Re: What do you think about horse riding and racing?
Horses are run far too young .
Especially as two year olds .
This is done only for economic reasons there is no good reason why a young animal should not be allowed to develop naturally .
The thoroughbred horse is not developed at this age it's growth plates are not closed hence it does a lot of damage to its legs .
Even the light weight of a jockey can harm the spine and it's sometimes fuses the vertebrae.
This means that the many horses unless they win well when they are used for breeding cannot be used for other deciplines .
Some do but a racehorse even when retired is still a young uneducated horse and its not an easy prospect to retrain even if it has managed to come out of racing without significant injuries .
Some horses survive running on the flat and carry on to run over hurdles and them steeplechase fences . These do fall and hurt themselves , a horse has very thin legs and the force on impact from a big fence can sometimes break the bone .
It's very hard to mend a horses leg bone as a horse cannot lie down for more than 12 hours else it started to swell up. It therefore has to hung in a sling with very poor success rate .
The wastage in racehorses is tremendous . Many young ones never make it to the race tracks for one reason or another. They are sold cheaply at sales often for pet food .
Many horses break down in training or simply don't run fast enough .
These too unless they are bought for a dedicated person to retrain will end up as kitty Kat .
The horse is a noble animal and will run but only when forced too will it gallop flat out .
Racehorses in training are kept in stables for up to 23 hour a day 24/7 it is a sad stressful and boring life for a young horse . Racehorses develop many bad habits because of this weaving ( rocking from side to side ) crib biting or wind sucking ( sucking air into their stomachs ) these habits or vices as they are called are NEVER seen in a horse in the wild or one that has not been confined in a box in this way . Vices such as these are undesirable in a riding horse and have to be declared on sale .
They are caused by stress in the same way that caged lions pace and monkeys rock themselves.
All in all horse racing is not a kind or good life for a horse .
It is for the entertainment of the human species.