Horseracing Horrors Revealed

Cheltenham Race Takes Place This Weekend!

This weekend the Cheltenham races will start again, followed by Aintree’s grand National. These events attract millions of visitors every year and is a good fund raiser! Many people enjoy the races but some, including myself, think that horse racing is cruel, unfair and a severe mistreatment of the horses.

 Some of these reasons are that if a horse injures itself they are likely to kill the horse. 14 horses were killed in 2015 and the number increases every year. One of the most dangerous obstacles of the grand national is the brook which many horses fall over and injure themselves.

Jockeys can often not take proper care of the horses used in the race, they only care about winning to get much sought after prize fund.

There have also been reports of neglect and mis-treatment. It is claimed that some jockeys have been found giving the horses illegal drugs to give them more energy to therefore go faster and to win the race. The final, and some would say cruellest, part of competitive horse racing centres around the use of whipping during the final furlongs. The main concern is that this may cause the horses immense amounts of pain.

Some horses are also too young to race, which means they are not 100% ready to be ridden and could hurt their bones as they haven’t grown properly.

Although this debate may continue for a while, we should truly invest in the care of horses and the conditions of the races for the horses.