Horse Racing Should be Banned

Untitled Part 1

                              Horse Racing Should Be Banned

     Horse racing is a thrilling sight; horses anywhere from two- to four-years-old sprint at top speeds to win a medal or a trophy, but for those who loves their horses, the experience is bone- chilling. Behind the scenes of race day, this sport is incredibly detrimental to young horses.The drugs so often used on the track and abusive practices used by many trainers, as well as the young age these horses begin their careers, can be a death sentence for these beautiful thoroughbreds. This is why the horse racing industry need to be eliminated.

     Young racehorses are forced to run faster than their developing bodies can handle which can lead to serious health issues and even death. The kind of running owners urge the horses to perform puts much of their body's force on the cannon bone of the horse. This solid bone is vital to the horses function, but is not yet fully developed by the time these horses are racing. "While growth in cannon bone length stops with the fusion of growth plates at around 1 ½ years of age, increase in cannon bone girth does not taper off until close to 5 years of age" (Bennett). A break in the cannon bone is a death sentence as a horse cannot function without all four working limbs. The current mentality of the racing industry is to push horses to race sooner and sooner so as to make a profit. This is incredibly dangerous as their bodies are not fully developed yet. Furthermore, race horses must be in tip top condition because the sport puts tremendous pressure on their bodies. "A horse galloping at race speed will place three times its body weight as force on the lower limb" (Lawrence). The idea of having three times the body weight of a racing horse being exerted, particularly on the underdeveloped cannon bone of it's legs, while attempting to have them run at top speeds is about, if not even more, unimaginably painful and cruel than a toddler being forced to run a marathon in two hours while carrying a twenty-five pound backpack. Racing cannot be allowed to continue, if only because it gambles the lives of every horse put through the starting gates because of the young age at which they start.

     Performance enhancing drugs and pain reducing drugs used on racehorses increase the risk of life-threatening injuries. While usage of some drugs in the proper circumstances and dosages for medical reasons is beneficial to the horses, abuse of the toxic substances allows for side effects to lead to fatalities, such as the excretion of enough urine to cause extreme dehydration. Salix, otherwise known as Lasix, is commonly used to "prevent... bleeding in the lungs", but in the case of horses in the racing industry, it is being used as a way to overwork racehorses by giving them arduous training without having to worry if the horses' respiratory or pulmonary systems are being negatively impacted, as it is, "A powerful diuretic that can flush out upwards of 2% of a horse's weight in water, ... [that] can result in the loss of excess potassium and magnesium upsetting the normal electrolyte balance which can bring about an irregular heartbeat and sudden death," (Allin). Racing is already a sport that pushes horses to the brink, much like any top sport in humans, but the effect of these drugs is like someone running a 5k while eating saltine crackers instead of drinking water; that person might not see the effects right away, but if continued, it will kill them. Usage of these drugs is also utilized as a way to increase bone and muscle growth which is inimical to the horses' health."A survey of the average of the number of starts by North American horses reveals a systematic downward trend since the introduction of Salix to the sport in the mid to late sixties and early seventies where the sustaining incentive was not the health of the horse but rather the performance advantage it conferred," (Bennett). This means that since the prevalence of drugs in the racing industry has become widespread, there has been a noticeable trend of less and less horses being able to race each year. These serious health conditions would easily be avoidable if not for the narcotics their systems are pumped with when being prepared for races. Steroids and other medication used to heighten race horses' efficiency leads to effects that are lethal.

     Some may argue that horses love to run and preventing them from racing would keep them from what they were born to do, but practices used to encourage speed in these horses are cruel and abusive. Breeding for the sake of creating the ideal body causes adverse effects on the skeletal and muscular structure of the horse, resulting in casualties. "Compounding the problem, he said, 'The industry focuses excessively on breeding horses for early, brilliant speed at relatively short distances. Today too many breeders end up producing heavily conformed upper body muscled horses with relatively fragile legs. It's like having Arnold Schwarzenegger's body and Don Knotts' legs. We need stamina and durability as well as speed,'" (Jess). This push for horses to be forced into a certain body type through reproduction for racing creates side effects that are detrimental to their health. Further corruption of the horse racing industry is displayed through the negligence to the horses' well-being. "During the last 100m of a race, whips can be used at a jockey's discretion, which essentially means horses can be whipped most when they are at their most fatigued and least able to respond," (RSPCA). This erratic use of the whip does nothing but hurt the horse, the animals are already running their hearts out and cannot possibly go any faster by the time they reach the end of the race. Horse racing is no longer an innocent and positive sport for equines as it promotes malicious intent to inflict pain upon horses.

     The racing industry is one that will be incredibly difficult to remove. This gruesome sport is a multibillion dollar industry and deeply embedded into the lives of many, but it is one that should be taken out. The lives of the horses put into racing are at risk as soon as they begin training because of the young age they start and the drugs they are filled with in order to increase their chances of winning. The sport is becoming less and less like a sport and more like a spectacle of barbarism and, while horses may love to run, they don't love to be beaten with a whip when they are already going at their top speed. With the vast amounts of money wrapped up in it, racing will be difficult to bring down, but, if only one person's mind can be changed, that can be the beginning of ending this terrible industry.

                            Works Cited

Allin, Jane. "The Chemical Horse - Drugs in Racing." The Horse Fund, edited by Jane Allin, horsefund.org/the-chemical-horse-part-8.php. Accessed 23 Apr. 2018.

Bennett, Deb, Ph. D. "Timing and Rate of Skeletal Maturation in Horses With Comments on Starting Young Horses and the State of the Industry." The Ranger Piece : Skeletal Maturation, 2008, pp. 1-21, www.equinestudies.org/ranger_2008/ranger_piece_2008_pdf1.pdf. Accessed 23 Apr. 2018.

"Jess Jackson Testifies Before Congressional Subcommittee." US Newswire, 19 June 2008. Research in Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A180312722/MSIC?u=spr21749&sid=MSIC&xid=b97c6ec0. Accessed 20 Apr. 2018.

Lawrence, L A. "Effects of Exercise and Training on Skeletal Development in Horses." (2005).

RSPCA. "Study: Whip Use by Jockeys | RSPCA Australia." RSPCA Australia | For all creatures great & small, RSPCA, www.rspca.org.au/campaigns/whips-racing/study-whip-use-jockeys. Accessed 23 Apr. 2018.