horse racing cruel ??

Don't think it is cruel, our two horses love to race each other on hacks, like most things in life there will be good and bad, but I won't watch greyhound racing as I think it has more iffy going on's than horse riding, but I might be wrong.
 
I don't think actual racing itself is cruel. I have an ex racehorse and he just loves to run, and races the others round the field.

However there is a huge number of thoroughbreds (we're talking thousands and thousands) that never make it as racers, through injury or lack of ability, and these either get destroyed or sold for minimal sums to uncertain futures. That's where the cruelty lies.
 
Pigeon said:
I don't think actual racing itself is cruel. I have an ex racehorse and he just loves to run, and races the others round the field.

However there is a huge number of thoroughbreds (we're talking thousands and thousands) that never make it as racers, through injury or lack of ability, and these either get destroyed or sold for minimal sums to uncertain futures. That's where the cruelty lies.
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^^ I completely agree
 
Pigeon said:
I don't think actual racing itself is cruel. I have an ex racehorse and he just loves to run, and races the others round the field.

However there is a huge number of thoroughbreds (we're talking thousands and thousands) that never make it as racers, through injury or lack of ability, and these either get destroyed or sold for minimal sums to uncertain futures. That's where the cruelty lies.
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Totally agree :)
 
Pigeon said:
I don't think actual racing itself is cruel. I have an ex racehorse and he just loves to run, and races the others round the field.

However there is a huge number of thoroughbreds (we're talking thousands and thousands) that never make it as racers, through injury or lack of ability, and these either get destroyed or sold for minimal sums to uncertain futures. That's where the cruelty lies.
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Couldn't have put it better myself :)
I'm going to go to the Newmarket open day in a few weeks, it was a real eye opener! What beautiful, well cared for horses :)
On the other hand, as Pigeon said, ex racers often look very sorry for themselves :(
 
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I agree with above re. the TB's that never make it on the track, and we all know that they just end up on someone's plate on the Continent. Sad but true. Racing needs to be more responsible for the horses that don't make the grade IMO, just like the Greyhound industry, no difference, where thousands of dogs are destroyed (not exactly humanely either) each year because they're not good enough.

Also I have never understood just WHY these racehorses have to be run at such ridiculously young ages when they're not even developed properly. I just don't get it, I really don't.

Although on the flip side I do understand that racing is a multi-million-pound industry, it provides employment for thousands here and abroad, and if it were not for racing, then the horses wouldn't be there in the first place.

So a bitter-sweet pill perhaps???
 
I agree with above. I don't think the sport is cruel at all, but the industry is cruel. We're talking 10,000+ foals bred, with a few hundred having a racing 'career' that might span a few years for some, but a lot less for others. There is little provision for maintaining these horses lives in other disciplines, and so most go to slaughter. TBs can be really versatile, however I have seen adopted ex-racers who are fizzy, under-developed and pretty much traumatised by their experiences.
 
MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:
I agree with above re. the TB's that never make it on the track, and we all know that they just end up on someone's plate on the Continent.
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They don't all end up on someone's plate , mine would not go up the gallops he went from the trainer to someone I know when the trainer gave ip trying to persuade him to be a racehorse then came to me he will never end up on someone's plate .
His brother ( who also thought racing was for idiots is a much loved hunter with a nearby hunt).
They are both helped by being big strong if quirky individuals .
Not all horses leave training to go to an awful fate .
 
Goldenstar said:
They don't all end up on someone's plate , mine would not go up the gallops he went from the trainer to someone I know when the trainer gave ip trying to persuade him to be a racehorse then came to me he will never end up on someone's plate .
His brother ( who also thought racing was for idiots is a much loved hunter with a nearby hunt).
They are both helped by being big strong if quirky individuals .
Not all horses leave training to go to an awful fate .
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I do agree - there are a few fortunate individuals :). Our yards landlord brought a ex-racer with impeccable pedigree for peanuts, said horse just didn't want to race. He's a superb horse, super on the ground, happy hacked everywhere, taken to shows in hunter and jumping classes (and very successful) and no doubt this winter will go hunting with his loaner. A very lucky boy who has found a great new home - but for every one of him there must be a thousand who are not soo lucky :(.
 
Tallulah- where are you getting your figures? There were approx than 5000 TB foals born in the UK last year(2012). Approx 6000 go into training here each year (not a few hundred) - half of these will be British bred). About 11,000 are in traing at any one time in GB. Please dont make up "facts" - you'd give the daily mail a run for its money (pardon the pun!). Leisure/pleasure/sport horse foals were bred in larger numbers and very often for no justifiable reason.
 
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Ex racers are growing all the time in popularity so its not all bad- supreme in show at the Royal London Show last weekend was ex racer Deep Reflection
 
glenruby said:
Tallulah- where are you getting your figures? There were approx than 5000 TB foals born in the UK last year(2012). Approx 6000 go into training here each year (not a few hundred) - half of these will be British bred). About 11,000 are in traing at any one time in GB. Please dont make up "facts" - you'd give the daily mail a run for its money (pardon the pun!). Leisure/pleasure/sport horse foals were bred in larger numbers and very often for no justifiable reason.
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Forgive me, I'll be sure to do a detailed data analysis before commenting on a horse and hound post in the future. :) Still a shocking waste of life for most.
 
