By Dominick Ellis
Horse racing is not just a sport but a multi-billion-dollar industry.[i] Central to the industry is the 1,000-pound animal that race around tracks while carrying someone on their back at speeds of over 30mph.[ii] Horse racing is extremely hard on horses’ bodies.[iii] For young horses, it is even more dangerous due to their immature bones.[iv]
Horses don’t stop growing until they are six years old.[v] However, the Kentucky Derby and other major events, race horses that are only three-years-old.[vi] Even before the big race, horses need about a year of training.[vii] Then an additional year of racing so they can qualify for the Derby.[viii] Thus, resulting in horses being ridden at less than a year old.[ix] One-year-old horses are extremely undeveloped both in the mind and body.[x]
Training horses too early puts an undue amount of stress on their legs and ankles, which leads to lifetime injuries.[xi] Dr. Sheila Lyons, a prominent equine veterinarian stated, “Pushing these immature two-year-old horses for speed before they have reached physical and mental maturity is recklessly, dangerous, and systematically damaging for the animal...”[xii] Consequently, in the U.S. in 2018, 493 Thoroughbred racehorses died.[xiii] Most of these deaths were the result of limb injuries.[xiv]
The financial forces behind horse racing is a core reason that race tracks are still in existence.[xv] Each racetrack is a multi-million-dollar economy, supporting hundreds of jobs, including breeders, jockeys, veterinarians, farmers who grow hay and feed, and blacksmiths who do the horseshoeing.[xvi] Nonetheless, horse racing simply cannot survive if the general public believes racehorses are abused or neglected.[xvii]
Thus, federal legislation needs to step in to protect racehorses and change the trajectory of the horse racing industry. Unlike other major American sports that are privately administered, horseracing is governed by the laws of thirty-eight independent state racing jurisdictions.[xviii] The lone exception to this federated structure is simulcast wagering stemming from the Interstate Horseracing Act of 1978.[xix]
Since horseracing lacks a national governing body and each state currently has its own varied laws affecting horseracing, federal legislation is the only way to successfully address the horse racing age issue.[xx] Federal legislation would be beneficial for three reasons. First, consistency in the laws directed at the welfare of the animal would be a tremendous development.[xxi] Federal legislation would unify regulation within the racing industry so that everyone follows the same guidelines.[xxii] In the current system, if one state amends its laws to change a horse’s age to race, it will do very little in the animal welfare since the horse would still be able to participate in other state races.
Second, federal legislation can address other animal welfare issues within horseracing to protect and promote a sustainable horseracing industry in the United States. In 2011, Congress introduced a bill to amend the Interstate Horseracing Act of 1978 to prohibit the use of performance-enhancing drugs in horseracing.[xxiii] Racing young horses is not the only dangerous practice within the industry, other issues such as drug use, and the whipping of the horses can be grounds for additional legislation.[xxiv]
Third, federal legislation could entice other states to participate in the horse racing industry that have avoided the sport. If there is a unified system in place, other states may become involved in the industry, which will promote more jobs and provide an added value to the industry.
The horse racing industry provides work for lots of people.[xxv] Additionally, the horses benefit from the research and information gleaned from the races.[xxvi] Nonetheless, racing horses while they are still juveniles is a dangerous practice for their well-being.[xxvii] Thus, federal legislation adopting an age requirement for horse-racing would benefit the welfare of the animals as well as the industry.
[i] Horse Racing, Peta, https://www.peta.org/issues/animals-in-entertainment/horse-racing/. (last visited Oct. 11, 2019)
[ii] Id.
[iii] Horse Racing and Equine Welfare Issues, Animal Care, (Mar. 11, 2018) https://animalcare.lacounty.gov/horse-racing-and-equine-welfare-issues/.
[iv] The Sad, Ugly Truth About Horse Racing. Hanaeleh, (last visited Oct. 11, 2019) https://www.hanaeleh.org/horse-racing/.
[v] Id.
[vi] Id.
[vii] Id.
[viii] Id.
[ix] Id.
[x] The Sad, Ugly Truth About Horse Racing, supra note iv.
[xi] Id.
[xii] Injuries and Breakdowns, Peta https://www.peta.org/issues/animals-in-entertainment/horse-racing-2/horse-racing-industry-cruelty/injuries-and-breakdowns/. (last visited Oct. 11, 2019)
[xiii] Rachel Fobar, Why horse racing is so dangerous, National Geographic (May 17, 2019) https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/05/horse-racing-risks-deaths-sport/.
[xiv] Id.
[xv] Doris Lin, Horse Racing and Animal Rights, ThoughtCo (July 07, 2019) https://www.thoughtco.com/horse-racing-and-animal-rights-127644.
[xvi] Id.
[xvii] Andrew Cohen, The Ugly Truth About Horse Racing, The Atlantic (Mar. 24, 2014) https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/03/the-ugly-truth-about-horse-racing/284594/.
[xviii] Ray Paulick, ‘Common Sense Legislation’: Barr, Tonko Introduce Thoroughbred Horseracing Integrity Act of 2015, Paulick Report (July 16, 2015) https://www.paulickreport.com/news/the-biz/common-sense-legislation-barr-tonko-introduce-thoroughbred-horseracing-integrity-act-of-2015/
[xix] Id.
[xx] Id.
[xxi] Id.
[xxii] Id.
[xxiii] Fobar, supra note xiii
[xxiv] Lin, supra note xv
[xxv] Id.
[xxvi] Sarah Evers Conrad, What We’re Learning From Horse Racing Research, the horse, (July 24, 2019) https://thehorse.com/176104/what-were-learning-from-horse-racing-research/.
[xxvii] The Sad, Ugly Truth About Horse Racing, supra note iv.