While the for-profit industry touts horse racing as a thrilling spectacle to be enjoyed by spectators sipping mint juleps, behind that romanticized facade lies a world of drug abuse, gruesome breakdowns and horrific slaughter. The deaths of Eight Belles and Medina Spirit, stars of America’s most famous race, brought to light a dark side to the sport that many had previously overlooked or simply didn’t know existed.
A new study published this week, by the authors of a Poynter article about these two horses’ final days, adds to the mounting evidence that the sport of horse racing is cruel to the animals who are subjected to it. The research shows that horses regularly die from the exorbitant physical stress of running and training, especially at young ages when they are most vulnerable.
The report, titled “Broken Horses,” is the result of more than a year’s worth of investigative journalism using confidential documents, covert recordings and exclusive interviews. It examines how the unnatural training and confinement of a racehorse impedes its normal instincts, leading to mental and physical suffering that can manifest as repetitive, compulsive behavior such as biting, cribbing or kicking.
Jockeys use a device called a crop to tap the horses on their shoulders during races and workouts, often with the intention of making them go faster. When used improperly, the crop can cause injuries to a horse, including a ruptured tendon and fractured fetlock bone.
These devices also can trigger a horse’s adrenaline system to release the hormone cortisol, which can lead to an increase in heart rate and blood pressure that causes the animal to be more susceptible to injury. When that happens, the horse may lose control and crash into other horses or the ground.
In the case of Havnameltdown, it is believed the horse’s death was caused by a combination of factors, including an injection of corticosteroids in his left front leg four weeks before the Preakness and the use of sedatives during training. The report also revealed that the horse had osteoarthritis, severe degenerative joint disease and bone cysts (holes in the bones) on all four limbs.
Moreover, like politics, horse racing is often a game of two candidates battling it out, which can limit newsroom coverage to the top contenders and leave third-party or independent candidates in the dust. Perhaps horse racing can teach journalists a lesson in how to more thoroughly cover all of the horses and not just the ones that are expected to win.