Horse Riding and Racing: Not The Same Animal

Nowadays, the only time a modern American sees a horse is on TV or the movies. Usually, the horse shown is a Thoroughbred racehorse. Recent movies that have done extremely well include Seabiscuit, The Black Stallion, Phar Lap and Dreamer. All of these films feature modern Thoroughbred racing. This can lead to the conclusion that all horse riding and racing are one and the same. This has also lead to many animal rights groups protesting all forms of horse riding, racing especially.

Horses for Courses

Animal rights groups are right to call Thoroughbred racing cruel. The horses are incredibly inbred (90% can trace their ancestry back to one stallion, The Darley Arabian, born in 1700). An estimated 60% of all Thoroughbreds alive trace back to Northern Dancer, who was born in 1961. The horses in racing cannot support their own weight, let alone that of a rider. They are forced to race before their bones have hardened. After their racing careers are over, they are usually slaughtered. The Blood Horse reported that 1986 Kentucky Derby winner Ferdinand was slaughtered for meat in Japan.

Horse riding and racing should not be tarred with the same brush. Many riders actually love horses and do not see them as money machines. Real horse riding, (racing professionals take note) waits until the horse is physically mature enough to carry a rider before a rider gets on. In many breeds, this means the horse or pony is not ridden until they are at least four years old.

Horse riding and racing in these circumstances is quite different. The horse is healthier and safer to ride. Without the entanglements of million dollar purses and syndication deals, horse riding and racing is only done when the horse is ready, willing and able. These races are usually informal bursts across a field, done just for the sheer joy of it. Pleasure horses are often crossbred or half-breeds, with hybrid vigor and sense. There is also more gelding going on. Horses are only kept as stallions when they can prove their worth AND have a good temperament AND be healthy.

In Conclusion

There are many different schools and uses to which people ride horses. Racing is just one of them. Horses cannot speak, but they communicate clearly through their body language. Horses that have happy experiences when ridden will enjoy horse riding. Racing is not normal horse riding. It s just not normal, PERIOD.