Horse races have entranced spectators for centuries. A day at a race track can include wagering on the winner, eating top menu items and enjoying a dazzling display of horses and riders.
A thoroughbred’s hypnotic movements and huge strides have long been a draw for the crowds in attendance at the races. But behind the scenes, the sport’s dark side lurks, with the slaughter of ten thousand American Thoroughbreds annually and the unpaid labor of thousands of retired horses in a brutal afterlife in Canada and Mexico.
The sport’s exploitation of these animals is not only cruel, it is unsustainable. The industry should stop exploiting the animals it relies on and start investing in a wraparound aftercare solution. That would help save the lives of these magnificent creatures, who are drugged and whipped, often for the sake of the gambling dollars placed on them by people who don’t really understand how they’re abused.
While horse racing is not the only form of animal cruelty in our society, it’s an easy target for critics who point out a fundamentally unequal relationship between humans and these magnificent animals. Many argue that the horse industry’s treatment of its animals is not just immoral but also unsustainable in a world where it is possible to replace the need for human labor with machines.
The earliest races were match races between two or at most three horses, with the owners providing the purse and the participants making simple wagers. When an owner withdrew from a race, he or she forfeited half the purse or, later, the entire purse. In 1729, a disinterested third party, called a “keeper of the match book,” began recording agreements in England to establish the records of race results. This work was eventually consolidated as An Historical List of All Horse-Matches Run (1729).
In the 18th century, the demand for more public races led to open events with larger fields of runners. Eligibility rules were developed based on age, sex, birthplace, and previous performance. Then, handicapping was introduced to level the playing field and allow inferior horses to compete with more seasoned athletes. The higher a horse’s class, the heavier weight it has to carry in a race.
Some horses are pushed so hard that they suffer injuries to their legs, backs, or necks and die. Many bleed from the lungs after exercise, a condition known as exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage. To mask this bleeding and to encourage horses to continue running at their maximum effort, many are drugged with cocktails of legal and illegal substances.
Even though a few good, well-trained horses can win big, the majority of races are rigged by shady bookmakers and corrupt officials. The most important step the industry can take to reform itself is to stop ripping off horse owners and gamblers.