What is a Horse Race and How Does it Affect Horse Welfare?

A horse race is a competitive event in which a human being, usually a jockey or driver, guides a racehorse through an obstacle course to achieve victory. This sport has been a source of entertainment for humans since at least 4500 BC. Horse racing continues to be one of the most popular spectator sports in the world. However, some research has indicated that the industry is exploitative and has adverse impacts on horses.

The earliest horse races were simple endurance events that tested the stamina of the horses, rather than their speed. In modern times, the sport has become more of a spectacle, with races held in stadiums and television broadcast worldwide. Horses are valued for their physical prowess as well as their beauty and grace, and breeders and trainers spend considerable resources to ensure that they perform at their best during a race.

Spectators at the track watch as jockeys and drivers mount horses in warmups before the race, which are practice runs that give onlookers a glimpse of the horse’s behavior and running style. They also look at how well the horse and the rider or driver work together. If there is tension between the two, the horse is unlikely to perform well in the race.

In horse races, the racehorses are saddled with bridles that have bits in them. The bridle is tied to the horse’s head and the bit is placed in the mouth, which is often irritated or even painful for the horse. Some of the equine advocates interviewed for this study found that most horses show clear behavioural evidence of aversion to having a bit in their mouth, and believe that the bit is not only an unnecessary element of the horse racing industry but also harms horses.

The horse racing industry has many other aspects that affect the health and welfare of the animals, such as training methods, diet, exercise, and the use of medications. Many of these practices are naturalised, normalised and downplayed by informants and are viewed by them as part of the sport.

The horses participating in horse races are not just animals – they are commodities. They are traded on the basis of their performance, with the highest-priced horses having more chance of winning. A growing body of research has shown that when journalists cover elections, they tend to focus on the horse race, with a preoccupation on who is ahead or behind rather than the policies the candidates are advocating for. This phenomenon is known as horse race coverage, and it is a serious problem for voters, candidates and the news industry itself. A study led by Johanna Dunaway of Texas A&M University and Regina G. Lawrence of the University of Oregon examined the 10,784 newspaper articles published about statewide and national elections for governor and U.S. senator in 2004, 2006 and 2008. The authors found that newspaper chains and corporate-owned papers were more likely to frame the election as a horse race, especially when close races occurred and during the weeks leading up to the election.