In re: the OP: I unashamedly love horse racing and equine eventing of all kinds, In the very same way I unashamedly enjoy sporting dogs’ field trials, team penning, sheepdog trials, practicing falconry, raising livestock, drinking milk and eating meat, and in the same way I unashamedly support the practice of biomedical research using live, non-human vertebrates.
Sometimes, police dogs get shot in the line of duty. Sure, there’s a social benefit there that doesn’t exist in horse racing, but we’re still exploiting animals for our gain. Breeding fast horses is frivolous, but so is breeding giant dogs. Both practices in the extreme are bad for the animals’ health, but we still do it because we enjoy it. If you imagine that racing TBs neglected or abused, all I can say is: I sure as hell wish I lived as well as those horses do.
I’m not singling anyone out in this thread, but I hope you know these horses are probably the most coddled and cared for animals on the planet. They live very well.
The owners of these horses have invested millions, why would they take careless risks on their horses future? It makes no sense.
Especially if the horse can be used as breeding stock.
Peta… please STFU.
I agree - These are pampered animals and life ending injuries are not the norm in this sport. These animals could just as easily be dinner but instead are given a life of luxury doing something they do naturally together for fun.
The horses will go extinct if not for horse racing. As it is horses are having fewer uses, and the tragedy of the commons being what it is, there isn’t much of a future for wild horses in the world. If horse racing goes away, so do horses in the long-term.
Simple reason: The TB is the fastest breed at the distances commonly run on the TB circuit. Those other breeds simply would not win.
At a quarter mile, a Quarter Horse will almost always beat a Thoroughbred, precisely because QHs are bred to be explosively fast over short distances and their physique shows it – in human terms, think sprinter versus distance runners. As the distance stretches out to a half mile and beyond, the QH tires and drops back while the TB powers past to the win – as has been proven many times in match races between the breeds. Different physiques, different proportions of fast versus slow twitch muscles – anatomy is destiny in horse racing.
Arabians and Akhal-Tekes are built for marathon-type racing and that is where they excel. The endurance world is massively dominated by Arabians.
Compare car racing: there are different circuits for different types of cars, because the different types are the best suited for the conditions governing the particular circuit they’re raced in. You wouldn’t put a dragster in an Indy race, for example.
Oh, and you’ll notice that in dog shows the dogs compete only within each given breed, and even in the best of class and best of show classes the dogs are being judged against the standard of their own breed, not some overarching ideal dog type.
Strongly disagree. Far more horses are in use as pleasure horses or in competitive endeavors other than racing, not to mention their continued usefulness for handling livestock, in search and rescue, for packing into wilderness areas for recreation and hunting, etc.
Yeah, but when is PETA going to start talking about animal slavery in terms of pleasure horses? Their continued usefulness is handling livestock is dwindling due to the extinction of the ranch system. Most cattle raised for beef are raised in feed lots, and despite a continued demand for Free range cattle, the kids of ranchers simply don’t want to carry on the legacy, so demand is irrelevant. Basically, you have described uses of the animals, uses that humans have put them toward. If not for human maintenance, the horses would not be long for this world. Every use they are put toward places a hardship on them, whether that is the strain on a mule trekking down into the Grand Canyon or running the Derby.
I think mswas means Thoroughbreds would go extinct, simply because they’re not really suited to much else besides racing.
And being from Lexington, KY, originally, let me tell you, the standard of living for a Thoroughbred is way above almost anything I’ve ever experienced. This is not a common occurence. I used to go to the track all the time, and I can only think of one time that a horse had to be destroyed at the track.
You imagine so, and of course I realize that in conformation shows dogs only compete within the same breed–but agility, flyball, obedience, tracking, field trials, and protection sports all allow open breed entry. As you said, the endurance world is massively dominated by Arabians, but other breeds and crosses are allowed to compete. Let’s just say someone had an Akhal-Teke X TB they thought could do it. Why not let them enter?
the above is the problem. not only were all entrants of the kd descendants of native dancer, about 75% of the throughbred stock is related to native dancer. they really, really need to do something about the gene pool.
there are lines that have “soft legs” unfortunatly ruffian’s father was of a soft leg line. horses in her line would break legs just walking out of the barn.
the very thin delicate legs of the thoughbred make me think of manute bol. i would cover my eyes when he would run up or down court. i was sure there would be a horrible leg breakdown.