Problems within the Horse Racing Industry

Growing up with horses, the horse racing industry has always been of interest to me. I’ve watched it go through ups and downs, and most recently, the news coming from this year’s Triple Crown.

The USA Today posted an article shortly after the death of Eight Bells framing the new scrutiny the horse racing industry is undergoing. It talks about how the breeders are breeding more for speed rather than durability, and that is one of the main causes for the horse’s breakdowns on the track. The animals have become sleek speed machines that are extremely fragile. The article goes on to talk about the steps the industry is thinking about taking to rectify the problems, though experts agree the solutions wont happen over night. Some of the suggestions include putting in synthetic racing tracks, designed to help cushion the horse’s legs to help reduce bone fracture. Others talk about working on breeding sturdiness back into the horses instead of streamlining them.

The New York Times also wrote an article speaking about some of the same issues. This article took a more cynical look at the horse racing industry, using PETA as few of their focal points. They did offer a few suggestions to help the industry, but from the articles tone it seemed like that they weren’t convinced that the industry would do anything about it.

Being a horse owner, I have to agree that the conditions these horses are racing under are extreme. They start racing at the early age of two, long before their bones are fully developed. Most horse training professionals don’t even recommend that you start a horse under saddle until two or three. When the horses start racing at two, they’ve been under saddle since they were yearlings, and this can cause serious development problems later on. I believe that if the horse racing industry takes to heart the changes the USA Today is proposing then they will be able to get away from the critics and lower the injury rates.