What Has Been Done Recently To Improve The Quality Of Life and Health of Racehorses?

Horse racing is often considered a divisive sport, with uneducated viewers typically claiming that it is cruel to run horses for competition. However, that stance couldn’t be further from the truth. 

Thoroughbreds were born to run and race, and that has been the case since their founding the 17th and 18th centuries. Racehorses are among the best-treated and most loved animals that can be found anywhere in the world. 

Life on the track is only short, with flat horses typically only competing for two years at the highest level, while jumps horses are able to prolong their careers in the sport, with some runners still competing at the very highest level aged 12. 

But, how are racehorses looked after and what are the key factors that are considered to ensure that they have a healthy and happy life?

Early Life In Racing

After being brought at a sales ring, either as a yearling or a two-year, horses will be broken in when they are around 18 months old. 

Horses will begin to wok with long reining before a rider is put aboard when the horse is comfortable to do so. 

Training processes can step up a gear from here, and younger runners are typically trained alongside older and more experienced runners that will make aspiring champions feel more comfortable when completing their work. 

Time off is essential for flat horses around the winter period, before work picks up again early in the new year. During this period, horses are educated to quicken and gallop and once a healthy base level of fitness has been built up, it is time to train properly with big races in mind. 

You can check the list of tournaments where these horses are competing here: https://www.twinspires.com/tournaments/ 

Changes to Improve Safety

Many plans have been put into motion to ensure the safety of horse racing in the modern era. Back in 2017, sweeping changes were made to hurdles and fences following research conducted at the University of Exeter, which focused on equine visibility. 

It was determined that orange palettes were difficult to view for horses, and could have been a reason for the number of fallers. Governing bodies took drastic action to improve this, and white palettes have been in operation since 2022. Nowadays, all markings on jumps hurdles and fences are white, which ensures that equines can clearly see every obstacle. 

Medical Care

Medical care is also offered at every track across the world in this modern era. At Santa Anita, huge changes were implemented in 2019 after a high number of fatalities were recorded, and every track across the United States has now followed their approach. 

One of the key changes was the power that was handed to veterinarians, as every horse in action would need to pass the vet to ensure their involvement in a race. If the vet isn’t happy with a runner, they are quickly withdrawn.

There has also been increased importance on regulating performance enhancing drugs within the sport, with HISA following initiatives since 2022. The controlled-medication oversight ensures that results can be examined quicker than ever, which not only ensures that the sport is fair, but also makes sure that every horse in competition is healthy regardless of their ability on the track.

Life After Racing

As we mentioned previously, a horse’s life on the track is typically short, meaning that there is extra emphasis on the quality of life for each equine after they are retired. 

Around 7,000 horses per year leave the sport in the United Kingdom, with just 2,000 typically going to breeding, according to the stats at HorsePWR. For the remainder of the horses that leave the sport, they are either retired to a career away from racing, while some may opt to take a break before returning at a later date. 

In the UK, there is a duty of care to horses that leave the sport, with the Retraining of Racehorses (RoR) keeping tabs on each runner that leaves the track. Their goal is to achieve 100% traceability for every horse after retiring, as they look to ensure and tailor each runner to thrive in their next career. 

Huge legal chances were made in 2022, as run stated that all racehorses that ran in Great Britain must be signed out of the food chain, meaning that they couldn’t be illegally sold to abattoirs. The law changes have worked based on the stats found by HorsePWR, as there has been zero cases of British-trained horses being put down at a British abattoir. 

The stats found also in the Thoroughbred Census also found that there are 33,600 former racehorses enjoying post-retirement life, with around 22,530 of these enjoying careers in other equestrian disciplines. This includes competing in eventing and dressage events at regional and international level.