Do you feel horse racing is bad?

Question

i have mixed feelings about horse racing. If a horse is in the right hands it is very well off. but put into the wrong hands and theres issues. if you look at the majority of horse break downs the horse was acting funny before the race(babaro broke through the gate early and although not a break down big brown was kicking his stall) i no the trainers are selfish( except for a few) but i think if they look at the signs there horses are telling them there woont be as many break downs. also people say horses are forced to run... they arent. they love it if you let a horse like smarty jones out in a field he would start galloping away. and finally the whip doesnt affect the horse. the animal weighs over a thousand pounds it feels like a fly.wut are your thought

Answer 1

ITS A SPORT.

Answer 2

I dont think so....maybe its bad for your Azsss if you are a jockey....but not for the horse...

Answer 3

I love horse racing.I do think that changes need to be looked at for the safety of the horses and jockey's too.Yes,it is interesting that some horses act odd before something happens. I think that there are both good and bad breeders and trainers.I do love the sport and I do hope it continues with far less accidents.

Answer 4

it is bad for people who can't let go of their dollar bet.

Answer 5

well look at thiz ?? quetion on her racing a horse with bad back hocks she syz it not hurting him

now what do youz think about that story ?

oh its on the one that sayz help with my berral horse

with arthirtis ,,

That is

I Ok ok I am typeing for him

he said to llok at th eother QQ with a girl racing her horse with bad hind legs ..

he says what is the differneternce?

Answer 6

a couple of facts about australian racing........

more horses break down and are destroyed in equestrian events (show jumping, cross country, dressage), than racing!

so why do the tree huggers not focus on banning that sport!

more humans are have died in the sydney to hobart yacht race (an annual yacht race held of the coast of australia) in the last ten years than jockeys in the last ten years!

now equestrian and yachting are glorified sports, why i ask? when they account for more deaths (human and equine) than racing! yet racing is shunned!

horses are smart animals ive seen races were a horse may show uncharicteristic traits before a race, then afterwards they are found to be carrying an injurie! unfortunatly i only realised this in hind-sight!  i pay alot more attention now!

you make a good point about horses love to run! and a way to prove this to any doubters is.... pay attention next time a jockey falls off during a race, note what the horse does! ill tell you it will keep running until it is pulled up by the clerk of the course! why ? coz horses love to run, its what they do!

Answer 7

Well first off yes there are good and bad people who breed these horses to race and some of them want to win because they have money in their eyes. While you may say that other sports cause more injury and deaths to horses, I  would not say that is completely true.Think about it the last few years in horse racing there has been more break downs because the horse ran when he did not feel like it. I rooted for Big Brown at the belmont and i am telling you he was a different horse that day. It was the hottest day of the year for them to ever get and that poor horse was sweating badly. He did not preform well i know that he could have won if it was not so hot for him.Those other equestrians sports yes they do get injured often but thats because they make a mistake or the horse freaks out and gets the stage fright. Cross country is not televised as much as horse racing is or dressage or jumping for that matter because those horse and their riders are either injured or they die .Thats cause they jumped in a sport that tests their ability to complete the course and some of those jumps dont look safe enough.That and horse racing have something in common. INJURIES. Horses when they are raced are young they dont grow up until they are four or five years of age. They are dainty juveniles that seem pretty skinny.

  While i love horse racing and seeing all the horses its just that i am fearful that some of these horses might break a leg walking.Like you say that they are over a thousand pound animal and it feels like a fly to them thats another thing. Just because they weigh more does not mean that it cannot hurt them. Some of these horses have very sensitive skin and they react more. Horses are ticklish on their sides, belly, rump, and the face. Hey thats why you dont use your heels on their sides- unless you are asking for it. The whip can affect the horse greatly. Thats why you hear alot of times a horse being abused because they were whipped or spurred to a point that they could not take it anymore. You can see the nicks where they were hit with the whip or spurs their skin is thin and about as thick as ours.So really you show that you are a great rider  and you can urge the horse to go with the reins their mouth is sensitive to and they can feel the slightest movement on the reins and know what to do next

  While you say they love to run there are some that dont love to run. IF YOU watch the stakes race and see a horse you can see that some of them start in the back of the pack and stay there til the end. OH GEE here i go bringing it up but stories of horses being rescued from slaughter houses because these bad people wanted their horse to run. Yes they run they were BORN to run because they are flee animals and run to get away from predators.Thats what they were bred for in reality. You cannot say that all like to run some are just lazy like us and dont feel like it or dont have the stamina to go.

ADDITIONAL DEATAILS: i was replying to this because i was shocked at how many people said that horses love to run and while these horses are trained professionals and yes people who work with these great animals know their horses better than anyone in reality you dont know much about your horse because they still teach you something about themselves. THINK ABOUT IT  horses lived a long time before we came and tamed them to ride. They were born to run from predators why because they dont want to end up as dinner. WHILE i did see that some horses love to run like Barbaro i know he did and Big Brown too. They all dont like to run. These horses when they are pulled up they see the pack they started with and by instinct think that that is their herd and they must keep running with them why because that is what happens in the wild. One horse tells the herd to run and so together they run. That is the reason they still run when they get an injury is because they feel like they dont want to be attacked and and alone. THATS WHY.

