I do believe compared to most animals kept by mankind, the racehorses haven't got the worst end of the stick.
While they are of use, they are pampered and have quite a good life.
Maybe this isn't a question of bad and worse, but I do believe compared to most animals kept by mankind, the racehorses haven't got the worst end of the stick.
As usual, I am with Leontien on this one.
I don't have statistics on this and wouldn't want to generalize, but in my neck of the woods, I know of many owners and trainers that ensure their racehorses, male or female, live a pampered life once their racing career is over.
I have done my part by taking in three. There are times when they live better than my family does.
QUOTE(LeftintheUS @ Aug 1 2005, 01:45 PM)
I have done my part by taking in three.
*swoons*
I seem to have missed this thread during my Forum sabbatical.
Beyond my general experience that whenever profit or ego is involved animals suffer to some degree, my main issue with horse racing is that they by and large are racing *babies* and their long-term soundness suffers because of it. Horses have growth plates at the end of every bone. These "close" (turn from cartilege to bone) at different rates, starting from the ground (hoof and leg bones) up, with the vertebrae being the last to close at around *six* years or a little later.
When Thoroughbred horseracing was first organized, it involved mature horses racing best 2 out of 3 four-mile heats over varied terrain. This would favor healthy, fit, sound horses. Tracks started holding short (one-off, one to two mile races) as "futurities" to give folks an idea of what the next crop of racers from a particular breeding program were like, however these quickie races became massive crowd-pleasers and cash cows for the tracks/bookies, so more and more of them were held.
Two year-olds have no business racing, nor do three year-olds. Those who do--barring a handful of exceptions--have markedly shorter careers (and more soundness issues as they get older) than those who are raced later.
My other complaint with the racing industry is that horses are designed to live outside, moving/grazing 20 hours a day with a herd of companions. Race horses are pretty much stalled when not working, and fed horsey rocket fuel (grain, that is--horses aren't designed to handle lots of grain). The confinement and feed too often lead to behavioral issues (they go nutty) and ulcers.
There are a lot of folks in the industry who *do* make an effort to get good homes for the horses who don't work out as racers. An OTTB--off-track thoroughbred--who was bred to race but never did can make a *fabulous* sport/performance horse, but folks who actually want to do something with them avoid the ones who've actually raced. But there are too many people who have horses who don't do well at the upper levels and are flogged through low-level races at nasty tracks for whatever profit can be eked out of them, before they end up transported under hellish conditions to a slaughter house.
So I don't think seeing who has the fastest horse by racing them is inherently cruel or immoral (physically mature horses, systematically built-up/conditioned to carry a rider can and do live long, healthy lives), but there are some cruel and immoral practices within the horseracing industry, for certain.
QUOTE(Roo @ Aug 1 2005, 07:32 PM)
QUOTE(LeftintheUS @ Aug 1 2005, 01:45 PM)
I have done my part by taking in three.
...
So I don't think seeing who has the fastest horse by racing them is inherently cruel or immoral (physically mature horses, systematically built-up/conditioned to carry a rider can and do live long, healthy lives), but there are some cruel and immoral practices within the horseracing industry, for certain.
That, I believe, is one of the finest summaries to an issue on this whole board. I wish I had written it.
QUOTE(LeftintheUS @ Aug 1 2005, 09:39 PM)
QUOTE(Roo @ Aug 1 2005, 07:32 PM)
QUOTE(LeftintheUS @ Aug 1 2005, 01:45 PM)
I have done my part by taking in three.
...
So I don't think seeing who has the fastest horse by racing them is inherently cruel or immoral (physically mature horses, systematically built-up/conditioned to carry a rider can and do live long, healthy lives), but there are some cruel and immoral practices within the horseracing industry, for certain.
That, I believe, is one of the finest summaries to an issue on this whole board. I wish I had written it.
I don't think seeing who has the fastest horse by racing them is inherently cruel or immoral , but there are some cruel and immoral practices within the horseracing industry, that needs to be stoped.
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QUOTE(Rocky @ Nov 1 2007, 11:17 AM)
, but there are some cruel and immoral practices within the horseracing industry, that needs to be stoped.
Absolutely.
(Welcome, Rocky.
)
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