All About Horse Racing

The industry

All horses have to be “broken” in, which basically means breaking their spirits so that they obey everything the person teaches them and can be ridden [5]. Horses are considered mature at three to five years of age [6]. Despite this, the racing industry races them at just 2 years old [7]. This means yearlings begin the training regime at less than 2 years of age. This places enormous stress on the horse’s immature skeletal frame and can lead to early breakdowns, lower limb ailments, fractures, pulled ligaments, and strained tendons [8].

Every year, thousands of horses sustain an injury or develop a health issue on Australian tracks. These can range from abnormal respiratory noises, exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhaging (bleeding in the lungs), cardiac arrhythmia, abrasions, lacerations, speedy cuts, muscle and shin soreness, lameness, thumps, tying up, or being slow to recover [9].

Some of these injuries are catastrophic, meaning the horse died as a result or was euthanised on the track. During the 2019-2020 season, 116 horses died or were euthanised. An analysis of the races by the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses over the years, has found that one horse dies every three days on Australian racetracks [10 PDF]. While the industry claims that this is a low percentage, it does not take away from the fact that hundreds of horses are dying as a direct result of racing.

Some horses have an elastic strap or nylon stocking tied around their tongue and lower jaw, to prevent their tongues from moving while racing. The industry claims that it is for the wellbeing of the horses, as it prevents them from choking or swallowing their tongues, and prevents them from getting their tongue over the uncomfortable bit [11]. There is no time limit to how long it can be left on. Horses with tongue-ties exhibit signs of pain, anxiety, distress, difficulty swallowing, cuts and lacerations, bruising, and swelling. It restricts blood flow and can cause permanent tissue damage [12].

Being a prey animal, a horse has a natural response to escape from something threatening or that could cause pain. The racing industry plays on this response and their fears. Horses can legally be whipped during training and racing, their purpose is to trigger the horse to push themselves further and also “control” the horse – i.e., the sting of the whip will make them run faster. The industry claim that whips do not hurt, however, is untrue. While horses do have resilient skin, it does not mean their skin isn’t sensitive. If a fly lands on a horse’s back, their skin twitches and they are quick to swipe them away with their tails. This is because their skin is as sensitive as our fingertips [13]. Whips have proven to cause bruising and inflammation. 

A wild horse will travel around 30 kilometres (sometimes much more) in a day, going from feed to water in the ‘home-range’. Being on the move helps keep blood and lymphatic fluid moving around the body while wearing down their hooves [14]. This is a stark contrast to the life of a racehorse, who spends up to 22 hours per day in a stable, unable to socialise with others. The only time they are out is when they are training. The stables also deny them from developing their own herd and prevent bonds as horses are regularly moved and sold [15].

Wastage refers to those who leave the industry and foals who never make it to the track [16]. The latter occurs for two reasons; one, there is an oversupply of foals and two, not every horse will be a successful racer. It is estimated that 300 out of every 1,000 foals will start in a race. This means for every 13,000 thoroughbred foals born, around 9,000 will be considered useless and many will end up at the ‘doggers’ [17]. While there has been a reduction in the number of foals being born each year, there were 12,898 foals born in 2017/2018 and almost 14,000 in 2019 [18].

The Australian government allows for horses to be brought in from select countries [19]. In the last 9 years, 17,724 horses were sent on live export ships [20]. These means horses are also victims of the live export trade and gamblers and race attendees are supporting this industry. It also means that racing supporters are unaware of the conditions the breeding horses are kept in, and the way in which the horses were trained, as they do not have the same animal welfare standards as Australia.