# Do racehorses appreciate that they are racing (against other horses)? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** horse-sports\ **Created:** [May 9, 2022, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-racehorses-appreciate-that-they-are-racing-against-other-horses/964178 "2022-05-09T13:23:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2022, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-racehorses-appreciate-that-they-are-racing-against-other-horses/964178/21 "2022-06-11T14:56:51Z")
That wasn’t aimed at you specifically. Your comment was just the one that was still on-topic, and brought my question to mind. I probably know less than you do about horses. As a child, I had one try to kill me\*, so I’ve pretty much avoided them since then. \*my grandmother had a big piece of land (about 50 acres), and had some horses. One was a pony that every one of the grandkids would saddle up and ride. After my cousin had taken a turn, I went and climbed in the saddle. The horse bucked, laid down, and started rolling over repeatedly. I jumped off before I was caught underneath. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2022, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-racehorses-appreciate-that-they-are-racing-against-other-horses/964178/22 "2022-06-11T15:07:34Z")
I’ve seen large herds running in central Nevada. They were not threatened by anything, just running flat out. Might sort out the hierarchy or shed weaklings. There may be some reluctance to get too far up in the pack. The only wild horses I ever got close to were covered with scars from fights. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2022, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-racehorses-appreciate-that-they-are-racing-against-other-horses/964178/23 "2022-06-12T12:19:10Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I don’t know any more about horses than I see on nature documentaries! Except for river horses, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2022, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-racehorses-appreciate-that-they-are-racing-against-other-horses/964178/24 "2022-06-12T12:24:29Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > The horse bucked, laid down, and started rolling over repeatedly. I jumped off before I was caught underneath. He was not trying to kill you. He was just trying to get you off his back. Different. I used to ride a pony like that when I was a kid. What a little poop he was. He would rub you off on a tree, walk under a hitching bar, or lay down in a creek. He taught me a lot about anticipating and heading off trouble while riding, because he was always planning to cause it. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2022, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-racehorses-appreciate-that-they-are-racing-against-other-horses/964178/25 "2022-06-12T12:33:05Z")
Horses can certainly be competitive with each other. They love to run, and the horses used in racing have been selected for that quality for centuries, and trained to do nothing else. It is effortless to turn a casual ride into a horse race, even with ordinary horses – just start going fast and don’t control it, and you’ll be in a race. My own ordinary horse has won impromptu trotting races (safer than a dead run) because she hates to see another horse ahead of her. The fact that horses love to run, are easily excited, and have a competitive spirit is the reason racing is an ancient sport. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2022, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-racehorses-appreciate-that-they-are-racing-against-other-horses/964178/26 "2022-06-12T13:12:42Z")
Well, maybe “tried to kill me” was a tad hyperbolic, but the intent was the same: get me off of his back with no concern for my personal safety. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2022, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-racehorses-appreciate-that-they-are-racing-against-other-horses/964178/27 "2022-06-12T13:15:27Z")
Reminds me of the Seinfeld routine on horses. “Do the horses even know they are racing?” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/s-3zsWHlICs/maxresdefault.jpg "Jerry Seinfeld describes the mind of a horse") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-3zsWHlICs) ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2022, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-racehorses-appreciate-that-they-are-racing-against-other-horses/964178/28 "2022-06-12T20:57:56Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Do they tend to have an “alpha,” like dogs do? The Alpha Dog/Wolf concept has been debunked as mostly a myth for both wild and tame canines. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2022, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-racehorses-appreciate-that-they-are-racing-against-other-horses/964178/29 "2022-06-13T00:42:21Z")
Cheerfully withdrawn, with thanks for the correction. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2022, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-racehorses-appreciate-that-they-are-racing-against-other-horses/964178/30 "2022-08-01T20:44:47Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > I don’t know much about horses, or their behavior in the wild (such as it is now). Do they tend to have an “alpha,” like dogs do? Do they a status hierarchy, where the dominant horse in a pack will tend to be the stud, and most successful at attracting females? Wolves and horses are similar in that they are social animals who live in groups. That’s about the end of it though. In a wolf pack, typically only one pair mates and the whole pack raises the cubs. This “alpha” pair is very often simply the parent pair and the rest of the pack consists of their adult children. Horse herds have a complex hierarchy, in which one stallion protects a band of mares, with whom he breeds. He fights off other stallions, and drives away his male get when they reach puberty. Because of this feature, there are always bands of young stallions, as well as stallions with harems. The boss mare of the harem makes most of the other decisions, such as travel direction, when to rest, etc. She will be in the front of a band of moving horses while the stallion will be in the back, harrying stragglers and keeping a watchful eye out for predators and other stallions with covetous ideas. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-racehorses-appreciate-that-they-are-racing-against-other-horses/964178.md?page=1)