Two years ago in May 2005, Barbaro, a 3 year old Thoroughbred racehorse won the Kentucky Derby. Two weeks later he shattered his leg in the Preakness race. The next day he underwent surgery for his injuries . In July 2005, he developed laminitis in his left rear leg , a very painful disease in the hoof caused by a failure of the hoof bone to connect to the hoof wall. He had an additional five surgeries, and his prognosis varied as he remained for an extraordinarily long period of time in the equine Intensive Care Unit at the University of Pennsylvania. While his right leg eventually healed, a final risky surgery on it proved futile because the colt soon developed further laminitis in both front legs. His veterinarians and owners then concluded that he could not be saved, and Barbaro was euthanized on January 29, 2007. Barbaro broke his right hind leg in more than 20 places: a broken cannon bone above the ankle, a broken sesamoid bone behind the ankle and a broken long pastern bone below the ankle. The fetlock joint was dislocated. If Barbaro had not ridden in that race, he might still be alive today.
The Dangers and evils of horse racing
I’m going to present to you the dangers and evils of professional horse racing. Every year hundreds of race horses are raced to death, and many more are injured. If they aren’t winning, then they are frequently neglected and abused. Something needs to be done to stop the abuse and help these horses.
Injuries
There are many dangers in horse racing. A horse can slip and fall, or step on its leg wrong and break it. Another famous racehorse, Ruffian, the unbeatable thoroughbred filly was running in a match race against the Kentucky Derby winner Foolish Pleasure. Half way through the race she stepped wrong and completely snapped her leg. She had a successful surgery, but when she woke up from it she accidentally broke her other leg. She was put down eight hours after the accident.
In the 2005 racing year, 320 racehorse deaths were reported in California alone, a number believed to be an all-time high. It was a 32 percent increase from the previous year, with 154 of the deaths coming during races, up 34 percent from the previous year. And horse racing doesn’t just take a toll on the horses. Surprisingly, horse racing is the most dangerous sport for people. For every 100,000 fatalities nationwide, about 128 are caused by horse racing.
Animal Aid, a British animal rights organization. Founded in 1977, Initiated a Race Horse Death Watch was launched during the 2007 Cheltenham Festival in England. Its purpose is to expose and record every on-course Thoroughbred fatality in Britain. Their research indicated that an average of 375 horses is raced to death every year. One-third of them die on racecourses, while the others are destroyed as a result of training injuries, or are killed because they are no longer commercially viable.
From Winner to Dinner
In 2002 the Kentucky Derby 1986 Winner Ferdinand was slaughtered in a Japanese slaughter house. Though Americans were outraged, not much was done to stop slaughter until 2006 when an Anti Slaughter bill was put into the senate. The bill passed but it only protects horses going to slaughter in America. It does not protect horses being shipped out of the country and into Mexico and Canada. More than 90% of horses going to Slaughter are healthy horses, and nearly half of those horses are racehorses. In slaughter houses the horses are neglected, abused and poorly fed, if fed at all. They are given just enough nourishment to keep them alive until they can be slaughtered.
Overworking
Overworking is another danger. Many good horses are ruined because they are raced too much when they are still too young. The official thoroughbred birthday is January 1st when they can officially start racing, so none of the horses are actually a year old. Some are younger than others, thus a 5 months old horse could be racing an 8 month old horse. Since the horses are raced when they are so young and still growing, it causes bone problems. They can develop Arthritis at early ages. The bones can chip and create bumps on their legs, and their joints are often ruined resulting in lifetime lameness. Being raced or trained every day is very hard on a horse, especially a young, growing horse. If trained at the right age (3 or 4) a Thoroughbred can be raced up to the age of 10. But in America, the average retiring age is 4 or 5.
No place to call home
Many people think that racehorses ‘live the good life’. They get nice grain and fresh hay every day. They live in heated barns and have nice comfortable stalls with grooms that go in and clean up for them every 5 minutes. The problem is that they are not living as horses should, they live in a box stall, are expected to be explosively athletic at the drop of a hat, are given a bit of a cool out, and put back in their stalls. They are fed well, but are often handled by people who don't care who they are as an animal but rather how they translate into a paycheck, or who don't have the time to work with them individually because they have a whole barn of 20 horses to care for. A horse needs play time; time to just be a horse. It needs time in a pasture to run around and release pent up energy. These racehorses are so expensive that they can’t be let outside for fear of being hurt. They have no real place to call home. These Racehorses are still just horses. They still need interaction with other horses. The jockeys that ride them see them as a money maker, and they don’t actually ride the horse until the race. They have different riders all through training.
Think about it
Horse Racing is seen as a prestigious sport. Millions of spectators flock to the races, bet on a horse they think looks fast, and sit and cheer that horse on. Yet few ever consider the well being of the horse. They must run at top speed anywhere from a quarter mile to three miles. If they don’t win they are cooled off quickly and put back in their stall while their owners go on to race the next horse in the stock. If they do win they are taken right to the winners circle. An odd spooky blanket of flowers is thrown onto their back and lights start flashing from cameras and they are paraded off to their stall with a crowd of people following. Next time you go to a horse race or even see it on TV, think about the horses. I hope this speech has prompted you to look at it differently. Thank you.
