Horse racing has evolved from a primitive contest of speed or stamina between two horses to a dazzling sport that involves thousands of horses, sophisticated electronic monitoring equipment and enormous sums of money. But its basic concept has changed little over the centuries: The horse that crosses the finish line first is the winner.
Horses are often pushed beyond their limits, and the result is numerous injuries and fatal accidents. Many horses bleed from their lungs as they run, a condition called exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage. To prevent this, they are given cocktails of legal and illegal drugs that mask their symptoms and boost their performance.
A broken limb or other injury is a constant risk for racehorses. The limbs are prone to fractures due to their weight, the pressure from other runners and the repetitive motion of running in close quarters. The ribcage, heart and spine are also susceptible to injury. Many horses break bones in their fetlocks, which are the hinge joints that connect the knee and hock to the leg. Others suffer from the stress-related bone disease shin splints.
When a race is won, the winning owner receives the prize money (called the purse) from the horse’s owners. The amount paid out varies from country to country, with prestigious races offering the highest purses. The prize money is used to attract horses, trainers and jockeys, and to reward owners for the horses’ efforts.
The earliest recorded account of horse racing dates back to the ancient Greek Olympic Games in 700 to 40 B.C. The games included both four-hitched chariot races and mounted bareback races. After these early races, horse racing spread to other countries, including China, Persia and Arabia.
Betting on horse races is a major part of the sport, and many race attendees place multiple bets at once in an effort to maximize their winnings. There are several ways to wager on a horse race, with the most common being bets to win, bet to place and bet to show. Betting to win is a safer bet and is most commonly placed on the winner of the race. Place and show bets are based on a horse finishing in the top three or better.
Despite the growing awareness of the dark side of the sport, there is no real way to put an end to animal cruelty in horse racing. Although donations by industry folks and gamblers are essential to the well-being of the horses, these dollars do not cancel out the ongoing exploitation of younger running horses who will one day be replaced by a new crop of foals blinking into the sunlight. Until the industry stops breeding 1,000-pound thoroughbreds for spindly legs and massive torsos, it can expect to continue to lose popularity with voters. It can create and profit from these creatures, then sell them for slaughter after they no longer earn the industry any revenue. That is a recipe for disaster for both horses and humanity.