Horse racing..Ethical or not?

Question

What are your opinions on this controversial sport? Is it bad, cruel, and unethical? Or does the fault of the many deaths and injuries lay somewhere other than the actual sport? I won't give you my opinion yet, I want yours first. Just a discussion question

Answer 1

Cruel and unethical.  If the horses wanted to run, they could run in a big open pasture.

Answer 2

I don't see how horse racing is any different than any other horse sport.

There is injury in all sports.  People do everything they can to prevent it, but the truth is accidents happen.

Answer 3

ya know sports do change the economy so i think that its okay but as long as they dont kill them after they arent so good anymore because i saw on the news is that they kill the horses for meat after they start doing bad in the races. and they are meant for running ....its why theyre bodys are built the way they are. it would be wrong if you used a different animal that cant run and they force it to run using pain. the trainers keep horses healthy feed them and take care of them. in the wild some horses die because the cant find water or food so might as well keep them there but they should give them a lil bit more freedom.

Answer 4

Horses like a good gallop, but what i don't agree with in racing is the use of the whip, so that would be like you bieng forsed to eat ice cream but getting whipped because you didn't eat fast enough.

Answer 5

I love horse racing, and the Triple Crown is a big deal in my family.  There are aspects of the industry that could use improvement as is true in all aspects of horse showing and sports.  I believe those issues are being looked at and improvements are being made, which is more than is being done in some other horse businesses.

Answer 6

It is a natural thing for horses to race and want to be in front. Horses with a stronger instinct for this are usually the champions. The front of the pack is the safest place for a horse to be when running from a predator. I don't think racing horses is unethical or wrong. What I do believe is that horses are started in their racing careers at too young of an age. Their bones aren't fully developed and leave them open for injury. Eight Bells had run 10 races before she was a full 3 year old. 4 or 5 would be better to start horses in racing. If we did that, tragedies like Eight Bells and Barbaro would be rare. I think the amount of races and her age were what led to her death. Jockeys would probably have fewer accidents and thus fewer deaths too. I doubt things will change and I am still bothered by the Eight Bells tragedy.

Answer 7

I dont think horse racing is cruel or unethical. The horses LOVE to run and I think they know when they win. My distant cousin owns a racing farm in Kentucky and the barn is nicer than my house. The broodmares live on big old pastures and just hang out with their foals. The yearlings that were going to sale were obsessively taken care of. I wish the people holding the races would move everything back a year and horses started their career at 3 and the big races were for 4 years old (instead of 3 years old for the Kentucky Derby the horse would be 4). I think it would help prevent breakdowns and give the horses a better chance of staying sound in the long run.

I do have a problem with the nurse mare set up. A barn in the area breeds mares and takes there foal away a couple days after it is born. The mare is then leased out to be used at the racing farms to nurse rejected foals. The mares original foal is nursed from a bottle till it is weaned. It is common courtesy to breed the nurse mare back to a stallion while it is at the racing barn so it can have a foal the following year and repeat the process. I think is is cruel to seperate the mare and foal after only a few days simply to get money. The foals sire is often out of the racing barns teaser stallion. My cousins farm had a nastly little black and white TWH teaser that had to be sedated to ride. Not exactly stallion quatily. So the foal (that has already had its mother taken away) is worth very little becuase it is a mixed breed that may or may not have good conformation or a good mind. The nurse mares at cousins far were paint, quarter horse and TB. Who wants a TWH crossed with any of those breeds?

As for cruelity in eventing. That is BS for the most part. Every eventing horse I know gets amazing care. There are people in every sport though that make things dangerous. I think the cause of the 2 Rolex crashes were ruled to be bad spots or freak accidents but I have heard other wise. I think Chron of Horse did an artical that said Laine and Frodo were way to inexperience to be trying to compete on that level and had to business being on the X-county course. That would explain why they only made it to fence 5 whick was not very challenging: http://www.rk3de.org/virtual_fence.php?i...

They also said the girl riding The Quiet Man was riding recklessly (going to fast for the terrain) and the horse had already slipped once. This would also explain why she crashed jump 13 which is fairly straight forward (I saw this fence personally and other than the looks there is nothing to complex about it) http://www.rk3de.org/virtual_fence.php?i...

I own an ex-race horse and event on him by the way.

Answer 8

The principals or horse racing are indeed ethical. All horses, although especially thoroughbreds, have some desire to run. Originally as herd animals, all horses had to run fast for long distances to outrun predators. Therefore, these animals have a instinct to race. They will even race with each other in paddocks.

However, the way that many people go about horse racing proves unethical. The way that unsuccessful horses are treated after their racing career is inexcusable; should they not be sent to a slaughterhouse, at the very least their conditions are dismal.

As a last point, I must agree with those who think that racing is no less ethical than any other sport regarding horses. However, we must keep in mind that your typical jumper, hunter, dressage horse - what have you - is not worked under the same conditions as your typical race horse. Are all horses under risk of injury? Of course. A horse can be injured simply by running around a field.

But what determines whether or not the sport is ethical is how the injury may be treated, and whether or not the hard working horses receive proper care.

Answer 9

Well, some racing farms and the jockeys are unethical. Horses are whipped, made to run on crappy surface that can put them in danger of broken bones, and are trained badly to make them run as fast as possible.

However, many horse racing facilities are good though. They breed/buy horses that have potential. They train them with kindness and see how good they are at running. They teach them how to respond without whips, and don't run them if the ground is bad or the horse is injured, even if only slightly.

Horses enjoy running. In the wild they do, and humans are just sitting on them while they do it.

The deaths and injuries are mainly caused by falls due to a bad track surface, being run into by other horses or being forced to run faster when they can't. All things humans can make better if they aren't so interested in making money and winning. However, like I said, nowadays especially, people do care about the horses.

Answer 10

i dont think that there is a problem with either of the sports, the reason there are so many accidents in racing is because breeders have been breeding for speed only and forgeting that strong bones and durable horses are actualy the real key to a good racehorse. i dont think that there is a problem with racing i just think that people need to figure out how bring back the old reacehorse that was not only fast but had  a carreer that lasted more than 4 years.

that is my opinion, now lets hear your opinion on this subject

Answer 11

Since I have been raised in this sport, I will be happy to give you my opinion. Horse racing is not bad, cruel or unethical. Yes, there are breakdowns, and that part of it is awful. But Thoroughbreds are bred and born to run. There are accidents in every sport, and there are always risks. I am a member of the AOL horse racing message board, and we discuss this a lot. They are doing things to try to make the sport safer, like putting in synthetic tracks. It is very costly to do this, but safety for the horses is being considered first before the cost.

Thoroughbreds are very fragile and do the dumbest things.

About a year ago a horse named AP Jet and another named Gold Token werfe at their farm. A groomer was taking Gold Token out when AP Jet went through the paddock and started fighting with Gold Token. They ran up a pathway and Gold Token hit a tree and dropped dead on the spot. I could tell you many stories very similiar to this one. But I do not think racing horses is in any way cruel, or unethical.