Can anyone tell me why people do horse races when its life or death for the horse seams alittle unfair?

Question

Can anyone tell me why people do horse races when its life or death for the horse seams alittle unfair?

Answer 1

Perhaps you could instead explain to me why out of the 1000s of races that happen every day the media focuses on two incidents and tries to kill the sport...

Answer 2

It's the build of the animal. It's most unfortunate, but it doesn't happen as often as you think, when you consider the hundreds of races across the continent on a daily basis. For interest's sake, my family was in the racing business for a long time with many horses. We never once "lost" a horse on the track, but had several that had accidents in their outdoor paddocks or fields that had to be put down. Run into the fencing, step in a hole, or just take a bad step.....

Answer 3

It is a fact of life that where you have livestock, you will have deadstock.

Thoroughbreds are man-made breed that is bred purely for the purpose of racing, they are faster than most other breeds and develop physically much faster than other breeds - hence why we can race them at 2 years of age.

A recent study showed the racehorse fatalities each year are something like 1 for every 1,500 horses.  The vast majority of these fatalities happen at home, either in training or in the paddock.  The most common cause of death in a racehorse in training is a heart attack, not a broken limb.

Racehorses are amongst some of the best cared for animals in the world - they get the best food, the best veterinary treatment, the best general care.  Believe me, most racehorses are better fed and looked after than the people that care for them.  When I worked on a stud I was kicked by a particularly valuable foal - my stud groom's first response was "Is his leg ok?", yup they were more bothered about the foal than me!

For some people the money is the most important thing, but for the vast majority of people that work in racing and watch racing it is all about watching a group of supreme athletes fight it out up the home straight.

Answer 4

The reason is simple. People make money off racing the horses. Bettors, track employees, stable hands, trainers, jockeys, owners, breeders. It is a business.

Is it fair to the horse?  I'm sure there are some idiot trainers out there but the vast majority are very well cared for. Not all horses that break down are euthanized. Some come back to race some retire or go to stud(that would be awesome). Horses do sometimes give their lives for running in a race. It sucks when it does happen. Would they live as long or as well in the wild is another question.

Lastly the racing industry is actually doing things to improve conditions. All tracks in California have been forced to install a synthetic racing service that cushions the beating the horses legs go through. Many tracks in other states are doing it too.

Answer 5

Just like everyone said before, most accidents involving race horses do not occur on the track. Well I don't really want to reitterate what everyone else has said. Thoroughbred are often taken care of very well by trainers, owner, groomer, everyone! I remember watching TV a while back ago about some owners who retired their horse to stud. Someone in China wanted to have this horses bloodlines so they bought him and he got shipped to China. When his owners found out that he wasn't doing to well as a stud they repurchased him! They were worried that they'd sell him to a slaughterhouse so they bought him and kept him just as a regular horse, not a stud. For owners to do that just amazes me. Most race horses tend to live very good lives and most of them, even the claimmers who never seemed to win a race end up with very good lives! If you look into the racing form you'll actually see somewhere that all trainers and owners are against slaughter and that almost all the horses end up with very good homes and second carrers as schooling ponies, jumpers, and just pasture horses.