Steeplechasing: A Case Study

Race horses are animals and they deserve to have rights, not to be abused for human entertainment. Race horse abuse is severely cruel and harmful in so many ways. These horses should not have to suffer abuse mainly for people’s amusement or monetary gain. Thankfully there are laws that are trying to be passed and adoption groups to help end this unnecessary abuse. With the equipment the rider and trainer use, drugs they administer, health problems, and abandonment; race horses are abused daily, but there are ways to help these poor souls.

Selection is based on previous performance including race record; pedigree and phenotype to which play an important role when evaluating racehorses with conformation which is subjective to opinion or experience (McIlwrath, 2004). Foals in the racing industry are purchased through auction sales and stud farms and are based on their conformation, way of going and pedigree although conformation criteria differs from foal to 2-3 year old through musculoskeletal changeability. What has to be considered is the sire or dam who have produced winning progeny and has made the most prize money through races ran (O 'Mara, 2015).

“Doping and the inappropriate use of normal medications present a serious threat to the integrity and reputation of our sport, because they give athletes an unfair advantage and threaten the welfare of horses.”(FEI’s Clean Sport Campaign pg1) Federation Equestre Inerationale and several other animal welfare organizations have well-established regulations trying to create a more perfect sport. Because riding in shows is so competitive riders need to understand that showing isn’t always about winning but learning for the experience of showing.

Tuesday November the 4th marked another Melbourne Cup, promising a day filled with champagne, crowds and colour. 1000s of spectators, staff and jockeys had lined up in the hope of cashing in on some success. Unfortunately this was not the case for the owners of Admire Rakti or Araldo, who tragically died after the race. This sudden and shocking news has re-ignited the issue of whether horse racing should be banned in Australia. Ironically this issue is driven on both sides by the same impulse: the love of the horse. Organisations including the coalition for the protection of racehorses along with animal welfare groups are concerned about the treatment and well-being of the horses. Similarly, horse owners, jockeys and staff’s main focus is the welfare of the horse.

No matter if the equestrian is a part of a large group or a single owned animal, horse care/maintenance is a must. For example, at any given time a horse injury

Thoroughbreds are beautiful horses mainly bred for their speed, agility, and spirit. These “Hot-Blooded” horses are mainly used for horseracing. The sport of horse racing is mainly simple, you have 8-24 horses and they run around a track the length of 1 mile. The main races of the year are the Triple Crown Races. They start with the Kentucky Derby, in Louisville, Kentucky, then the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore, Maryland, and lastly the Belmont Stakes in Elmont, Ney York. The Triple Crown started in the early 1900’s. There have only been 12 horses that have won all three, and overall won the Triple Crown. One of the most famous horses was Secretariat. When secretariat had won the Triple Crown he won the last race by a jaw dropping amount, 31 lengths in front of the runner up.

Since each horse is different they can show different types of symptoms. Some horses get many symptoms and others none. I’ve provided you a list that seems to be one of the most comprehensive I could find. This list is provided from an article by DVM Bentz Commissioner for the Kentucky Racing Commission.

Over the past 25+ years, professional punter Bob Rothman has worked endless hours perfecting his methodology for handicapping horses. Throughs his years around the racetrack, he was also been able to develop trusted relationships with a solid group of reliable horse racing insiders. Today, Bob and his Horse Racing Pro product-line provides selected punters (members) with access to the same

First of all, rodeos have to follow rules. According to the RCA rules a veterinarian will be on-site at all rodeo events. Animals are inspected by medical personnel immediately prior to and after the event. Any animal that appears to be sore, lame, sick, or injured is removed from the event and placed under immediate

Each 12 months, greater than 100,000 American horses—operating, racing and associate horses and even children’s ponies—are inhumanely conveyed lengthy distances in cramped

The article, Show Horse Welfare: Evaluating Stock-Type Show Horse Industry Legitimacy, explains how stock-type horse associations deal and handle those who treat horses inhumanely. This article was accepted on 15 May 2015 and published online 23 May 2015. The main argument of this article is for the stock-type horse associations to figure out what they consider inhumane when it comes to the welfare of horses. Once they figure out what they consider inhumane, they need to punish those who violate those rules and to educate those further on the abuse to horses in the show world so it can be fixed. The thesis is describing how the exhibitors of these stock-type shows are influenced by personal and environmental factors of inhumanely treating horses

There are three different types of people who partake in horseracing. Crooks, Dupes, and the honest mass who know the problems but don’t do anything about it (The Atlantic). The crooks embrace and live off of the defaced sport. There are those who choose not to face reality. Then there is the public fans seen as sophisticated who don’t do all that they could to stop the harmful industry. Heavy drug use and abuse that fed these public demands are harming the horses: “Racehorses are the victims of a multibillion-dollar industry that is rife with drug abuse, injuries, and race fixing, and many horses’ careers end in slaughterhouses” (PETA). Although the public knows the harm that the horses experience, they support the show and the

We shall start with races ( i will put a example because if i did all the breeds it would take way to much time so i will stick to thoroughbreds. Lets say you have a 2 year old sprinter that is a productive he has equipment of a shadow roll and no wipp and everying else he needs but you just bought him so you put him in a race ( in this scenario you are new you know nothing about the game )

The science behind evaluating racehorses is deciding which faults make a direct impact to the horse’s career. The requirements needed for a horse to succeed starts at the conformation of the foal/yearling. To which conformational faults are passed down from parents, however, faults may or may not have consequences to their racing career, and therefore different trainers/bloodstock agents may have different inceptions with regard to acceptable faults (TOBA, 2015).

To keep these tenuous horses going, they’re all given Lasix, corticosteroids, and anti-inflammatory drugs. Their newfound fragility leads to more and more injuries on and off the track, these injuries including strained ligaments, fractures, even broken legs, all increasing in price of veterinary bills until owners and trainers are unwilling to pay for the fix and put the animals down. When faced with injury, many trainers pump horses full of painkillers and various other steroids to keep them on the track during the recovery period. After fully recovering they suffer from extreme drug