Racing?

[Watch Your Step]

What do you think of racing. I mean formal thoroughbred racing on the track, not friendly competion racing your friend. (If any of you even do that. LOL)

 

[yankee'n'moxie]

I think that it (in and of itself) is not bad, because the horses really do love to run, but what makes it bad is the inconsiderate owners that ruin great horses by running them into the ground when they are young. And beating them with crops and such. You know, I am not against the use of a crop for unruly horses, as long as you don't beat them with it. If you give them a "love tap" with it a couple of times, and it isn't doing anything, don't keep hitting them harder and harder, get off and see what is wrong. But the jockeys use all of their strength to smack the horses with those things, repeatedly, no matter what the horse does to please.

Just my opinion, for whatever it counts for.

 

[Karma]

The Thoroughbred racing industry does a lot of good for horses that really goes unseen. A lot of the research on nutrition, performance, and health I don't think would be done without them as no other discipline yields the revenue racing does. Not to mention some of the horses are treated as if they are gods. Of course there are the bad apples but seriously what sport does not have them? A lot of state programs like ours in NY, the New York State Thoroughbred Breeding and Developement Fund gives incentives to breeders, owners, and Stallion owners for racing and breeding their horses in NY as well as gives out 6 scholarships per year to students persuing racing related careers. If you have never been to a track or a town in which it is the main source of jobs I suppose you also don't get to see just how much they can do for the local economies.

However when you are a part of the industry or watching it closely a lot of bad also becomes aparent quickly, horses are raced too hard too young and many get injured, some breeders breeding practices are questionable - I've seen mares that should have been certified crazy kept as brood mares as well as those which have definite familial weakness in tendons/legs still get bred. The sheer amount of foals produced each year for racing is also crazy, we just do not need so many and the odds of producing really good horses are just so low it is almost unbelievable as you can tell with a good look at how many OTTB's are put in adoption because they didn't enjoy it/were too slow/etc. And like with any sport, we always hear the bad, and very little about the good.

I just wish they would start racing at 4. I think the amount of injuries seen would drop drastically as well as the amount of foals being produced since very few are going to want to hold on to a horse for 4 years before it can produce income.

 

[yankee'n'moxie]

Very good points! I agree with everything that you said.

 

[carolinagirl]

Agree with Karma. I'd enjoy it a lot more if they would not run such young horses so hard. I'd rather see them race as 4 year olds.

 

[secuono]

I've read they start them freakishly early, young horses that aren't good enough are tossed aside, this 'sport' creates a ton of 'worthless' horses in need of homes. Racing in mud, rain, bad weather should not be allowed. Also no jumping in racing either.
I don't get why people need to use animals in sports at all. Is it because they are no good at physical sports and rather force the animals to do all the hard work for them?
I hate all sports, but I much rather see human against human and not animal against animal or animal w/human on it against animal w/human.
Sports should be played, not watched!

 

[sawfish99]

I've read they start them freakishly early, young horses that aren't good enough are tossed aside, this 'sport' creates a ton of 'worthless' horses in need of homes. Racing in mud, rain, bad weather should not be allowed. Also no jumping in racing either.
I don't get why people need to use animals in sports at all. Is it because they are no good at physical sports and rather force the animals to do all the hard work for them?
I hate all sports, but I much rather see human against human and not animal against animal or animal w/human on it against animal w/human.
Sports should be played, not watched!

I haven't met any highly competitive horse riders who were out of shape/overweight. Stating that someone who competes with an animal isn't physically capable is obviously heavily biased due to some bad personal experience. Why so bitter?

 

[sawfish99]

double post

 

[ChristyMarie82]

I think the racing industry does a lot of good, but as has been said by others, there is really some bad, too.

I had a beautiful TB who steeple-chased as a youngster. When I got him at nine years old, he was a sweetheart, but was quite messed up. He had a terribly out of alignment back due to flipping over. He had a stifle injury, and other tendon/arthritis issues. He's still going strong, but i do feel bad he was put through so much.

 

[Watch Your Step]

Some owners/trainers/jockeys can be bad, but the majority of them are big stables looking for money. Some can be very nice, take Union Rags (he's headed for the Kentucky Derby) for an example, he is the last foal of Tempo, because the mare had some problems and the owners didn't want to risk losing her. Other less 'horse-caring' would have risked losing Tempo.