Yup. They do love to run. And jump. Rant incoming.
spoiler
I have no quarrel with horse racing even jumps racing when done properly, and I used to work in the industry so have some qualifications to speak. I don’t actually object to the whipping - it’s largely done at the insistence of the punters so they feel that “their” horse & jockey is not being lazy when they lose. If you banned whips at the races, the punters would rise up and slay you. Most decent trainers would happily dispense with the whips as not being necessary. A lot of jocks will wave the whip around but not actually touch the horse. Mind you, there are horses that will hang back and slouch along until the jockey tells them to smarten up and get cracking. Usually using the whip. Depends on the individual horse.
What I really really object to is 2 year old racing. Horse child abuse for profit. But horse racing is a game for those with short attention spans, so the sooner those nags start earning back their sale price as yearlings, the better. Pun intended.
To me, it’s like watching 10 year old kids competing at the Olympics. No chance of having a childhood or much in the way of education, and very little chance of a happy adult life due to crippling overuse injuries and mental disfunction due to a thoroughly unnatural lifestyle during their growing years. A horse is roughly 5-7 years old before they are fully adult depending on breed. A 2 year old thoroughbred still has very flexible and easily damaged or distorted bones, and racing sets them up for a lifetime of pain. Lifetime being up to 25-30 years.
Most will go for dogfood after not winning. The really tough ones that had the luck to get a decent trainer may continue on as racers in subsequent years. So many wasted horses that could have been good but got trashed by human greed.
I hate it. People in the industry defend the welfare of the horses, but money changes everything for the worse. And the racing of undeveloped baby horses is awful, like you’ve said. But there’s no reason for the stakeholders to want to extend the horses longevity - it’s purely about money.
I have had horses for 20+ years, I cannot get behind the racing industry. There should just be virtual horse racing (just like virtual poker machines) - still get the money and no horses suffer. Same with greyhounds.
Yup. They do love to run. And jump. Rant incoming.
spoiler
I have no quarrel with horse racing even jumps racing when done properly, and I used to work in the industry so have some qualifications to speak. I don’t actually object to the whipping - it’s largely done at the insistence of the punters so they feel that “their” horse & jockey is not being lazy when they lose. If you banned whips at the races, the punters would rise up and slay you. Most decent trainers would happily dispense with the whips as not being necessary. A lot of jocks will wave the whip around but not actually touch the horse. Mind you, there are horses that will hang back and slouch along until the jockey tells them to smarten up and get cracking. Usually using the whip. Depends on the individual horse.
What I really really object to is 2 year old racing. Horse child abuse for profit. But horse racing is a game for those with short attention spans, so the sooner those nags start earning back their sale price as yearlings, the better. Pun intended.
To me, it’s like watching 10 year old kids competing at the Olympics. No chance of having a childhood or much in the way of education, and very little chance of a happy adult life due to crippling overuse injuries and mental disfunction due to a thoroughly unnatural lifestyle during their growing years. A horse is roughly 5-7 years old before they are fully adult depending on breed. A 2 year old thoroughbred still has very flexible and easily damaged or distorted bones, and racing sets them up for a lifetime of pain. Lifetime being up to 25-30 years.
Most will go for dogfood after not winning. The really tough ones that had the luck to get a decent trainer may continue on as racers in subsequent years. So many wasted horses that could have been good but got trashed by human greed.
Rant over - but this topic punched a few buttons.
I hate it. People in the industry defend the welfare of the horses, but money changes everything for the worse. And the racing of undeveloped baby horses is awful, like you’ve said. But there’s no reason for the stakeholders to want to extend the horses longevity - it’s purely about money.
I have had horses for 20+ years, I cannot get behind the racing industry. There should just be virtual horse racing (just like virtual poker machines) - still get the money and no horses suffer. Same with greyhounds.