What's your opinion: Horse Racing- Answers Part Two

I apologize for this second post taking so long. Between technical problems and absolute insanity the last couple of weeks, I just haven't been able to get it posted. Anyway, you've waited long enough, so here is part two:

I'm mostly ambivalent. I like that the sport employs a number of people and consider it an American Past time, so I'd hate to see it ever go away, but at the same time it doesn't have a great reputation with the general public.


I think horse racing is a great way of creating a need for athletic horses and testing their minds and soundness in a structured environment. I'd like to see more emphasis on long term soundness and improved aftercare, but I think the industry is cleaning up it's image and trending in that direction. I've gotten two fantastic horses through the racing system and I'm certainly not complaining.

I think one of the reasons it gets a bad rap is because of how uneducated people are about the behind the scenes aspect of it. People see the break downs on TV and that's it. They don't see the hard work, care, and money that goes into keeping these horses safe and happy. And they rarely seem to understand that these horses won't run if they don't want to. You can't beat a horse into submission and expect it to go out and win.


I think horse racing is a very polarized sport. The trainers and owners who do not properly care for their horses have an extremely bad effect on the sport, and often overshadow those who do. I think the sport starts horses too young, and trashes them too early (even if they are successful). I wish the racing industry stopped valuing the sprinters, and that long distances were more popular. Breeding for sprinting has done a lot to injure the thoroughbred breed, in my opinion.
I do love that racing makes horses accessible to a large number of people. I love the power and speed of racehorses, and I love the supply of these horses off the track for myself.



The more I encounter, the better view I have of it. I used to hate it when I was younger but now I have an ottb and enjoy watching/attending races

Why are medications so prevalent? I watched a show on ESPN or HBO (can't remember which) and they listed the medications some top level horses were receiving and the number of individual Meds was staggering! It's my opinion that durability has been thrown out the window for speed. Some horses have 7 race careers before hitting the breeding shed, oftentimes due to injury. Is this expected to benefit the breed? Or are some folks willing to go for the flash of brilliance in hopes they will become valuable as a breeding animal? And, why so long between races? Some horses only race two to three times a year, is that even economically feasible? I love watching horse racing, in fact I bought Preakness tickets again this year. This is what sticks out in my mind every race- staying up late as a kid to hear what happened to Prairie Bayou, watching Barbaro and Edgar Prado trying desperately to stop him, explaining to my nephew why that horse (eight Belles) fell after she almost won the race & watching the horse at the county fair breakdown at the top of the stretch and watching has he hobbled on the trailer to be put down. I hope every race that it won't happen again, I understand the risk with any horse sport but in some cases it seems as though there's almost a blatant disregard to horses' safety. But, whenever money is involved, you run that risk. Look at concussions in football, the asinine rules the NCAA puts forth to preserve the "student athlete" (seriously a coach can't give his player a cheeseburger if he's hungry and forgot his wallet?!). The good of the individual is set aside in favor of the almighty dollar. I've seen the softer side too, the people who do it for the love of the sport, the love of horses. They genuinely care for their animals, they aren't just a commodity. The trainers who make sure those who don't make the cut have a safe place to land. Are they the exception of the rule? 
I'm torn. I grew up on a farm. Animals have their place but I was always taught to treat them with dignity and respect. I get the feeling that that isn't always the case in horse racing. Maybe I'm wrong, I dearly hope I am.

In response, you make some very valid, good points. On the breeding, what you say is true in several instances. I think that soundness isn't necessarily completely disregarded, but these horses are performing at a level that even the most sound of horses aren't likely to last long at. In short, they are almost freaks of nature when it comes to talent, which makes it less likely for their body to be able to keep up.

When it comes to the medication, some horses (at any level) are given staggering amounts of drugs. This isn't necessarily the rule, and it completely sucks, yet the media is always going to show the worst of things. What they probably didn't mention is that some of these medications were likely used to actually treat an ailment/injury within the legal withdrawal period and that the horses were not actually competing on all of these. I'm not saying that makes it right, just that it probably isn't as bad as it was portrayed to be. It's also highly likely that top horses in barns of trainers that are known to be very aggressive with medication were singled out. Don't get me wrong, drugs get abused way too often. I could write a book about what all is wrong with the governing of medications, treatments, and veterinarian practices, but the media often gives accurate information in a very misleading way when it comes to racing. They don't differentiate between the rule and the exception.

A lot of the upper level horses don't race many times a year because they don't have to. When a trainer has a graded stakes horse, they know where they can enter to give their horse the best shot of winning. That may only be three races a year. I don't think this is necessarily bad, because the horses aren't running just to run. If they have so long between races because of an injury, the main thing is that they ARE given the time off to recover. They have it much better than the cheap horses. A lot of times, they are retired early due to injury, but I'd prefer that over the horses that are forced to keep running until a fatal injury is obtained. At a higher level, they run for so much money that it is often worth it to run them less often (these horses often average tens to hundreds of thousands per start). Also, most people that own horses at that level are very well off. If they make a profit it's great, but if they don't it's just another tax write off. If an owner can't afford to lose money on their racehorses, then they have no business owning them. It's the people involved that rely on the horses to make a profit that can really be dangerous.

Anyway, that's my opinion. I'm glad that you know that there are good people in this industry. Thanks for your response and I hope I at least kind of helped with your questions.

