Horse races are an enduring tradition in many parts of the world, with fans coming together for the ceremonial pageantry and the thrill of placing a wager on one of the sport’s stars. However, beneath the glitz and glamour is a system that exploits horses for human profit and entertainment. The sport, often referred to as “The Sport of Kings,” is brutal under current rules, and injuries and deaths are an inevitable part of the game.
Through brilliant marketing, Americans are conditioned from birth to view the sport as simply another sports event—and horses as “competitors.” But under this carefully-crafted facade, a sinister core presides, where cruelty reigns and death is a constant companion for racehorses. The racehorse industry has long used fear and the lure of winning to control the public. Its tactics, including sex, gambling and betting on the outcome of a race, would be illegal in any other field, but for horse racing, they are accepted as the cost of luring people to the tracks and betting windows.
The racehorse’s journey to the track is filled with pain, suffering and tragedy. Potential racehorses are torn from their mothers and herds as babies, and most are broken before they are even a year old, an industry term for making them pliant and submissive. This breaking process, also called “shocking,” is done with a whip, chains and other tools that would be illegal in any other field, and can include the use of cribbing collars, lip chains, nose rings and eye blinders.
From there, a young horse is thrust into intensive training and often raced at two years of age. These youngsters don’t reach full musculoskeletal maturity until the age of six, but are often put through a series of intense shocks that cause them to wear down quickly and become prone to chronic conditions like osteoarthritis and joint problems.
The industry’s ability to keep the public enthralled by the prospect of winning is based on the fact that it takes a special breed of horse to run fast and win races. But those aren’t the horses most in need of help. In the wild, horses love to move and they love to run fast, but their natural instinct is to keep to themselves and stay safe as a group.
This is why horse racing needs to change, and why it’s crucial for people to support organizations that are working to do so. The work of animal welfare advocates is not only important to the horses, but it is essential for the future of horse racing. Without reform, this sport will continue to decline and ultimately die out, but if we stand together and take a stand for what is right, we can ensure that horse racing does not disappear altogether. Rather, it will continue to be enjoyed by generations of fans who are united by their love of horses and the sport they so enjoy.