What do You think of my horse racing speech?
honestly while you do make some very valid points I think it's crap %26amp; you need to do a little more research on racing and maybe even experience the whole management aspect of it personally. What happened to Barbaro was a FREAK ACCIDENT, Had he not raced in the Preakness he probably would have broken it in his paddock or in the belmont, there is no way we will ever know. Throughbreds are born to run, some have stronger bone structure than others it's just the luck of the draw. I can tell you this much you are gonna hack off a lot of avid racing fans and people who work with the animals by posting this. Those racehorses get treated better than my own horses do and they are taken pretty damn good care of. Hell they are probably proivded for better than most children. I suggest you delve further into the sport instead of concentrating on the "evils" of horse racing. If you look at it logically, look at the accidents that happen in any horse related sport, they abound everywhere not just racing. So if you are gonna say racing is evil b/c of the accidents that happen in it, maybe you should just go ahead and say all us horse owners are cruel for putting an our horses through unnatural things. Go ahead and thumb me down i dont care but God you know nothings kill me when it comes to racing. You se eone thing and label the whole sport and everything surrounding it as evil. Sorry if i hurt you feelings or hacked you off but YOU asked
also honey Barbaro won in 2006 get your years straight
if you ride at a "top class jumper barn" then you should know about the hazzards of jumping to horses, ever see a horse hit the ground wrong after landing a jump and completely shatter his leg, and I mean to the point where bone splinters out of leg? I have seen it in person and this horse was about a 65,000 horse that was very very well taken care of and had plenty of rest between shows...... you may know when it comes to jumpers but it is obvious you don't know jack when it comes to race horses
Reply:The best answer is really harsh =|
Well done :)
I ride all the time but don't feel all horse racing is wrong, although I do feel sorry for the horses the way the Jockeys whack them, that is pretty harsh =\.. particularly the grand national.. that just pushes them tooooo far
x Report It
Reply:First racing rough on horses. Their knees are not fully developed until around the age of three. Some vets feel this leads to more injuries. Others feel that the uncalcified bone has more give and therefore can tolerate more stress without breaking. Report It
Reply:Second losing a horse is not something that you walk away from lightly. I have seen horses and riders go down, and seen the injured rider jump up to check on the horse. There are also a lot of jockeys that lose horses that can never ride again. The pain last for a lifetime. Report It
Reply:Third as far as the statistic, one of our own horses, Northern Birdie, nearly became one. He broke down on the track. We were fortunate and he lived, but memory of that day still brings me to tears. We love our horses plain and simple. Report It
Reply:BRAVO! BRAVO!! Great speech for someone that knows nothing about the sport except what you see on TV!! BRAVO!!! I'm not going to bother wasting my typing skills on you. BTW... I have a horse on the track, so I guess I'm a terrible owner in your eyes. BTW... I'm also pro slaughter! Have a good night!!!
Good job BISCUIT!!
Reply:Ok i work part time at a racing stables riding and grooming... and mostly none of what you have said is true.
No horse is going to be raced at 5 or 8 months old.
They do get nice grain, fresh hay, and live in comfortable stalls.
The horses where i work are stabled in the winter and in paddocks in the summer, and i have never seen one horse unhappy in either of these conditions.
Their stalls are mucked out twice daily, and they are not expected to be 'explosively athletic at the drop of a hat', they are conditioned into their work very gradually, none of them struggle with it one bit.... as for a 'bit of a cool out', these horses are hosed, sponged, scraped, toweled and then put on a mechanical walker untill they have dried off and cooled down completely, which is a lot more than what most average horses get.
Not one person handles these horses that doesn't know what they are doing, every person i work wth comes from a horsey background and most of them probably know a whole lot more than you (no offence).
One of our most expensive colts (NZ$400, 000) is currently living in a paddock with no cover... so i guess there isn't that much of a 'fear of him getting hurt'.
They all have interaction, whether in stalls, in paddocks, they almost always have at least 30 other horses in sight.
If there is something wrong with the horse the vet is out that day or the very next day.... even if its not urgent... my own horse has to usually wait 2-3 days for something unimportant.
How many horses around can have the farrier/vet/physiotherapist/chiropractor come to see them within 2 days of something happening??
The jockeys ride to win, yes that is the general point. And at least 80% of the jockeys over here will ride the horse at least a few times before they race it.... also there is nothing wrong with different riders throughout training.....?!, if anything it makes the horse better at understanding ever so slighty different signals... i would hate to get on a horse that had been only ever been ridden by someone with rough hands etc.
As for the "They must run at top speed...." they run because they want to, if they didn't they wouldn't, if they were unhappy or in pain the would not run any idiot knows that.
And again they are not "cooled off quickly and put back in their stall while their owners go on to race the next horse in the stock" , i have worked several times 'backstage' at the races and the same they are hosed, sponged, scraped and towel and led around and around for like an hour untill they have cooled off, then they go back to they're stall and if they fidget even a little bit before the race or after then someone takes them out to be walked.