I honestly don't have the highest opinion of the industry. I know many of these horses are treated like royalty and get the best of the best while they are racing, but I wish the breeding and training was different. We have bred the foot and bone out of the Thoroughbred and they are raced so young. We have these tall, fast horses running on toothpick legs with tiny flat feet. They aren't being bred nor trained for longevity. They are so inbred, and so many of them have soundness issues in their second and third careers. I've worked with many, many OTTBs and they have wonderful work ethics but the soundness issues and sometimes the mental issues (not necessarily a result of racing careers per se but more of the competitive, high-strung nature we've bred them for that helps them win on the track) can make them a challenge to work with if the person is not experienced with the breed. I know there are race horse trainers, owners and breeders that adore the breed and the horses they work with. I just wish some of the racing standards would change.



I love going to the track! Quite a long time ago I went on a trip to Kentucky and Tennessee and got to "meet" Smarty Jones and Cigar. It was a wonderful experience, and though I know not every racehorse (not even close) gets treated as well as those two do, I'm sure that some, if not most get handled with respect and care.

I really love reading about it from bloggers like you - who are so clearly dedicated to their horses and the integrity of the sport. racing has never been my thing - not bc i dislike it but bc it's not *my* sport and i never really educated myself about it. but i LOVE ottbs - i think they are very special horses, in very large part bc of their experiences on the track for better or worse.



I absolutely love it. Because if you have been around any of the barns at all, most everyone is genuine and nice and loves their horses and loves the sport. And the horses love to run (well, most do). The ones that don't are usually found a home doing something else. It gives people a chance to see and be around horses who otherwise wouldn't. And I adore putting my hands on these spectacular athletes and just feeling their raw power. Nothing else like it.

I suspect most of the horses at the highest level of the sport are well looked after. It seems like breeding for speed rather than sturdiness and longevity + the rush to the breeding shed has weakened thoroughbreds overall. Horses that race at lower level tracks are the ones I worry about. When the horse becomes a means to an end - when unscrupulous owners or trainers - owners and trainers who can get away with it because they aren't in the limelight - are trying to get every penny out of an animal - there's a potential for bad outcomes for the horses. 40,000 tbs bred every year and how many make it to the big leagues - maybe 1000? That said - there is absolutely nothing like watching a Secretariat, Ruffian or Zenyatta flying down the track. You can't tell me they don't love their work.



I don't know much about it besides the general access hype. It seems like an industry that is a rollarcoaster of emotions, risk, and expensive. Your blog proves there are good people out there even when we know there are shitheads too. I hope you'll continue to provide insight and explain he racetrack culture. I suppose I fall on the tolerate side. I am mostly ignorant of racing. I think there are creeps and scanners in every part of the horse industry, even some right in the open that people worship, so I have no racehate.

I have very strong, very ambivalent feelings about horse racing. I find it terrifying and exhilarating and very hard to watch, and I really think it stems from one article that ran in a sports magazine, titled "Requiem at Belmont"--scarred me for life about horse racing. BUT like any horse sport, or any sport for that matter, there are very good people who try to do the right thing all the time and treat their animals and people really well. And there are people who are completely disgusting, worthless, soul-less assholes and don't care about anyone but themselves, which just gets magnified when animals that have no control over their fates are involved. The thing that gets me the most is that these horses are so young--it makes me so anxious for them. I just don't know if I'm okay with that aspect or not. People will find a bone to pick about any discipline though, whether it's Rolkur or drugging or weird shoes or martingales or an animal dying at every major competition or whatever. (I would say the same thing anonymously or not.)

I actually enjoy racing and Thoroughbreds, and I'd say that I am deeply interested in famous racehorses past and present. I've always loved Secretariat, Man o War and Seabiscuit(and many others), and I enjoy keeping up with the Triple Crown and having the thrill of watching a horse gallop down the homestretch. I also really love the Thoroughbred breed and their incredible heart. I know that there are race owners and trainers that likely abuse and push the horses too hard. However, there are also trainers that truly love the animal and the sport. Browsing OTTB ads and rescues, I've seen some horses that weren't good at racing that were given away to the rescue simply because the trainer cared enough not to want to horse to end up in the wrong hands or to be pushed too hard at something they simply didn't have the mind or body to do. Like in any discipline, there is bad and good. The bad just seems to get more publicized than the good, and people judge the whole sport by just what they hear. I don't hate it because of the bad, because if I did I could really find something to hate in any discipline–the people who want to win more than they care about the animal. It's there in dressage, in jumping, and pretty much every other discipline. It doesn't mean I should hate the discipline as a whole based on those actions. In summary, I really enjoy racing and appreciate it as a unique discipline, just like dressage or jumping. The stories we hear may well have truth to them, and 'm sure they do, but I also know that there are perhaps just as many trainers out there who put the horse first.

I think as an institution it's fine, but any time large amounts of money is involved that many animals were suffer. The reality seems to be a lot of track people are in it because they love horses and the sport, because most are not getting rich.

Thank you again for all of your responses. When I first decided to do this survey, I had a theory that most equestrians (as opposed to the general public) would be able to see the good and bad of the sport or realize that it's hard to say without experiencing the scenes behind the curtain. For the most part, that proved to be true.