That's how much racehorses sufferRacehorses

The lives of racehorses are characterized by stress. While millions of people bet and cheer at the races under the guise of sport, the horses are exposed to enormous pressure and suffering. Some racehorses do not survive the events.

Spectators of horse races bet horrendous sums on the animals to win money. What may be an exciting spectacle for the public is pure stress for racehorses. Fear and suffering are literally written all over the animals' faces during the races. They are driven to peak performances that they would only show in nature during a fight for survival on the run. There are around 50 racetracks in Germany,¹ around 1,000 races take place there every year.² Although interest in horse racing is declining among the population as a whole and horse racing has lost prestige, it is still a lucrative business: Around one million visitors are drawn to these spectacles every year.³ Betting turnover is around 26 million euros per year.⁴

All forms of racing can cause suffering for horses and pose a great risk of injury. Many horses are only two years old when they have to run their first races. They are still growing and are far from being mentally ready for competition.

Obstacle races demand a great deal from racehorses. After the race gallop, they have to overcome high obstacles. Jumping is not part of their natural behavior; in the wild, the animals avoid larger obstacles and only jump over them in an emergency. Galloping races put a huge physical and psychological strain on horses, as they associate sprinting at top speed with fleeing from a frightening object in order to survive. This puts them in severe respiratory distress and their body temperature is also greatly increased. The jockeys also give their horses lashes to drive them to peak performance. In trotting races, the racehorses pull drivers on two-wheeled carriages known as sulkies. The heads of the racehorses are usually fixed in a rigid position with several aids. The tongues are also often tied to the lower jaw with straps or nylon stockings. With this equipment, which is contrary to animal welfare, athletes brutally force their animals to be more obedient and faster.

During the thousands of horse races that take place around the world every year, numerous horses are injured time and again. In some cases, the animals have to be euthanized on the racecourse due to serious falls and broken bones. Some succumb to their serious injuries immediately. The conditions for the racehorses are deliberately set so harsh that the death of the animals is accepted.

In Germany, broken bones are the most common cause of death in gallop races,⁴ as the bones cannot withstand the overload. In 2016, 12 horses died at German racecourses, in 2019 there were nine deaths.⁵ At the Grand National in England, one of the riskiest races in the world, a total of 62 horses have died since 2000.⁶ In the USA, almost 500 racehorses died in 2018 alone.⁷ The number of unreported cases worldwide is higher. This is because many horses are injured during training or are discarded injured and sick after the races. Animals that do not meet the high standards of horse racing are often silently discarded.

Away from the races and training sessions, racehorses spend their everyday lives in monotonous stalls. They have too little access to pasture and hardly any social contact with conspecifics. The stabling does not meet the needs of the species, as actually required by the Animal Welfare Act. In addition, the horses are often not fed in a species-appropriate manner; instead, they are given large quantities of high-energy concentrated feed. Keeping, feeding, training and racing lead to stomach ulcers in many animals.