A horse race is a competition in which horses run on a track and are bet upon by people to win money. Horse racing is a long-running and popular sport in many countries. While it is often viewed as entertainment, the industry has several problems that are detrimental to horses’ welfare. These include high levels of injury and deaths, reliance on illegal gambling, and the fact that many race horses are not fit to be raced.
Horses in the wild live free and graze all day, but those that are raised for races are often kept in small isolated stalls where they spend most of their time. This can cause stress and a variety of behavioral problems, including crib biting (a repetitive behavior where the horse bites its own bridle) and weaving, (a repetitive behavior in which the horse shifts weight back and forth on its forelegs).
The main reason why most horse races end up being so violent is that horses are simply not made to be racehorses. They are forced to do things that they do not naturally want to do and have no desire to do, and in the process are subjected to dangerous amounts of pain and suffering. These animals, which weigh more than a human and have ankles the size of a person’s, are whipped and forced to run around tracks that are often made of hard-packed dirt at speeds of 30 miles per hour while carrying people on their backs. Injuries, drugs, and poor breeding practices are rampant in the multibillion-dollar horse race industry, which is largely funded by gambling dollars, and many of these horses ultimately die or must be destroyed.
Most horses in North America and Europe are bred to be competitive, but they are often too young to handle the demands of racing. Their skeletal systems are still developing, and their bodies are not ready for the stresses of running on hard surfaces at high speeds. One study found that one horse in every 22 races suffers an injury that prevents it from finishing the race. And every day, three thoroughbreds are killed at racetracks in North America.
In addition, many races are rigged by illegal gambling, and there is widespread evidence that the horses are not being trained as they should be. These problems, combined with the utter lack of financial support for these horses, make racing a grueling and unnatural activity for these magnificent creatures. Thousands of horses leave the industry each year, either at a young age while they are in training, during their racing careers, or when they retire. They may then find their way to the slaughterhouse, where their lives end in a terrible and undeserved way. The cruelty in the industry, and especially the way that horses are trained and bred, is a major source of concern for animal welfare activists. This is why these advocates are calling on journalists to cover the issues surrounding horse racing.