Slide 1:
Horse racing, known as “The Sport of Kings” is all about glamour, prestige, and most of all who can run the fastest. It is one of the most competitive and expensive sport in the world. Most people believe that racehorses live a luxurious life and retire to a field of grass.
Slide 2:
However, behind this “noble” sport and behind all the glamour and money is a sport full of drugs, deception and death. Owners, breeders, and trainers will work to create the fastest horse in hopes of earning the most prestigious title in the world, The Triple Crown Winner.
Slide 3:
This year thousands of thoroughbreds will be born, hundreds will die, and only one will win.
Slide 4:
This is a video that shows the dark side of horse racing. There are many flaws in the industry that lead to these kinds of accidents. The four that I focused on are horses being raced to young, the abuse of medications, the abuse of steroids, and the horses’ lives after racing.
Slide 5:
Horses begin racing while their skeletal systems are still growing. Horses generally begin racing when they are about two years old, some as young as 1.5 years old, while their skeletal systems do not fully develop until the age of 5 years. Because their skeletal systems are not fully developed, the horses are unprepared to handle the pressures of running on a hard track at high speeds. Riding horses begin their training at the age of 3-4 years, while race horses are forced to run beyond their limits, pounding their developing joints into the ground. Their growth plates are not fully mature and this leads to many lower limb ailments and injuries that include fractures, strained tendons, and pulled ligaments.
Slide 6:
The injuries that horses suffer from range from leg fractures to serious problems with internal organs.
These two pictures show bowed tendons.
Slide 7:
This picture is of a distal splint bone fracture in a 2 year old thoroughbred gelding. Surgery is an option to treat injuries, but horses do not handle surgery well, as they tend t be disoriented when coming out of anesthesia and they may fight casts or slings, possible causing further injury. Racing horses at such a young age and so aggressively can lead to serious problems such as stomach ulcers, heart murmurs, and bleeding in the lungs. Someone can tell when a horse’s lungs are bleeding because the horse will be bleeding out of its nose. During a race a horse’s heart rate can go from a relaxed 25 beats per minute to an excessive 250 beats, leading to exhaustion, collapse, and sometimes, to a fatal heart attack.

Slide 8:
Barbaro broke his right hind ankle in the 2006 Preakness, developed laminitis, and had to be euthanized eight months after the accident. During the eight months after the accident at the 2006 Preakness,
Barbaro suffered from a series of ailments including laminitis in the left rear hoof, an abscess in the right rear hoof, as well as new laminitis in both front feet leaving him one good leg to stand on. Barbaro underwent nearly two dozen surgeries and other procedure, spent time in a sling to ease pressure on his legs, had pins inserted and was fitted at the end with an external brace — extraordinary measures given that most horses never survive those injuries.
Slide 9:
After finishing second in the 2008 Kentucky Derby, Eight Belles broke both front ankles and was euthanized right on the spot.
Slide 10:
Hundreds of horses die each year from these injuries. A study conducted on injuries at racetracks concluded that one horse in every 22 races suffered an injury that prevented him or her from finished a race, while another estimates that 800 thoroughbreds die each year in North America because of injuries.
Slide 11:
Because horses are raced at younger ages making injuries more common, trainers will use drugs and medications to hide the pain and injuries and enhance the performance of horses. Trainers have been using drugs and medications for as long as horse racing has been around and “can be traced to the
1800s. Drugs and medications give horses an advantage over their competition and hide the pain from injuries. It all started with the purification of cocaine used as an acute stimulant. Today there are over 10 million known chemical substances, over 4,000 prescription medications, and over 850 substances categorized as performance-enhancing drugs. There is not a race horse in the world that has been traditionally brought up on hay, oats, and water. Trainers have gone as far as using a battery-powered device to shock a horse during a race, as well as using injections of the venom of the cone snail, which is found in the ocean and is prized for the joint-numbing qualities of its venom.
Slide 12:
Many of the substances used to enhance the performance of race horses include amphetamines, opiates, tranquilizers, and other substances. Before a race, trainers will give their horses acute stimulant medications (amphetamines and opiates). The most common amphetamine is methylphenidate, which is more commonly called Ritalin. A common form of opiate is Etorphine, also known as elephant juice.
The tranquilizer, Acepromazine, is used to relax horses during a race. Trainers also use bronchodilators, which are used to improve the horse’s “wind” by opening its airways. Some horses are given
“milkshakes” made of baking soda, sugar, and electrolytes delivered through a tube in the horse’s nose to increase carbon dioxide in the horse’s bloodstream and lessen lactic-acid buildup, warding off fatigue.

Slide 13:
To keep horses going, trainers will do anything to hide the pain from injuries and make their horses run faster. To hide the pain from an injury or make a horse run faster, trainers will use Lasix (which controls bleeding in the lungs), phenylbutazone (an anti-inflammatory), and cortiscosteroids (for pain and inflammation. This further increases their risk for injury because trainers are putting more stress on the injured horses.
Slide 14:
Steroids are also used to enhance the horses’ performances and to hide any pain from injuries. Steroids were used long before they started being used in any other major sports as experts say that steroids were frequently used in horse racing long before their use became widespread among human athletes.
Steroids build up a horse’s muscle tissue, make the animal stronger, help horses deal with injury and fatigue, give them extra bulk and strength and make them more aggressive. Steroids are not only to make them race better, but also to make them appear bigger and more formidable when they are being shown to potential buyers. Almost all trainers give their horses steroids. Larry Bramlage, a track veterinarian and member of the Jockey Club’s Thoroughbred Safety Committee stated that “’most all’ trainers use them…a small percentage abuse them”.
Slide 15:
Just as drugs and medications enhance the performance of horses so can steroids. The most common steroids are anabolic steroids, which are illegal in horse racing. Steroids provide a boost for horses that are not eating well or are listless. Steroids are ‘a useful tool’ for thoroughbreds because they help them withstand the wear and tear of racing. They keep their appetite up and help them recover from races.
Dr. Gregory Bennett, Big Brown’s veterinarian stated that “we’re always under pressure to keep these horses going and to try and make races. Without steroids, they’d lose some horses that can’t keep up the pace and race every three weeks or once a month”. Steroids are abused, extremely harmful, and put the horses’ at a greater risk for injuries. They put extra muscle on the horses, forcing them to carry more weight. Racehorses have been bred for flashy speed; the animal itself has become more fragile. They have large, strong upper bodies and thin, fragile legs, making them more susceptible to leg injuries. Out of 998 horses tested in Pennsylvania, 61.7 percent were positive for steroids and 17.3 percent had been treated with two or more. The government began to put pressure on the racing industry, and it developed the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium, which set up rules in regard to steroids.
These rules banned all anabolic steroids, except four- stanozolol, boldenone, nandrolone and testosterone. Those four steroidswere permitted for therapeutic purposes but were not allowed to be given within a period of up to 45 days before a horse race. It’s hard to tell who is using them properly and who is abusing them so the best thing to do is to ban them all together.
Slide 16:
Big Brown, the winner of the 2008 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, finished last in the Belmont
Stakes “after being taken off his steroid regime.

Slide 17:
After racehorses’ careers are over most of them do not end up in a field of grass. The racing industry does not regulate what happens after the horses are done racing. Unwanted horses are sent to auctions where they are bought by “killer buyers” who then sell the horses to be slaughtered. Most horses that are sent to slaughter houses are in good condition. According to the USDA, “more than 92 percent of horses who go to slaughter are in good condition- they will not need to be euthanized” (The Facts on
Horse Slaughter). These are horses that can be sent to rescues and be adopted out to live better more productive lives.