For me, the worst we humans do to animals is take away their autonomy, their freedom. Stick them in a cage, a crate, a tank, or, in the case of racehorses, a tiny 12×12 stall for the vast majority of their day(s). It is cruelty defined, all the more so for being done to social animals like horses. And, it is profoundly sad.
As part of an ongoing effort to educate the public, I have asked various equine experts to weigh in on confinement. Here are three more (past ones here).
“I am writing this letter as the director of a horse rescue for the last 23 years, a lifelong equestrian, horse trainer, hoof care specialist, and lover of horses.
“Early in my career, I worked with both Standardbred and Thoroughbred racehorses. I used to think because they had stalls, thick bedding, and so much attention, that comparatively my poor backyard horses were underprivileged. How wrong I was. Years later, I discovered my horses had the most wonderful life! They were spared the agony of standing in a stall 23 hours or more each day, being isolated from natural equine behaviors and contact with a herd, and breathing filthy air, often in dark spaces. It was the beginning of my ‘enlightenment’ about the cruelty of keeping horses confined.
“Over the years, I have been unable to rehabilitate and rehome countless former racehorses at my rescue because they were so emotionally – and sometimes physically – damaged. Some were dangerous ‘head cases’ who were given no proper foundation for a horse to thrive and grow and LIVE.
“I could go on about what the American Association of Equine Practicioners, UC Davis, or Michigan State University have to say about stall confinement – more colics, respiratory and temperature-regulation issues, behavioral problems, weak bones, laminitis, etc. – but why bother? Simple common sense will tell you that horses cannot live in a ‘broom closet’ and expect to come out with their faculties intact.
“What the ‘Sport of Kings’ does to horses is criminal, and the industry should be held accountable. Track veterinarians who are in favor of stall confinement should have their licenses revoked. Racehorses have TERRIBLE lives. WAKE UP PEOPLE. Anyone who endorses horseracing is endorsing animal cruelty.” – Maria Genovesi
“I have shared my life with horses for many years – at times, living with and helping to care for as many as 100 equines.
“I am not simply expressing an opinion when I advocate for horses to have more than brief periods of freedom from restrictive confinement. For horses to properly develop and live healthy lives, they should have access to sufficient outdoor space and the freedom to move. They should be confined to a stall only when necessary because of weather, predator threats, or medical or behavioral needs.
“To relegate racehorses to prolonged stall confinement is one of the worst regimens we can impose on these otherwise young, healthy equines. There is little justification for such confinement beyond the convenience of those seeking to race or breed them. Equine-welfare experts have consistently documented the detrimental effects that excessive confinement can have on a horse’s physical and mental health.
“The arguments used to justify prolonged equine confinement make no more sense to me than debating whether a child – or a dog or a cat – should spend most of the day confined to a cage. It is nonsense. After centuries of experience with these animals, an industry that claims to love its horses ‘as family’ knows how harmful prolonged stall confinement can be.” – John Scheib
“I have owned, rescued and trained horses for over 30 years. I am a graduate of Potomac Horse Center, School of Equine Management and Basic Dressage in Gaithersburg, Maryland. For many years thereafter, I worked as a riding instructor and trainer. I also owned, rescued and rehabilitated horses. In addition, I was a NYS Trooper for 26 years, and my field of expertise was investigating animal cruelty.
“I don’t understand how the horseracing industry gets away with locking horses in 12×12 stalls for 23 hours each day, and then forcing them to run at top speeds. Article 26, Section 353 of the NYS animal-cruelty laws states that ‘any person who furthers any act of cruelty to an animal, OR any act that would tend to produce such cruelty is guilty of a misdemeanor.’ (Cruelty is defined as ANY act or omission, whereby any unjustifiable pain, suffering or death is caused or permitted.)
“All of the stables where I worked had daily turn-out for the pleasure/trail horses who were boarded there. Horses in the wild run at high speeds only when they are being chased by a predator (or being rounded up for slaughter). However, due to the fact that wild horses are constantly moving, in search of natural grasses, their muscle and skeletal systems become properly formed. The same cannot be said for young horses locked in tiny stalls for 23 hours a day. Imagine what would happen to a six-year-old child’s body if he were locked in a 4×4 closet for 23 hours a day and then forced to run a relay race.
