Horse Racing - Dangers and Criticism

There are a lot of injuries that can happen, if the rider is not careful. The list includes Bowed tendon, Splints, Osselets, neck fracture, and broken hips are some of the common injuries that both the jockey and the horse go through. According to recent study report made by Equine Injury Database, the fatal injury cases have increased by 20% in the year 2014 as compared to 2013. According to New York Times, every year out of 1000 horse riders, 600 face medical injury out of which 20% are very critical.

Nowadays, all the horse riding associations are advised to follow a certain set of check points to reduce the injury rates as far as possible.

• Excess strain causes fatigue on the bones of the horses. Hence, trainers are advised to follow a strict training schedule that will focus on the strength of their bones and strain bearing capability under extreme circumstances.

• Pre-screening needs to be followed to know the catastrophic injuries well in advance.

• Educate the owners and trainers about various signs of injuries and teach them how to take care of their horses.

Criticisms on Horse Racing

After dogs, horses are known to be the most loyal animal to mankind. Horse racing, which has been started with an aim of game spirit, now has become the market of gambling and animal torture. This torture has many definitions pertaining to horses. For some, cruelty may be the way a rider rides his horse. Whereas, for some others it may be the poor environment and lack of quality nutrition in which the horses are made to train.

Some major criticisms being meted out on horses are −

• The unnecessary use of whips.
• Despite the limit, excessive breeding of horses.
• Slaughtering of the old and retired horses.
• To enhance the performance artificially by use of dangerous drugs.
• Premature use of horses for riding and hard training.
• Make the young horses run over a hard surface which causes major limb problems.
• Gambling in the games through auction, money betting etc.

For better future of horses, the industry needs to accept criticism positively. Every governing body should make sure that no horses are tortured during their training. Proper quality nutritious food should be provided and strict action should be taken against those who gamble at the market.