Health Concerns in Thoroughbred Race Horses

Many racehorses suffer many health problems as a direct result of their breeding, in their training and during their racing careers. 

The thoroughbred racing industry is concerned with making money and not with preserving the health of the equine athletes.  Thoroughbreds are considered disposable since there are so many available for sale to replace injured, sick or dead horses.  Racehorses suffer many health problems as a direct result of their breeding, in their training and during their racing careers. 

Breeding Problems

Thoroughbred horses are bred to do one thing run. They are not bred to survive just run. All Thoroughbred descend from just three stallions, The Bryerly Turk, The Godolphin Arabian and the Darley Arabian. It is thought that 90% of all Thoroughbreds alive today trace their ancestry back to the Darley Arabian through once stallion named Eclipse. All of these foundation horses lived in the very late 1600s and early 1700s.

Since then, the gene pool has condensed even further. It is thought that about 90% of all Thoroughbred horses alive today trace their ancestry to Northern Dancer, who was born in 1961.  This intense inbreeding has produced a fast animal, but one that easily shatters. Although there was an intense public reaction to 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro's death from a racing injury, thousands of racing thoroughbreds die in America every year with no tears or media coverage.  

Training Problems

A thoroughbred's bone structure is physically mature when the horse reaches five years of age. However, when the bones are still soft, the thoroughbred race horse is broken to saddle and begun heavy training when they are yearlings. As soon as the knees close, they are ridden, whether the rest of their body can handle it or not.  Horses are often given drugs such as steroids to build muscle and powerful painkillers to make them run when they are in pain.

In order to toughen up young thoroughbred race horse's legs, they are either pinfired or chemically burned. Pinfiring is exactly what it sounds like. Even though The Thoroughbred Times declared pinfiring "obsolete" in 2006, the practice is still common.  In 1989, Sports Illustrated very casually mentioned "blistering" (chemically burning) in an expose on champions Easy Goer and Sunday Silence.

Racing Problems

During a race, a thoroughbred runs all out for a couple of minutes on hard surfaces carrying an adult rider and any lead assigned to carry, whipped, spurred, crowded, then shut up in a stall to go traveling to do the whole thing over again, sometimes as often as twice a week.

Small jockeys are getting harder and harder to find as worldwide nutrition improves. So, they are getting heavier while the horses get weaker. Today's thoroughbred race horse has no chance of living a long, healthy life. They are thwarted every chance through irresponsible breeding, careless disregard of a natural horse's anatomical requirements and no thought as to tomorrow. No wonder they self-destruct so often.  Those that survive racing are often too damaged to ever work again. Very few people are willing to have a horse that cannot work.  For example, the 1986 Kentucky Derby winner Ferdinand was sent to slaughter when he failed to sire enough winners.

Image of Northern Dancer statue at Woodbine Racetrack by JDG for Wikimedia Commons