Spare horses: never bet on horse racing cruelty.

The horse racing sector wants people to believe it’s a glamorous sport — but for the animals involved, nothing could be further from the truth.

Horse racing is a profit-driven industry in which horses are typically seen as expendable, being discarded and replaced when they are no longer profitable. These sensitive, social animals lead an unnatural and restricted life while racing, and can end up as ‘wastage’ when the industry has no further use for them.

The horses who are deemed good enough to race are commonly subjected to gruelling training, which can result in severe injuries, both physical and mental. Not to mention the inhumane use of painful whips and tongue ties during races and the risk of fatal injuries on track.

At least one horse dies every 2 days on Australian racetracks and many have died while racing in the Melbourne Cup, such as Anthony Van Dyck, who sadly broke down mid-race in 2020.

The horse racing breeding process is ruthless. In hopes of finding a rare ‘champion’, the industry breeds thousands of horses, only to ‘disappear’ if they don’t win enough races to turn a profit. This overbreeding problem is not one the industry wants to talk about, because addressing overbreeding will mean cutting into its hefty gambling profits.

While the industry touts its establishment of a fund that it purports will help ‘support the wellbeing of racehorses across all stages of their lives’, it must know that while breeding numbers remain high, caring for all bred horses through all stages of their lives is in fact impossible. There are simply not enough homes for the thousands of unwanted horses each year.

Mass horse slaughter has long been accepted by the horse racing sector as the ‘cost of doing business’.

Each year, thousands of racehorses who are not fast enough to compete are sent to slaughterhouses; their meat used in ‘pet food’ or for human consumption. Using marketing tactics, the industry hopes the public will forget the explosive evidence that’s been revealed of mass horse slaughter and cruelty.

Following the 2019 exposé, the industry responded with feigned shock that horses were ending up at slaughterhouses — but it was revealed that the industry knew about the killings and that horses were being sold directly to kill buyers by horse racing trainers.

This industry, while claiming to ‘love horses’, continues to defend the practices of whipping exhausted animals and using barbaric ‘tongue ties’. These practices highlight how unnatural racing is for horses — if horses love to run at such speeds, why use whips at all, and why require tongue ties to prevent them from choking?

For a large proportion of those who make it to the racetrack, the exertion of racing leads them to bleed into their lungs and windpipe (called Exercise-Induced Pulmonary Haemorrhage). A University of Melbourne study found that 50% of racehorses had blood in the windpipe, and 90% had blood deeper in the lungs.

And for some of the ‘retired winners’, their reward is being treated like a breeding machine, as the industry tries to breed more ‘winning horses’. One of Australia’s most famous horses, Black Caviar, was forcibly impregnated an exhausting nine times — a process involving applying a restraint device to her face that was tightened if she protested. It is reported that she developed mastitis (an infection unique to breastfeeding mothers) followed by an extremely painful condition known as laminitis. She was killed soon after giving birth to her ninth foal, who has tragically also passed away.

While remembering horses like Black Caviar, we must also remember that every year, thousands of horses ‘disappear’ without fanfare or recognition — those who are too slow, old, sick, injured or otherwise ‘unviable’ for racing.

Just like the companion animals we share our homes and our hearts with, every horse deserves to be valued for who they are as individuals, not for how much gambling money their bodies can generate.

This pledge plays a vital role — but you can have an even greater impact for horses during ‘racing season’. Here’s how:

• Write a letter to the editor of your local paper and voice your opposition to horse racing. This is especially important in the lead-up to events such as the Melbourne Cup, which many people support simply because they don’t yet know about the cruelty.
• Celebrate kindness on ‘Cup Day’ — get dressed up with friends, pop the bubbly or any beverage of your choosing, and participate in fun, animal-friendly activities!