Honestly i used to think what you think about horseracing, but now that i actually KNOW what goes on, i know that those horses have the same quality of life as my own horse, which is pretty good.
Reply:There is one thing I would like to correct. Thoroughbreds are not raced at one year of age in the US. Their training under saddle and first races occur in their two year old year. Though, yes, a foal born in March 2006 and starting training next month is only 22 months old.
It is tragic when a race horse breaks its leg but the reality is that horses can break their legs in a pasture or their stall. I do agree that we should not be racing horses so young. I think two year old racing should be eliminated. I also think breeders need to focus on breeding sound, durable animals and not rushing horses off to stud after their three year old year or worse yet, rushing unsound animals off to the breeding shed. I suppose there are cheap claimers on low end circuits who might not be treated well but the average race horse cost its owner hundreds of thousands and sometimes millions of dollars. They are well cared for investments.
No, racing is not a "natural" life for a horse but if this is wrong then no one should ride horses at all, either in the hunter/jumper ring, eventing, draft work, trail riding, etc. Those activities are not natural, either.
Reply:WAY TO GO ,BISCUIT. You beat me to it. I believe you need to post this "speech" somewhere other than in the racing section... maybe at PETA's site?
"These racehorses are so expensive that they can’t be let outside for fear of being hurt. They have no real place to call home. These Racehorses are still just horses. They still need interaction with other horses. The jockeys that ride them see them as a money maker, and they don’t actually ride the horse until the race. They have different riders all through training. " You obviously have NEVER been around REAL race horses or jockeys for that matter! Jockeys are out there 7 days a week exercising horses that they want to retain as a mount ( and they are at the barns as early as 4:30 AM). Did you happen to see Edgar Prado HUG Evening Attire's neck after he won? Didn't think so...
You definitely need to go to a track and see what is happening before you blast the sport like this.
" I myself ride at a top class jumper barn"..... HUGE difference between show jumpers ( or hunter / jumpers) and race horses! I work with both, and you CANNOT tell me that jumpers don't get hurt cause that's a big fat lie.
Reply:Its well written, but a lot of that isnt true. I helped my dad own and train TBs to race. Ours are all fine, a hors ecan slip doing anything. Down the trails, jumping. Any horse sport is dangerous to the horse and rider so don't single out racing.
Reply:hey Florence nightingale if you don't like horse racing stay off the horse racing section .
Reply:Darlin you are horribly misguided. Obviously you're taking the most extreme cases and using them to prove a misguided point. You're not taking into account the thousands of horses who make it safely and happily back to their barns each day.
I broke my toe in a play once, should we outlaw the theatre? Horses are made to run, they enjoy running, and the majority of them enjoy the crowd. Their grooms and other workers for the most part take excellent care of them. Of course there are exceptions, but there are exceptions to every rule in life.
I dare you to spend a year visiting race tracks, training centers, etc and come out feeling the same way as you do now. Weeks of reading on the internet are not sufficient. I could spend "weeks" reading about brain surgery on the internet but I doubt anyone would be willing to let me open them up afterwards. Gain some real life experience.
Oh, and Barbaro won the Derby in 2006, not 2005. Giacomo won in 2005, and he's happily retired and making babies. You should at least have those facts right.
Reply:woah woah woah woah WOAH!
i think you've exaggerated this a bit.
accidents in horse races are pretty rare. they dont have an accident in every single race
jockeys DO ride their horses before a race...while they are training!
and a lot of jockeys do love the horses they ride, not all of them are just doing it for the money.
the distance? think about the wild horses, how far they would run during the day.
im not saying that horse racing is a good sport, but i really do think that you're not considering the positive facts.
there ARE cruel people out there who are in the racing industry and mistreat their horses.
i have a thoroughbred who used to race but the owners abandoned her because she developed a guteral (?spelling) pouch infection which meant the end of her racing career. Sure im angry at these people, but im not going to say that ALL race horse trainers mistreat their horses and are only in it for the money. Im not going to blame every single horse trainer out there and say that they all mistreat their horses. because in actual fact they dont.
I know im repeating myself but seriously. Not all horse trainers are evil. Not all of them mistreat their horses. There are SO SO SO many horse trainers out there that have a great passion for horses and horse racing, and that really do care about horses. MOST of them do it for their passion, not for the money.
I do think this is a good speech because i can see that you feel very strongly about this subject, but i really do think that you need to consider some facts because this is a very exaggerated piece of writing.
Reply:I will not waste your time by typing a long answer by just summing it up: HORSE RACING ISN'T CRUEL!!!!!!!
Reply:Well I think Biscuit expressed my opinion quite nicely.
Lets consider all the injuries that occur to human athletes, should we ban all sports because teen boys and girls warp their knees playing football, suffer concussions playing soccer, get their faced bashed in by an elbow coming down in basketball, lets talk about the cheerleaders who break necks while doing acrobats... or now there is even a gladiators show coming, or ultimate fight, There is a risk in every sport there is, shouldn't we condemn all of them not just horse racing. You have unfairly picked on a sport that you do not clearly understand.
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