[Animad]

I've not read the rest of the thread but I just wanted to add my comment.

I personally hate Racing. Many horses die from it either due to fractured bones, exhaustion, burst blood vessels, consolidation in their lungs, need i go on...

Aswell as that, many die as a result of racing and not actually in a race, therefore it's what people don't hear about.

Horses in racing are forced to live a very unnataural, hardly having time out in a paddock to act like horses, this is something they need for their behaviour. Because of this, many racehorses develop poor behaviour patterns (AKA stereotypical behaviours) such as weaving from one side of their door to another for hours. Racing yards solution; we'll but a grid on the door, then they can't do it rather than solving the solution behind it. Box walking is another where a horse continuosly walks around its stable for hours on end, even all day when they aren't being trained which is caused by stress and boredom and can cause problems on their joints due to the tight turns they have to make/ wear and tear on their joints. Wind-sucking is another which they often do which is where they bite some wood/ object and swallow air that comes in. This is very dangerous causing damage to their teeth, oesophagus, and stomach--> huge problems with eating.

As well as this, they are on a diet which is high in fat/energy and low in forage/fibre which is a horses natural diet and what they really need. This diet along with the stress of life in the yard causes them to develop stomach ulcers and problems with their teeth and digestion as a whole which can lead to SEVERE pain, colicking and even death. This is seen to a lesser extent in most competition horses yard. Is it fair?

Also, horses are forced to jump over jumps that are too high which often lead to falls and having other horses landing on top of them.

They are also often trained and backed from an age which is too young for them. Horses should ideally not be ridden/ have anyone on thier back at all before 4 years old, bigger breeds/ heavier Cobs don't fully skeletally mature until they are 5 so it is believed by some that they should be left alone until then. If you back these too early it causes a lot of damage to their joints in their legs and can cause deformities to the spine --> pain, reduced quality of life and the horse not being able to have a normal, happy life.

As well, being brought into work so early can cause them a lot of psychological problems as they are not allowed to behaviourally mature in a field along with other horses like they should be at that age and so they don't really know that they are horses to some extent.

Along with this, I don't agree that animals should be used for betting as they don't have a choice not to be used in this way and I find that really unfair that they are forced through all of this through no fault of their own.

If there were to be changes in how racing was set up then I would re-evaluate my thoughts but right now they are sticking like that