Why are the horses killed when they break their legs?

Question

I don't know any thing about raced but this morning I heard that an average of 700 horse are killed a year from racing accidents. Why do they kill them? Can other people not use them as just regular horses for a kid or something?

Answer 1

When a horse breaks its leg, it's VERY hard to get it to heal properly. Horses aren't like people -- they can't just lay down or be put on crutches for weeks waiting for the bone to heal. Horses HAVE to be on their feet almost constantly, or they develop all kinds of complications. Barbaro is a prime example. They did EVERYTHING humanly possible to save him, but in the end, it all came down to the inability to get that leg to heal.

Answer 2

Horses (and most 4 legged animals) aren't like people.  Having to support their weight on the other 3 legs will damage their other legs.  Now instead of having 1 bum leg they have 2 (Barbaro had this problem).  

Really the only solution is to put them to sleep to prevent further suffering or find a way to make a crutch/cart of some kind like they can with dogs to allow the weight to be properly distributed while keeping the weight off the bad leg.  The problem is a horses size.

Barbaro was euthanized Monday after complications from his gruesome breakdown at last year’s Preakness, ending an eight-month ordeal that made him even more of a hero than he was as a champion on the track.

“Certainly, grief is the price we all pay for love,” co-owner Gretchen Jackson said.

A series of ailments — including laminitis in the left rear hoof, an abscess in the right rear hoof, as well as new laminitis in both front feet — proved too much for the gallant colt. Barbaro was given a heavy dose of a tranquilizer and an overdose of an anesthetic and put down at 10:30 a.m.

Answer 3

When a horse breaks his legs, there is almost nothing that can be done.  If a person is prepared to spend an exorbitant amount of money, and keep their animal confined for the entire time it takes for the bone to heal, there is a chance.  Understand though, an average horse weighs 1000lbs.  He has to be suspended and immobilized while that bone heals.  Most horses won't stay still for that long.  It's a choice between long, expensive suffering of the animal absent good odds for him, and putting him out of his misery.

Answer 4

Their legs are very fine bones which allow the to run fast. If broken the wrong way, there isnt anyway for the bone to heal strong enough to support its own wieght.

Answer 5

Because most of the time, the injuries these horses sustain are much too severe to be treatable. Horses are not like people- you can't just simply put them in a cast in a stall and tell them to lie or stand quietly for 3 to 6 months while a broken bone heals. Because these animals evolved as grazing animals, they do not handle confinement well- and more importantly, there are enormous costs involved in trying to treat such injuries. Many owners, especially those for whom racing is a way to make a living as well as a sport, can't afford such costs- and euthanasia is a much cheaper alternative for such people. Those owners who are independently wealthy and can afford to pay for such treatment will sometimes try to save a valuable horse for stud duty or duty as a broodmare, provided that the animal has won enough money to make this worthwhile. There are exceptions in both cases, though, such as with the Jacksons, who owned Barbaro. In their case, they tried to save Barbaro because THEY LOVED HIM- he was like their own child- and for no other reason. That simple fact made them unusual and set them apart from almost every other owner to come along in the last half century or so- people in that business just aren't used to the idea that someone could love a horse that much and try to save him beyond all odds. Barbaro's trainer, Matz, is another example of someone for whom money is at best, a secondary concern. He was a self made type- someone who came from very humble beginnings ( his parents weren't even horse people- they were blue collar folks) and rose to the top of his profession through his own hard work and perseverence. The racing world isn't used to THAT, either. For all 3 of these people, there was no question that they would try to save the colt- they couldn't do otherwise.

You need to realize that in the racing world, horses are not even viewed as living things most of the time- they are seen as commodities and investments. When an investment performs poorly, or not at all, then the standard practice in the business world is to sell or get rid of it as soon as possible- regardless of anyone's personal feelings. Eight Belles' owners were no different than anyone else in this respect- she was an investment and a commodity to them, just like all the other horses that ran in the Derby on Saturday were to their owners. Racing is a money game- it's not for the sentimental or the faint of heart. When something like this accident happens, people just pick up the pieces and go on- and after a while, memories fade. I would expect that in a year or so, there will be a stakes race named for the filly- but apart from that, not much will change in the sport of racing. Sad, but true.

Sometimes, horses which aren't injured severly DO get retired and go on to become riding horses in other sports- but the percentages of these animals are small compared with the number of foals born every year which don't make it in racing and wind up either dead or which get sent overseas or to Canada for slaughter. Until recently, we had slaughterhouses here in the States which took horses for disposal- and that was one of the ways in which a lot of young race horses who couldn't make it on the track were disposed of. With the passage of a federal law about a year or so ago which banned slaughter of horses for any purpose, this has now become impossible, and horses which are being sold for meat are now shipped to Mexico or to Canada, where slaughter is still legal. We are still sending horses which don't make it on the track to slaughter- it's just that no one is talking about it.

That answer your questions??