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In your opinion, Do you think horse racing is a cruel sport? I'm half and half on it. Most of the horses love to run and it is an awesome sport to watch because you can see it in their eyes. Then again, Countless champions have been euthanized due to a misstep, Jockeys falling, horses falling, runaway horses. Horse racing can be a dangerous sport as well. A lot of people don't understand the reasons why so many horses break down due to leg injuries. Right when that horse steps onto that hind or front leg, all of it's weight goes straight down to it. A horses legs are thin and extremely fragile. They can break like a stick very easily. Yet, Racing is not about that, There have also been champions that have raced for a long time without injuries and retired sound. So again, In your opinion, Is horse racing cruel or is it not?

In my opinion, I don't see any cruelity in this sport. The horses like it, the jokeys like it. Of cource there is some danger in it, but give me an example of one sport - just one! - that isn't dangerous to some degree. It's something that has been going on for a very long time and has no degree of cruelity in it.

I don't know much about it myself. However, I suppose I don't excactly see it as being a cruel sport. If the horses enjoy it then I can't see any problem. But then.. I much prefer to see horses out in the wild then being ridden at all.

The horses and the jockey love it, why do they do it? A horses legs are tougher than they look. The fragile bone you're talking about must refer to a Thoroughbred or an Arabian, comparing those to North and South American breed and the draft horses is like comparing a stick to a rock. Sure, many horses have been injured, but many have healed, not always returning to competition, but still living a painless life.

Naw, its not a cruel sport. If Dog Sledding isn't cruel then why would horse racing be? The horses enjoy running!

No, I don't think its cruel. Thoroughbred's and Teenese's are bred with fine, muscular legs. Most accidents happen because another jockey gets in the way. Or in one case the rider died while riding the horse and the horse wiped out. Greyhound Racing is cruel though.

Yes GreyHound racing is cruel. If the dog isnt fast enough, they think its not usful. So they put the dogs to sleep.

Horse racing? Hmm. I don't think it's cruel, accidents happen. And some horses do recover. Still, I'm not sure. The bets part is what I don't like. (I hate gambling!) Horses enjoy it a lot. They get good care, and do need excercise. So, no. I doubt it's cruel, although everyone knows that horse slaughter is TORCHER!!!racing[/b]

I don't think so. Now, when they torture the horse when s/he loses (a sore loser jockey or whatever), then it's cruel.

THE WHIPS DO NOT HURT THE HORSE, PEOPLE! The whips, in fact, does touch the skin, but it does not hurt them. The crack sound it makes scares the horse into running faster.

Yes, that sounds cruel as well. But it's not. The people are merely interested in winning, I'm sure fewer of them really care (not as a racehorse) about the horse... I don't know why, greed maybe?

But it's not the human's fault when the horse breaks a leg, it could be (as said) a simple misstep. We all have those (we twist our ankle and so on). A horse is put down after that because, as you said, all the weight goes to the leg being pressured. If they fix that leg, it'll only break again and again. Let alone, if they put the horse on "bed rest" fluid will enter it's lungs and it will die anyway.

Or use them for testing.

I'm sorry for going off topic, but I don't think that it was a misstep that injured Barbaro. During the Preakness Stakes, right before the race started, Barbaro broke out of his closed chute. Barbaro must have put every ounce of his weight into that foot he broke later to open the chute. Then the bone must have been cracked. Once Barbaro was back in the chute, the race started. A misstep he might have taken or running, was probably the last straw for the cracked bone and it broke.
So I believe it takes a lot more than a misstep to injure a horse so much it founders (Laminitus, Navicular Disease, both names for it, a disease of the inner hoof.)

Or, they give the greyhound up for adoption. Don't paint all greyhound owners with the same brush, that's not fair to those people who love their hounds and would sooner cut off their own arm then test on them.

It's exactly the same as dogsledding....oh and tack on top facilities, round the clock care and rich owners that pay out their nose to make sure that their horses are not only healthy but in top condition-especially for racing so that they don't injure themselves. Many of these horses fly in their own private jets......how cruel.

Of course there are accidents in racing, but those are the kind of horses that would rather die on the track than sitting around in a feild doing nothing. Also, think of how many regular, companion horses die each year because of something that their owner could have prevented. I can guarantee the number of racehorses that die on the track are a good lot less.

I love horse racing. I love watching legends being made, I can't help it. I'll probably end up in the Thoroughbred business one day. Be it cruel or not, I'm hooked.

Thats true, even for the winning Grey Hounds, they retire fast at around age 5. And the owners give them up. At least fer mushing they use sled dogs until they stop running, and take care of them until they die on their own.