Race Horses

Race horses are among the most amazing of equine athletes, but their careers are short and their futures too often are bleak. For every race horse that wins the Kentucky Derby and goes onto a life of leisure, there are tens of thousands of race horses who suffer debilitating injuries and early deaths.

The most popular forms of horse racing are thoroughbred racing, harness racing (in which horses race in a specified gait and usualy pull a cart) and quarter horse racing.

Perhaps the main problem with race horses and the race horse industry is the money involved. From the horse trainers to the jockey to the owners of the running horses, there is a great deal of money flowing through the system, and with money comes the opportunity for corruption.

One of the biggest points of abuse in the horse race industry comes in the form of doping the horses. While racing authorities are supposed to crack down on this practice, and the race horses at the biggest races are routinely tested for all manner of performance enhancing and pain masking medications, the practice of giving race horses drugs to keep them running is all too common at smaller tracks around the country. Of course this practice is dangerous to the horse rider as well as to the race horse.

There have been some small improvements in the industry, and there are many excellent and dedicated non-profit organizations run by horse lovers who seek to give these retired race horses a new future and a new career. It is not unusual for the retired running horses to enjoy great success both on the hunt field and in the show ring, and many others enjoy simply being beloved family companions.

It is important for horse trainers and race horse owners to recognize that these brave and magnificent animals deserve to have a great future after they can no longer run competitively. While some horse trainers activity work with various rescue organizations and others, some are still resistant to the notion, and this makes it even harder for retired race horses to get the future they so richly deserve.