Horse Racing Information - Horse racing.?

Horse racing.?

I understand that vegans have strong views on animal welfare and I'd like to know what the general vegan view is on competitive sports involving animals, such as horse/dog racing? As a horse owner, a vet and and someone who has been seen going hoarse in Cheltenham, I have coflicting views within my own self. I'd love to hear what others think about it.

Public Comments

Horses and dogs love to run. They are well looked after until they are no longer able to compete, then they are made into pet food. Since vegans don't eat pet food why should they care?
IHMO, any "sport" or activity that involves using an animal with the intent for the participating humans to make money isn't vegan. Horseback riding is the only exception to this, because people don't usually make money riding recreationally- I don't see it as vegan, though, because the animal is being used to do an activity it wouldn't normally do. So, bullfighting, dog/horse racing, hunting, anything done on horseback, camel/elephant rides, circuses, ect are all big no-nos, in my opinion.
I don't like anything that has to do with exploiting animals. I understand that they like to run, but they should not be "trained" to do it in a certain way, just to make humans happy or entertain them. I think horses are nobel creatures and I would *never* ride one. My mother once told me that they like to be ridden. (?) Not sure how true that is, but you still won't catch me doing that any time soon. I'm well aware that many times, thoroughbread racehorses are very expensive, and are treated extremely well. That doesn't change the fact that they somtimes become injured and suffer from dibalitiating fractures and injuries because they are being pushed past their limits in very unnatural ways.
i'm going to stay out of this one for the most part...... but just as an fyi, my grandparents own, breed, train, race, and rehabilitate standardbred racehorses (harness racing). my father is an equine sports medicine veterinarian. i grew up looking out my bedroom window at racehorses every morning. i just want to say that things are not always what they appear to be, and to understand the horse racing industry you would really have to see both sides. i have been on both sides, (being a vegetarian) and can say that if you are going to judge horse racing you would have to judge it stable by stable......every farm treats their animals differently, just like dog owners. keep in mind i didn't tell you what side i take on this. i also know nothing about dog racing, and suspect that it is a very different world. EDIT: sous chef, you're right about one thing....i would venture to say that the horses in our stables are treated better than all the rest of us on the farm, lol. me-she, that must be thoroughbred racing......our horses sure get a lot more credit than our people do, lol. but then again, i think we're much nicer than the thoroughbred "industry"
I don't like horseracing myslef (maybe because I don't have the money to bet or I don't really understand the system of betting)but it's not something that I see as abusive. I know many horse owners treat their horses very well. Of course there are exceptions but the term "fed like a race horse" is based the fact that race horses are treated like royalty. Dog racing on the otherhand is very cruel. There was a feature a long time ago about how greyhounds and whippets the two breedds used for racing, are shot or starved to death when they can't race anymore. They found a dumpster with 22 dog carcasses in it all former racing hounds. And the dogs are noramlly kept in very small cages where they can hardly move.
"Not everyone wants to be famous." (from PETA poster) "Around 800 racehorses die each year from fatal injuries suffered on US racetracks. An additional number of approximately 3,566 sustain injuries so bad that they cannot finish their races. Several breeding and horse handling abuses contribute to the great risk of death and injury that horses face." I hate it. It's not fair to the animal. (Bornagain hates it as well.)
I'm highly against it. ..
as a horse rider i have to say that i am not against the sport, just some things about it. the horses are raced at three years old. their bones are not yet mature enough to run that hard. they are very fragile at this point in their life. i think that the kentucky derby, the belmont, and the preakness all need to change the age to at least five years old as that is when they are matured. that being said, i think that people are trying to handle the situation wrong. most people against it want to stop horse racing. that would be much, much, much worse because a lot of the horses would probably be sold for slaughter since they could no longer race. we just need to gradually raise the age of the horses running. just today my barn had to put down an ex-race horse because it had an injurry in a race and they thought it would get better. the owner bought it about a year ago thinking he could save him. he was fine until about a week ago, but it was really bad and he was in a lot of pain. i have different views on it, but in the end, i think we will save more lives by not ending horse racing... even if that does sound strange. EDIT: to people giving me thumbs down, where do you think they will go if they cant race? sure some will go to good homes, but a lot of them wont.
For something to be called a "sport", don't you need atheletes? The only real atheletes in the world of horseracing are the animals. The riders get the glory & the trainers get the credit. Otherwise, it's actually simply called an INDUSTRY by all of the people who work within it! It is known as the thoroughbred industry. The sport part comes with the betting end of it. How odd. What do the owners get? They get a nice tax write off or the shaft, depending on their connection to the others in the industry of horseracing & breeding! We all know what happens to the horses.
Horse racing is not all glitz and glamor. A lot of horses get injured and die from just from training and during and actual race itself. Although top horses are treated royally, many are discarded like trash if they don't start producing for their owners. Of course many horse owners treat their aninmals with great respect and don't punish them for their "failures". But for many horses, not winning a race is practically a death sentence. I now prefer pure human versus human sports myself. Mixed martial arts, boxing, football tennis, golf, etc.
Whether you're for or against (I have no problem with the racing part, but abuse is unnecessary) you can't choose certain things while excluding others. If you wish to eliminate racing you have to eliminate movies/TV, circus, police dogs etc......as ALL are dangerous to animals and cause injury and death. Wanting to pick and choose is just wanting to have your vegan cake and eating it too.
Lots of people go horse in Cheltenham. They have a racecourse there. No right-minded person would have any living creature suffer unless it's a pest (fly) or edible (horse). You are asking the wrong people. I have never heard of horse/dog racing. Which usually wins? I hope this answer helps.
Whether you're for or against (I have no problem with the racing part, but abuse is unnecessary) you can't choose certain things while excluding others. If you wish to eliminate racing you have to eliminate movies/TV, circus, police dogs etc......as ALL are dangerous to animals and cause injury and death. Wanting to pick and choose is just wanting to have your vegan cake and eating it too. Neither a vegetarian or vegan. My OCD forces me to answer questions.
I'm not a vegan but a veggie. I think horse racing is cruel. When else would a person be able to whip a horse so much and get away with it? Plus, horses often have horrific accidents and have to be put down. I don't think shooting the poor horse when it's already suffering is a humane way to kill it.