Horse racing and injuries?

Question

Who, besides the owner decides if a horse is fit to race? What does a vet check? Are x-rays required?

Also is there any case where a horse was injured during a race and stopped on its own accord?

Answer 1

At the derby yesterday a horse went down and she didn't get up.  they put her to sleep both her ankles fractured.  usually a vet decides if they can even walk again and the owner decides if they want to even attempt to rehabilitate her not for racing though.

Answer 2

do not know, sorry but a horse that was about to finish a race in 2nd broke his front two legs and tey had to put the horse down ... i feel so bad

Answer 3

in Australia we have strict rules....... we have stewards who oversee everything we have vets behind the starting gates........ they can give the order so a horse cannot run if it appears lame or if it has an abrasion, after every race horses are swabbed and vet checked! for the procedures were your from you should check with your local racing authority

Answer 4

Rarely does the decision to race have anything to do with the owner. The care of the horse is mostly left to the trainer, jockey and vet. Vets will do a thorough job checking a horse if they think something is wrong, but keep in mind, horses don't talk and they are not going to spend money taking x-rays if they don't see a problem. Yes, often if a horse gets hurt it will stop running. You have to keep in mind, horse racing is not an especially brutal thing. Horses can get hurt when they run, racing or not. Further, it is really not nearly as often that horses get put down as it would seem. There just happens to have been a few high profile cases involving the major races in the past few years.

Answer 5

the owner usually does not decide if a horse is fit to race.  the trainer decides if a horse is fit to race.  the trainer has the horse on a schedule where the horse goes to the track maybe 2 or 3 times a week and gallops.  sometimes they pony them where a man rides a horse and takes the racehorse around the track. and then a couple of times a week the racehorse just walks around the barn and then they take them out to graze. a good trainer does not keep their horses in the stalls all the time.  they have a round pen or if one is not available, the groom will graze the horse for a good hour or two.  this is a slow process which could take up to 3 to 6 months to get the horse ready to race and to be fit without being sore.  the only time a vet is called in is usually if something is wrong and the horse needs to be checked out and then if the vet decides  to xray, then xrays will be done.

i have seen horses that are sore and wont race very far and usually they dont run very fast.  when they decided to take cigar to japan to race, he did not want to go on the plane. well he lost that race and they found out he was just not up to it and had a small infection.  if you know your horse, you will listen to their actions and go accordingly.

yes, there are many cases where horses are injured during a race and stopped.  a good jockey can feel if something is wrong if the horse does not stop and stop him before he really hurts himself.  eight belles jockey is only 20 yrs old and i am sure if he suspected anything wrong he would have stopped her.  but who would have suspected the she took a bad step after the finish line. it was sad and we were crushed to see that happen.  but that is what happened, she took a bad step and when that happens they can break a bone or tear muscles.

Answer 6

The trainer decides if the horse will run not the owner...

An X-ray would not be necessary in determining an existing injury.

If the horse is hurt he usually would show it pre-race. The Jockey can always refuse to ride a horse...  the Stewards or the track vet can scratch a horse if he does not walk gallop or look right...

and lastly

Yes it has happened before.

It all depends on the horses temperament and amount of pain...

A calm mellow horse will pull up on his own and stop running...

A high strung horse will run till he collapses...

The jockey usually has to pull up on the horse