Horse racing has evolved from a primitive contest of speed or stamina between two animals into a worldwide sport that can involve dozens of horses and immense sums of money. But the basic concept of a race remains unchanged. The winner is the first horse to cross the finish line. The basic elements of a race remain unchanged, too: a lightning-fast track, a jockey on the back of a horse, and a wager placed on the outcome.
The most prestigious races in the world are run over distances that vary between about six to 10 miles. The shortest distances are sprints, in which the fastest horse wins; the longest distances are tests of stamina and endurance, in which the most fit and powerful horse prevails. Regardless of the distance of the race, horses are routinely subjected to exhilarating physical stress, and many die from the resulting cardiac arrests or broken limbs.
For animal rights supporters, the most troubling aspect of horse racing is that the sport essentially treats horses as disposable commodities. Because most racehorses cost less than a decent used car, and because most race purses are jacked up with taxpayer subsidies in the form of casino cash that allow tracks to pay bettors for only the top few finishers, there is enormous incentive to push the animals beyond their limits.
Dead racehorses are often found with shattered legs, severed spines, and fractured joints. Bone cysts, in which holes in the bone lead to loss of support in the affected limb, are also common in racehorses. Many of these injuries result from the brutal training regimen that most racehorses endure. Most are confined to a small, dirt-floored barn for most of the year, and only allowed out on the racetrack to train and compete.
The stewards’ report on the death of Havnameltdown, an American-bred three-year-old that ran in this year’s Preakness Stakes, revealed some practices that may be alarming to people outside the horse-racing industry. For instance, the report states that the horse received multiple injections of corticosteroids in a four-week period before the race and that it was given sedatives during its training.
The report also mentions that the horse suffered from bone cysts, a condition in which the bones of the long and short pastern bones (which join the fetlock bones at the point of attachment to the hoof) develop cracks that can weaken and break them. The shattered bones can cause the horse to lose its balance and fall on its side. The report also noted that the horse had a swollen knee and groin, which indicates that it was injured during the race. The groin injury was probably a result of the horse’s abrupt turning movements on the track. The swollen leg likely was a result of a ligament injury. It was also likely caused by the horse’s inability to stand straight because of the painful angle at which it fell on its hock.