ANY sport that you do not like do you want your family to make you do it and maybe if your family was in that sport and you hated it do you think that you would do it?

For example: the marathon was going to be here in a week. Would people who have asthema run? no. I  am sure that people who got sick the day before probably did not run  the race for fear of being sick again.

AS FOR THE WHIPS you can say what you like but how do you really know? Were you a horse in your past life i really doubt it. They have very sensitive spots all over their body. SO what would that tell you? Of course that is going to affect them. I knew someone that had rescued a horse and he was sore all over his body because the people before had whipped and spurred him. Yea you can say that they whipped him harder. They HAD a discussion on the day of the belmont and the retired and hall of fame jockey Gary Stevens said that they should do away with the whip. Hey thats something you should look at. Wow that is new he was a jockey and the best and he even said that you should get rid of whips. That there tells me that the whip is not used kindly in racing. Therefore that is affecting the horse greatly and hurting them in some way that you people seem to not understand. THEY  have about thick skin as us or any animal for that matter.

I think that you should just change a few things and make it better. Outlaw medicines and race them when they are four years of age. that makes quite a difference and changes the way they race but makes them stronger and able to run with out getting much break downs then you will see less. As i said before the whips and spurs should go that would make it better and then the people who want to end it might go away after seeing that there is not alot of harming and besides you make a great rider and horseman when you dont have to use whips and spurs. I can ride my horses without those and train better without that it is easier and you make a better productive horse and rider that understands each other and can ride better.

Answer 8

its a cycle thing/ next year all will be forgotten

Answer 9

By no means is it bad. Granted there are some lows in the buisness but it's mainly all about the horses and jockeys they even just raised the weight a few pounds in california for fear of the jockeys health. You are correct on one thing...fallen into the wrong hands racehorses dont always do as well but the good trainers owners and racing officials deffinately out weigh the bad ones(:

Answer 10

I think its funny how none of those tree hugging yuppies cared about the rules and regulations of horse racing before big brown came along. You got to realize a lot of people jump on history making band wagons if you will. Just look at the top races out there like the kentucky derby or the preakness. All you see is celebrities who just want to be in the limelight. They are not there for the love of the sport, they are there to be seen. Ever since Big Brown had a shot at the triple crown everyone was watching to see if history would be made. So since the sport became more popular the tree huggers want to find a way to shut it down so we could be miserable like them. As far as Barbaro goes, he underwent multiple surjeries to try and save him. I am no doctor but just like we depend on our legs I would have to say that horses depend on them a lot more then we do. You can't put a horse in a wheelchair and im sure you can't give horses fake legs and teach them to walk on them. And for big brown yeah he was kicking in his stall but you got to remember your taking him out of his enviroment and putting him somewhere he is not used too. So of course there is going to be some uneasiness. As far as eight belles go, I am 100 percent sure they didn't just put her down for the fun of it. Those are trained professionals on that track and im sure they know more about horse safety then anyone one of us do. Im sure they know that she was going thru a lot of pain and im sure she died doing what she loved do. Run. So to finally answer the question, no, I don't think horse racing is bad. I think those horses love to run because its in their genes to run. Those horses get better treatment then some humans will get in their entire lives. Let the horses run.

R.I.P. Eight Belles

Fight on Big Brown!!!!!

Answer 11

I have to disagree with you in some aspects of this. I have lived on a horse farm for most of my life and have ridden a lot of thoroughbreds. They love to run and it's natural for them. Break downs happen for a reason and it might not be anything the owner did and part of it is genetics and not being fully developed. I feel that barbaro was going to be a triple crown winner, the jockey had to force him to pull up and if he didn't that horse would of kept running and been seriously injured. Whips do make a difference in how they are used people think it hurts them but horses are big and it only wakes them up a bit. Horses act funny all the time if you went off of acting funny all  the time that horse would never leave its stall. I think you have misjudged though trainers. At my barn horses get better care than me and always come first. Trainers are made to look at the signs they no that horse better than anyone. These are my opinions and I cant change your mind, but it's a passion of horse owners. People do  use whips in bad ways but in horse racing  have to use it at some point. Im a jumper and mainly use my leg and only wear spurs and a whip for a backup. I also believed at first big brown was a contender for the triple crown until i found out he was on steroids. when he was taken off steroids for the belmont i knew he wasnt going to win and it wasnt because of the heat. I dont understand why thoroughbreds back then could do things so much better than horses now without supplements and special feeds. Training needs to look back at the greats they won because they didnt need anything to make them great they had it in them. i think the triple crown should be run when they are older.

Answer 12

No horse racing is not bad.

Horsess do love to run. I was at Lone Star Park when a

horse in the second race threw his jockey before all the horses were in the gate. That horse broke through and ran completely around the track.  The entire grandstand cheered as the riderless horse crossed the finish line.

Tragedy as sad as it is, is a part of a horse racing.

It just seems that so many people who normally do not care at all about racing is now in the anti racing wagon because of the recent tragedies.  This was the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby this year.  something tells me they will be running the Derby long after all of us are gone.

Answer 13

no