The sound of a thundering group of standardbred horses racing to pull their driver’s cart across the finish line is a spectacle to behold. But behind the romanticized facade of Thoroughbred horse racing is a world of injuries, drug abuse, gruesome breakdowns and slaughter.
The death of Eight Belles and the emergence of a dark side to the sport has triggered an industrywide reckoning. While many fans of thoroughbred horse racing have stepped away from the track, others are doubling down to support a movement for change.
As a sport that dates back centuries, horse racing is a complex business that involves the care of thousands of horses, hundreds of trainers and dozens of race tracks. The sport requires a high degree of skill from a rider who has to coax the animal into peak physical condition, while keeping them safe and comfortable through an exhilarating few seconds of sprinting. It is also a game that often carries an element of chance, as horses’ abilities are assessed based on a range of factors including age, gender, sex and birthplace.
While the sport is heavily regulated, it is also highly competitive and therefore prone to unethical practices. To increase the likelihood of winning, horse breeders breed and train animals to be faster than their competition. This leads to injuries and breakdowns, which is why most races have a maximum speed limit. Horses are also subjected to a cocktail of legal and illegal drugs to mask pain, prevent blood loss and boost performance. When they do break down, it is often because the intense physical stress of racing causes them to hemorrhage in their lungs.
The exploitation of these majestic creatures is inexcusable, and it’s no wonder the public is turning its back on a sport once considered the height of elegance and sophistication. The reality of a horse race is much darker than its image, with an industry filled with injuries, drug abuse, gruesome deaths and a system that sends many ex-racehorses to their horrific end in foreign slaughterhouses.
While some critics of the horse race process point to the difficulty of ensuring that the best candidate is chosen, others argue that the overt competition can motivate the rest of the organization to prepare for its new leadership. This is particularly important for large, well-established companies that rely on an internal system of grooming top performers through functional assignments and stretch roles to become the next CEO.
In fact, a study by researchers at the University of Oregon found that corporate-owned and large-chain newspapers are more likely to publish coverage that frames elections as a horse race, to the detriment of primary contenders or third-party candidates. While this approach might make good news for the stockholders of a company, it can have a negative impact on the health of democracy and the quality of journalism. Fortunately, there are some steps that can be taken to address this issue.