“Locking horses up causes extreme boredom, which leads to them cribbing, weaving, and wind sucking. It is my opinion that this unnecessary confinement of racehorses constitutes animal cruelty.” – Sue McDonough
Daniel Moretti,
You invalidate the suffering of horses kept in stalls for 23 hours a day at the track by your attempt to direct attention to a horse that was mistreated off the track and suggesting that horses at the track don’t really suffer.
Each horse’s suffering on and at the track as well as off the track is significant and the racing industry is “self-policing” which means they can break the laws against Animal Welfare every day of the week (which they do) and no Sheriff Department will bother to go check out the suffering without someone making a call and making a special request but it is still highly unlikely that anything will be done to stop the every day abuse that is so routine at the racetrack. There was a group that was pushing for the horses to be stalled no more than 10 hours a day at the racetracks with 14 hours of turnout, but I think that fell flat.
It is horribly wrong to force horses to suffer by confinement to stalls as prisoners under any circumstances or jurisdiction. This mistreatment of horses is a part of the racing industry even though it is horribly wrong. For you to say you are fine with it because you didn’t see it up close and personal but you did see this other particular horse suffer off the track is just the wrong thing to say or think.
I think it is accurate to say that Horseracing Wrongs validates the suffering of horses exploited by the racing industry, whereas your statement invalidates the suffering horses must endure at the racetrack.
Rebecca and Wanda, I’m not going to respond to the personal insults. What I am going to say is that horses kept at boarding facilities or people’s backyards are often left in their stalls for months on end (and frequently go crazy, develop stall vices, etc.)
I own an off the track thoroughbred who trained at Santa Anita. By all accounts he wasn’t crazy when he was at the track, but he did go crazy after he left it and was handed from crappy owner to crappy owner. It got to the point where he was locked in his stall for months with only a small shaft of light coming in through a hole in the wall. His sole source of food was cutting from his owner’s landscaping business. He had a body condition of around 2.5 but was still being ridden and would collapse under a rider’s weight.
He was taken in by a rescue who did remarkable work on his body. But they could not provide the level of exercise and interaction that he needed and did receive at the track. He started cribbing. The rescue had to move and he was placed in a 12 x 16 box stall. He became more and more aggressive. You could not enter his stall without him threatening to bite or kick. Touching his rear pasterns to apply medicine for a fungal infection (colloquially known as “scratches”) was out of the question.
I started volunteering at the rescue and it took me literally five years to gain his trust. His misbehaviors were instilled in him after he left the track. I eventually adopted him, and he now lives in 1,000 square foot stall and gets turned out with nine other horses for eight hours a day. All of which I guess makes me an ignorant person whose brain isn’t firing on all cylinders.
Daniel, if you honestly think that mentally and physically undeveloped horses living in dark, cramped and usually dirty boxes with poor ventilation, minimal mental stimulation, and no opportunity for normal, instinctual interaction with other horses are “well adjusted” then you are either completely ignorant about proper horse keeping or simply another morally challenged racing apologist.
If your brain is not firing on all cylinders, so to speak, then you would not be able to honestly see the abnormal behaviors or comprehend the neurotic behaviors of horses confined to stalls for 23 hours a day.
I’ve been on the backside of Santa Anita Park a fair amount. And I have to say that I am always surprised by how well behaved and adjusted the horses are. Many times the jockeys rising the horses directly out and into their stalls. Mares and stallions pass each other without incident.
I see a lot more crazy thoroughbreds off the track than on it. Many OTTBs are left in their stalls for just as long, but when they do get out those horses never get to run. Instead they are forced into collection and made to trot along the wall of an arena. I could go on, but in all honesty I’ve seen more crazy thoroughbreds off the track than at Santa Anita.
But there’s a red rubber ball to play with and try to figure out. Who needs friends when you have a red rubber ball? That should provide plenty of emotional support for, well, never mind… Actually the only purpose of the ball is just to prevent the possibility of a guilty conscience of the part of the humans. I gave you a ball, right? What are you complaining about?
“We don’t live in a perfect world.” The horse racing industry epitomizes the imperfections of greed and cruelty in this world.
Racehorses are treated like lab rats. No horse deserves to be treated like a lab rat. Lab rats don’t deserve to be treated like lab rats.
The cruelty and greed of exploiting horses for racing must be continually exposed to the public. People who throw their money away at racinos need to be made aware of what they are supporting.