Take a look at this...
Horse racing is a pretty "glamorous" thing..Isn't it? Think of it this way.
Only the top horses can race, yes? The trainers, breeders, and jockeys don't want to be wasting all of their time and money on a horse that has no chance.
"The horse racing industry causes thousands of horses to be born only to be slaughtered or abandoned to an existence of neglect, starvation, and suffering."
The truth is, thousands of thoroughbreds each year are bred to race, but very few are "good enough." the rest are "disposed of."
During training and racing, injuries are common. A horse with an injury may be sold to slaughterhouses, sold into worse and worse conditions, or even euthanized on the spot-put to sleep.
When a racehorse's career is over, which is almost always at a very young age, they must also be "disposed of."
Racehorses suffer frequent injuries because they are not fully developed or finished growing.
If a trainer thinks a horse has "potential" it will be trained to race. This training begins at a very young age, so that they are able to race by the time they are two or three. Based on studies done by equine veterinarians, a two year old horse is about equivalent in age to a 13 year old human.
At 13, are humans done growing yet? Probably not. Its the same thing with horses. Their bones and growth plates have not yet matured, so they suffer many leg injuries. And if a human can't run with a broken leg, can a horse? No. The horse in extreme cases would have to be "disposed of," joining so many others who share the same fate. About one in every 22 racehorses suffers an injury on the track that will prevent it from finishing the race.
Take Eight-Belles for example.
Eight-Belles was a filly (which is a young female horse) running in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill. She was one of the 39 fillies who have ever run this race. She ran, came in second, and fell. Minutes later she was euthanized on the spot.
If you're training a horse to ride for pleasure, training usually begins around 3 years old. The training is usually very much more laid back than in the racing industry, so you don't hurt the horse. Racehorses, on the other hand, start training as young as a year old.
But many of the horses that are not killed when they are injured are forced to continue to race. It would be like running a whole track meet with a sprained ankle-its not exactly recommended. Running with leg injuries causes extreme suffering for the horse. Because the horse racing industry is all about money, and not the actual horses themselves, (which kind of makes no sense if you ask us) many horses are drugged so they can continue to run. A few examples are:
Hormones that increase oxygen-carrying red blood cells,
Cobra venom injected to ease joint stiffness
And a mix of baking soda, sugar, and electrolytes delivered through a tube in the horse’s nose to increase carbon dioxide in the horse’s bloodstream and lessen lactic-acid buildup, warding off fatigue.
There is even an article that says that batteries are sometimes concealed under a horse’s skin that deliver a shock when the horse is flagging.
How horrible does that sound??
In the racing industry, people seem to think that retired racehorses go to nice, happy people, or perfect, wonderful barns with friends and carrots every day. People think that they turn into nice, well cared for riding horses.
Well, although that may be the case for some of them, most retired racehorses are sent to the slaughterhouse. They are "disposed of."
Racehorses are handled by many people, including jockeys, veterinarians, trainers, and owners, so a horse is unable to create a bond with a certain person. They are forced to move from state to state, from racetrack to racetrack, from country to country, and never have a true "home."
Now let's add horrible testing into the mix..Very glamorous, isn't it?
Around the world, thousands of racehorses die (or are killed) each year whether its during training, during racing, or because they aren't fast enough. But of course, they want to find the solution to this, right? Instead of taking away all of the horribly unnatural stress and pressure that would cause injuries such as broken backs and legs, bleeding lungs, burst blood vessels, ulcers, and heart attacks, they conduct lethal experiments to find out why oh why their dear friend is injured or ill or dead.
Because its not obvious enough for them?
So there you have it. The glamorous horse racing industry. Note that not all people who ride horses treat them horribly, though! Overall during the year, tons of money is put into the multi-billion dollar horse racing industry by people who don't know they are funding animal abuse.
Many people refuse to believe this, that horse racing is abuse. Many will deny it over and over, claiming that the information is made up. Whether you believe it or not, that's your decision.
Never realized this was going on!
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