Horse Racing Horse Abuse

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Within horse racing, it is common for abuse to be present in nearly all parts of the competition, ranging from the early stages of birth, leading up to training, to the end of their racing career, or sometimes being the end of their life. Horses are large animals who are most often seen as durable and able to withstand more than most other animals. Yet, they are sensitive creatures, and most people may not know this because of their strong and large build, making people believe they can take whatever comes to them, causing a series of problems as they grow and develop. The abuse and neglect of horses are part of many competitive competitions, yet has become a normalized behavior for all racehorses even though it produces a series of severe problems as a result of the horses' extremely young ages, the …show more content…

People do this to maximize the time a horse is able to be racing as they start with much more strength and power and begin to grow, yet by the time they begin racing, they are not fully developed and may experience severe problems because of their age. An article called “Dead Racehorses Aren’t a Mystery: We’ve Known All Along Why They’re Dying” presents the idea of performance on the race track being tied to the breeding and problems a horse will face as they begin their career, starting at such a young age. For trainers and owners to get the best results out of their animals, they use all sorts of abusive methods that have been shown to improve overall performance on the track. There are many things that owners and trainers “overbreed them for fleetness at the cost of hardiness, run them far too young at punishing speeds on poorly surfaced tracks" (Hodge). Studies prove the overall dominance of the thoroughbred breed on the racetrack, bringing an idea of overbreeding to get the best horse possible, making various problems arise with the development of the horse as they

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