We must re-evaluate the existence of horse racing in the United States. All across the nation, millions of people tune in to watch such races as the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Breeder’s Cup. There’s no doubt that people enjoy the dramatic, high energy event. There’s nothing more thrilling than watching a horse tear across the turf. However, this amazing display is effective in hiding the dark truth about horse racing. Behind the glitz and glam of race day, lies a dangerous industry plagued by injuries and death to both its equine and human athletes. All too often, racehorses break down, equestrian-speak for breaking a leg, or go lame, meaning the horse is off or has a limp due to an injury or illness. No other sport played in this country has an injury rate comparable to that of horse racing, nor do they boast such an insurmountable athlete death toll. In this ever-changing world, one would think that by now, the industry would have been forced to shut its doors. Unfortunately, such is not the case and racehorses as well as their jockeys continue to suffer the consequences. If we are to prevent the unreasonable injuries to and deaths of horses and jockeys, we must do something drastic. We must end horse racing.
The injuries sustained by horses involved in the racing industry are frequent and oftentimes severe, if not fatal. A three-year study conducted by the New York Times (NY Times) between 2009 and 2011 found that during this period, “6,600 horses broke down or showed signs of injury” (Bogdanich). This is nothing new in the horse racing world. Ray Geor, a professor and chairperson of the Large Animal Clinical Sciences department at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Michigan State University, wrote an article back in 2002 on the subject of injuries to racehorses. In his article, Geor states “Studies have shown that 50% of racehorses suffer from musculoskeletal injuries that caused lameness.” Unfortunately for racehorses, because they are such large animals (1200 pounds resting on top of four legs no wider than a human’s), even the most minor of musculoskeletal injuries could negatively affect them for the rest of their lives. Professor Geor also noted the types of injuries that resulted in the deaths of racehorses and found that “The most common catastrophic injuries (those which result in death) in racehorses include fractures of the humerus (the bone located between the shoulder and elbow joints), cannon (third metacarpal bone), and sesamoid bones, with 90% of these injuries occurring in the forelimbs” (Geor). For a horse that lives its life in a paddock or a stall and does normal work, these injuries are anything but common. However, because racehorses are constantly pushed to their limits in training and races, their bones are under more stress than those of a horse with a normal workload and as such, they are more susceptible to these painful and often life-ending injuries. Geor found these injuries to be quite prevalent, stating “About one in 700 racing starts is associated with a catastrophic musculoskeletal injury (most commonly, fractures of the lower limbs)” (Geor). It is worth noting that Geor’s article is an old one. Due to there being no database that keeps track of the normal injuries sustained by racehorses and very few new studies on the subject, current information on types of injuries is extremely difficult to come by. Most of the credible information available is in older articles like Geor’s. However, because the racing industry hasn’t changed too much since Geor wrote his article, it’s safe to assume the numbers and types of injuries recorded likely haven’t either. The high number of serious and catastrophic injuries is truly bothersome. Is it fair to subject faithful equines who have no say in the matter to such pain? If the same types of injuries were to happen with the same frequency to human athletes, people would surely be outraged and call for change. Shouldn’t the same kind of sympathy be shown for our equine companions?
In addition to the many injuries racehorses across the nation sustain, many of these animals unfortunately never have the chance to experience a life beyond the track. The study performed by the NY Times, mentioned earlier, found that at racetracks across America, the average weekly racehorse death toll was 24 (Bogdanich), bringing the daily average of equine deaths to more than three horses per day. In California alone, according to the same study by the NY Times, between 2009 and 2011, 635 horses died while either training or racing and in total, 3600 horses died either in training or in races at state-regulated tracks across the nation (Bogdanich). Though some safety precautions have been taken over the last few years, such as installing synthetic footing on the tracks that reduced fatal injuries by 37% (which many tracks are now opting to remove and replace with traditional footing due to maintenance problems) (Ferguson), there is still an alarming number of horses losing their lives at racetracks. The Jockey Club, an online Thoroughbred registry that reports injuries and deaths of racehorses at participating racetracks across America, reported “Across all surfaces, ages, and distances, the fatality rate dropped from 1.89 per 1,000 starts in 2014 to 1.62 per 1,000 starts in 2015” (“Equine Injury”). However, since The Jockey Club only keeps records of deaths at participating racetracks, there are unaccounted racehorse deaths at tracks across the country that refuse to release records to the database. For this reason, while the small drop in deaths is encouraging, since it’s not representative of all racehorse deaths in the country, it’s hard to say how much the total death toll has actually dropped. Additionally, since the death toll for the 2016 racing season hasn’t yet been posted, it’s hard to say whether or not this downward trend will continue. Regardless, the fact of the matter is horses are still dying for the sake of a sport in which they have no choice whether they participate or not and thousands more of these 4-legged athletes will continue to see the ends of their lives on racetracks across the nation without proper intervention.
