Racing+horse+industry+analysis+and+problems


 * __2. Racing Horse Industry Analysis and Problems__**

These are some summarized points from PETA articles regarding horse racing

- Racehorses are the victims of a multibillion-dollar industry that is rampant with drug abuse, injuries, and many horses’ careers end in slaughterhouses.

- A New York Daily News reporter noted, “The thoroughbred race horse is a genetic mistake. It runs too fast, its frame is too large, and its legs are far too small. As long as mankind demands that it run at high speeds under stressful conditions, horses will die at racetracks.”

- Trainers, handlers, veterinarians, and jockeys are all involve, it is rare for a racehorse to develop bond with one particular person or with other racehorses.

- Racehorses travel from countries to countries and racetracks to racetracks for races. It is hard for racehorses to develop a sense of home in one place.

- Studies on injuries at racetracks concluded that in every 22 races one horse sustained an injury that stops the horse from finishing the race. Each year in North America up to 800 thoroughbreds die due of injuries sustained from racing.

- Strained tendons or hairline fractures are common major racehorse injuries. It is hard for veterinarians to diagnose, and the damage may go from minor to irreversible if injuries are mistreated and ignored.

- Horses cannot take surgery smoothly. They have the potential to be disoriented when coming out of anesthesia.

- When a horse feels pain in one particular area, for example--a right front knee--will shift his weight away from that area. This puts strain elsewhere, that can eventually cause structural damage in opposing areas. What often happens in many cases when the original area is untreated is that the compensatory changes are exhausted over time, and this causes lameness, now in several structures instead of just the original injury.

- Another common plan of treatment is the use of single leg whirlpools, which are specifically designed for horses. These consist of a large rubber boot which slips over the horse's leg and allows the flow of water around the leg. These single leg whirlpools provide the effects of a gentle, warm massage and horses often seem to enjoy the relaxing feeling, which is both calming and rehabilitating.

- Care for a single racehorse can cost as much as $50,000 per year.

- When the famous racehorse Barbaro who won the Kentucky Derby, suffered a shattered ankle at the beginning of a major race during 2006. His owners did not want to pay for the expenses of his medical needs. The New York Times noted, “Many in the business have noted that had Barbaro not been the winner of the Kentucky Derby, he might have been destroyed after being injured.”

- Magic Man another racehorse, had stepped into an uneven section of a track and broken both of his front ankles during a race at Saratoga Race Course. Magic Man cost his owners $900,000, the horse hadn’t yield any money in return before his injury which ended his career and life.

- Racehorses that cannot prove his/her worth on the track are often euthanized.

- Many racehorses become addicted to drugs when their trainers and even veterinarians give them drugs to keep them on the track when they shouldn’t be racing.

- The New York Sun explained that because “thoroughbreds are bred for flashy speed and to look good in the sales ring … the animal itself has become more fragile” and that “to keep the horses going,” they’re all given Lasix (which controls bleeding in the lungs), phenylbutazone (an anti-inflammatory), and cortiscosteroids (for pain and inflammation). These drugs can mask pain or make a horse run faster.

- Morphine, also a popular drug for racehorse, can keep a horse from feeling any pain from an injury. In the case of Be My Royal, who is suspected to be dose heavily on morphine, had won a race while limping.

__**Racing Injuries**__

Here is a list of common reasons for retiring Quarter Horse, Thoroughbred, and Standardbred racehorses. This is a survey done by M. E. Ensminger, B.S., M.A., Ph.D. From surveying racing farms, he also stated, "Experienced trainers estimate that one-third of the horses in training require treatment in one form or another." Rank Thoroughbred Standardbred Quarter Horse Three Combined 1 Bowed Tendons (23%) Bowed Tendons (34%) Bowed Tendons(27%) Bowed Tendons(25%) 2 Osselets (21%) Splint (14%) Bucked Shins (18%) Knee Injury (16%) 3 Knee Injury (20%) Fractured Fibula (12%) Knee Injury (12%) Osselets (16%) 4 Splint (6%) Curb (5%) Fractured Sesamoid (9%) Bucked Shin (7%) 5 Bucked Shin (5%) Knee Injury (5%) Osselets (8%) Splint (7%) 6 Fractured Sesamoid (4%) Supsensory Ligament (4%) Splint (5%) Fractured Sesamoid (5%) 7 Sand crack (3%) Osselets (3%) Suspensory Ligament (2%) Fractured fibula (3%) 8 Fractured Fibula (2%) Ringbone (2%) Parasites (2%) Sand crack (2%) Sand Crack (2%) 9 Suspensory Ligament (1%) Sidebones (2%) Shoulder Injury (2%) Arthritis (2%) Suspensory Ligament (2%) 10 Other (15%) Other (11%) Other(13%) Other(17%)

Chart taken from: []

Summarized information and points taken from: []