Why Horse Racing Should be Illegal
Horse racing is one of the largest betting sports in the world and it’s also the cruelest. Forcing animals to gallop at high speeds and whipping and kicking them to go even faster until they collapse from exhaustion is what people are paying money to watch. It’s one of the most dangerous sports in the world for both humans and equines. The pain that these horses must endure should be illegal and the entire horse racing industry should be banned.
The Grand National is one of the largest and most well-known horse races in the world. It is held every year at Aintree Liverpool. Over six hundred million people watch it on TV alone and a further one hundred and fifty thousand people attend the event. The brutal course is four miles and eight hundred and eighty yards long with thirty jumps. This is obviously extremely tiring for the horses. This is the longest course in Thoroughbred National jump racing. Another cruel scheme to use animals for entertainment was bear baiting. It was banned in 1835 as it was cruelty to animals. Why is horse racing still legal after hundreds of years when it causes pain and fear to these animals? Is it not a blood sport?
The races held at the Grand National have claimed many deaths over its years and there are many more to come. Three horses died at the Aintree Grand National in 2019. Deaths are commonly caused by heart attacks, bleeding from the lungs, painful ulcers, bone fatigue, inflammatory airway diseases and broken bones. The Bechers Brook jump is known as the ‘killer’ and has claimed nine fatalities and one hundred and eighty seven falls in total. It is jumped twice as the sixth and the twenty second jump. In 1989 six horses fell and ‘Seeandem’ broke his back and had to be euthanised. In 2000 ‘Architect’ who was only four years old had a fatal fall during the Grand National and died later. In 1998 ‘Pashto’ suffered a heart attack over one of the last fences and died almost instantly. The heart attack was most likely caused by exhaustion from the race. In 2018 there was a large increase in horse deaths due to racing. It was the highest number since 2014. Each time a horse jumps it puts immense pressure on its legs which leads to broken legs and backs.
Horses are broken at as young as eighteen months when a normal ridden horse should be broken in at three at the youngest. This is an extremely young age for a horse to be ridden as they are not yet fully developed until the approximate age of five. When the horses are backed at this age they may look healthy on the outside but they can carry disorders that are not yet shown at this age. A study was carried out on two year old racehorses and the most common reason for health issues was respiratory disease. Whilst this can easily be healed by rest and days off training the stress of a viral infection can lead to pneumonia which can be fatal in these young horses. Many of these youngsters suffer injuries before they even attempt their first race due to lower limb ailments. These eighteen month foals are trained through the use of fear and pain. Most equestrian sports do not allow horses under the age of four to compete. Around twelve thousand foals are born each year to work in racing and only half of them are ever used in the industry.
Brutal training methods are used to force these horses to obey. Violent and illegal devices such as a ‘jigger’ may be used by cruel trainers. This is an electrical apparatus used by the jockey that shocks the horse so that it goes faster. It is similar to a Taser and is triggered by pressure from the whip. Whipping is legal and is used in every Grand National race. Horses are the only animals that are legal to beat for human entertainment. It has been proven that the use of the whip actually makes the horses performance decrease. Jockey Jason Maguire was banned for seven days for whipping his horse ‘Cool Mission’ with ‘excessive frequency. ’ He blamed his horse calling it lazy. Jason has competed in the Grand National at Aintree several times. Norway band the use of whips in racing in 1982 but allowed them to be carried but not used in two year old races. Why can’t the UK make that rule for races such as the Grand National? The BHA conducted some research and found that fifty seven per cent of British people want a ban on the whip. Research has also shown that horses that have only been trained in flat racing are thrown into a jump race with insufficient training which increases the likely hood of injury. In the Grand National race in 2006 two of the horses that died only had a background in flat racing. It was also found that jump racing can cause up to nineteen times more risk of death. Tongue ties are also used by seventy two percent of Thoroughbred trainers. This is an elastic band, leather strap or nylon stocking which is tied around the horses tongue and then tied around the lower jaw. This makes the horse easier to control and pressure is applied which causes discomfort to the horse. It prevents obstruction to the airway and so will most likely impact the animal’s performance. It can cause lacerations, swelling, head shyness and bruising.
Illegal and legal drugs are used every day in racing. In order to give horses a burst of energy for a short period of time stimulants are used. Pain relieving drugs are used to cover up the pain that horses endure in racing. This can be extremely dangerous as further injury can be caused if the pain is disguised. Some drugs used include Anabolic steroids, bicarb, beta blockers and narcotic analgesics. Some drugs can also be difficult to detect.
Betting on the Grand National is extremely popular in the UK. Companies such as Ladbrokes, Paddy Power and Betfair are common. Betting on horse racing is more straightforward than ever now due to online companies. They are advertised frequently and are enticing for potential customers. An estimated three hundred thousand people in the UK have a gambling addiction. Not only is this causing suffering for the animals but it also affects humans. The Grand National is causing gambling addictions in order to fund their organisation. UK betting companies alone have a combined yearly profit of one million pounds. It encourages the racing and allows for it to continue. This is never going to stop unless they stop making revenue. In order for this to happen people need to be educated on horse racing and shown that they are the reason it’s continuing.
Horses that are too old or are not performing well are seen as failures and are sent to the abattoir to be slaughtered and sold for meat. Over one thousand one hundred race horses in Britain were sent to be slaughtered in 2011. This was an increase of one hundred and twenty six percent in 2010. This is abhorrent. Innocent animals are being killed just because they can no longer entertain humans and make profit. They are slaughtered to become dog food. Slaughtering is not only terrible for the horses but it can also be dangerous for humans. These racehorses often have traces of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ‘bute’. This can make humans bone marrow toxic and can cause death.
Horse racing is animal abuse. Horses are being forced to entertain these humans at the cost of their lives. They are disposable to the racing industry and nobody cares.