Horses are not the only victims who suffer severe and sometimes fatal injuries on the track; jockeys who ride astride these animals are also at high risk for injury and death. While jockey injuries and deaths are not nearly as frequent as those of their equine companions, they are still a concern as oftentimes the injuries sustained from falls are severe. According to Chris Isidore from CNN, jockeys are the “most seriously injured athletes in any professional sport…The thoroughbreds they ride are running at speeds of more than 40 mph, which means that paralysis and even death are not uncommon.” (Isidore) Every time a jockey gets on a horse, whether it’s to train or race, they risk their personal safety. A study performed between 2007 and 2011 by Peta Hitchens, Ashley Hill, and Susan Stover for the Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine revealed a worrisome jockey injury rate.
In Thoroughbred races, 184 jockey injuries occurred from 360 reported jockey falls, 180,646 race rides, 23,500 races, and 3350 race meetings…Jockey falls occurred at a rate of 1.99 falls per 1000 rides in Thoroughbred races, with 51% of falls resulting in jockey injury…The majority of falls occurred during a race, with catastrophic injury or sudden death of the horse reported as the most common cause in both Thoroughbred (29%) and Quarter Horse (44%) races. During the period studied, 1 jockey fatality resulted from a fall. (Hitchens)
If these figures seem underwhelming, it would be due to the fact that they are limited to only 12 racetracks, all of which reside in California, meaning that injuries or fatalities that occurred outside of these tracks and the state were not included in the study. Those numbers don’t seem so underwhelming now, do they? While not all injuries jockeys receive may be serious or life-threatening, there is still a high number of those that are and unfortunately, some of those injuries leave jockeys permanently disabled, as noted by the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF).
The Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF) is a 501(c)(3) public charity that provides financial assistance to some 60 former jockeys who have suffered catastrophic on-track injuries. Since its founding in 2006, the fund has disbursed over $7 million to permanently disabled jockeys, most of whom have sustained paralysis or brain injuries…Many of the jockeys we serve were injured while in their 20s and 30s and face decades of living with a disability…The medical needs of our disabled jockeys are great and may include daily assistance from a caregiver. (“Welcome”)
The fact that there are so many permanently disabled athletes requiring assistance is quite depressing. In addition to the high number of seriously injured jockeys, it’s reported that between the years of 1940 and 2015, “there have been 154 fatalities at U.S. race tracks since 1940, according to the Jockeys’ Guild” (qtd. In Isidore). The rate at which jockeys get hurt and even lose their lives due to this sport, much like with their horses, is much too high to be seen as reasonable. Sure, the jockeys know the risks of racing, but that’s still no excuse for how many get seriously injured every year. Unfortunately, as long as there are horses to race, there will be jockeys to ride them and unless something is done, many more jockeys will meet the same fate as many of the racehorses on which they ride.
Horse racing is a very cruel and dangerous sport for its equine and human participants. Yes, many of the horses may be well looked after and cared for, some may even enjoy their job, but that doesn’t change the fact that too many of them are injured and die every year. With every passing day, more and more of these athletes are put in harm’s way for the sake of our entertainment. The only way to effectively protect them from a life-changing incident on the track is to call for a change. We must end horse racing.