I love racehorses- I've met some very happy, well-looked after animals. I know there are exceptions but in my experience it is trainer-specific rather than the industry as a whole. Most trainers realise the value of keeping their horses properly sound and happy. The excess of Thoroughbreds is an unfortunate bi-product of such an enormous industry but I think it there has been progress in this area. I think that the horse community as a whole is having a shift on ex-racers. Hopefully if horses coming off the track have a warmer reception, there will be less wastage.
 
glenruby said:
Tallulah- where are you getting your figures? There were approx than 5000 TB foals born in the UK last year(2012). Approx 6000 go into training here each year (not a few hundred) - half of these will be British bred). About 11,000 are in traing at any one time in GB. Please dont make up "facts" - you'd give the daily mail a run for its money (pardon the pun!). Leisure/pleasure/sport horse foals were bred in larger numbers and very often for no justifiable reason.

Well said! At least we can check with reasonable accuracy the number of foals born in the TB racing industry, and they are bred with a job in mind, unlike the poor cobs all over the uk that are "bred" (if you can use that term) so indiscriminately, all too often with tragic outcomes. We should maybe put our energies and discussions into trying to change that situation, not carp at an industry which for the most part is working to change the fate of retired or un-talented horses.
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I think that one of the issues is that where there is a lot of money there will always be a few unscrupulous individuals around looking to make a fast buck with scant regard for the horse. This is obviously not confined to racing(not exhaustive but dressage, show jumping and endurance have all had/have welfare issues), however the sums of money involved, including betting, are much larger than in other horse sports therefore it is far more tempting. One could argue that the reason that they are raced so young is also financial, find out as soon as possible which ones are fast so that you limit your investment in the slow ones. In no other horse sport that I am aware of can you compete a horse under four years old, presumably this is for the welfare of the horse.
I have heard a couple of horrible stories of well bred horses not being very fast and therefore being worth more dead than alive, again I'm sure this is confined to the very few but it all comes back to the vast sums of money involved.
On another note, horses love to run and race each other, so in my opinion not cruel per se.
 
Pigeon said:
I don't think actual racing itself is cruel. I have an ex racehorse and he just loves to run, and races the others round the field.

However there is a huge number of thoroughbreds (we're talking thousands and thousands) that never make it as racers, through injury or lack of ability, and these either get destroyed or sold for minimal sums to uncertain futures. That's where the cruelty lies.
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Totally agree.
Have worked in several racing stables in NZ. Horses all really well cared for, they are so valuable that their welfare is paramount.

The problems start when they are either injured or too slow. The sound ones generally have no problem finding a new home, where they get schooled up and sold on. Many people here in NZ have TB's even kids and riding schools.

The cruelty lies in what happens to them when they've finished racing. Caring owners/trainers find homes. Many trainers have waiting lists for horses off the track. Sadly though those that have soundness problems that are not life threatening get dumped and not necessarily neglected but don't have the human interaction they deserve.
 
Pigeon said:
I don't think actual racing itself is cruel. I have an ex racehorse and he just loves to run, and races the others round the field.

However there is a huge number of thoroughbreds (we're talking thousands and thousands) that never make it as racers, through injury or lack of ability, and these either get destroyed or sold for minimal sums to uncertain futures. That's where the cruelty lies.
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As with greyhounds, they become a byproduct of an industry , where there is any 'product' there is always waste... Unfortunately with greys and tbs its animals .... Whether the ones that never make it to race , ones that break , ones that fail, ones that loose and ones that get too old
 
BeBopTalulah said:
Forgive me, I'll be sure to do a detailed data analysis before commenting on a horse and hound post in the future. :) Still a shocking waste of life for most.
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Well pulling figures from apparently thin air to justify your opinion is bound to get a reaction from anyone who knows the industry.

Shocking waste of life for most based on what?
 
How did endurance get dragged ito this? Vast majority of endurance horses in GB belong to amateurs (couldn't name you a single british 'professional' who makes a living by competing) & have long careers, often well into their 20's, & very definately have a home for life. There aren't the mega sums for endurance horses (you can pick up an FEI horse for about 5K), it is unusual to have prize money of note (often a token purse of about £50 for the winner of a long race ride) & to be frank horses often come to our sport because they refuse to play ball in other ones & are deemed to be difficult or work-shy (ironically). Horses aren't bred (& dumped) in their thousands or even hundreds each year. I am not having a pop a racing, it just seems in recent posts when the discussions of horse sports accountability for 'failed' specimens comes up, endurance keeps getting mentioned as though we ruin our horses then dump them on the open market to any fate. One or two may find their way through the holes, but they are very unusual & often bought by good people such as the one on arabian lines a few weeks ago (someone had bought the mare for a trekking centre but she proved too hot so ended up in a market).
 
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