A horse race is an organized sport, closely associated with gambling, in which riders race horses over dedicated courses, often incorporating hurdles. The sport has a long history and is widely practiced around the world. It is a popular activity with bettors, and the winners have earned substantial profits for their owners. However, it is also an extremely dangerous sport, with horses regularly dying on the track and suffering injuries and psychological trauma that lead to premature death.
Horse racing was once considered the great American industry, drawing large crowds of spectators to grandstands across the country. In the 1930s impoverished state governments, in search of revenue sources, looked to horse racing and its potential for high taxes on wagers as a way to boost tax revenues. This resulted in huge expansion of the number of tracks and the rise of an entire class of rich and powerful horse breeders and owners, known as the tycoons.
The industry claims that horses are “born to run and love to compete,” but the truth is that there is nothing natural about a horse being forced to race on a hard track while being watched by thousands of fans. A horse that runs freely in the open does not come close to what it must do on a racetrack, which is why so many horses are injured and killed at the races.
In addition to the physical demands of the sport, the horses are subjected to a cocktail of legal and illegal drugs intended to mask injuries and artificially improve their performance. The use of these chemicals is widespread and is a significant contributor to the countless deaths of horses each year at the tracks.
Some horses are so badly injured that they die at the track, from cardiovascular collapse and pulmonary hemorrhage to spinal fractures and head trauma, or crushed hocks and knees. One horse, Seabiscuit, was so famous for his ability to win races despite being heavily injured that bettors cheered him by name rather than by his number (Number Three). Those who do survive the track are sometimes left with severed spines, ruptured ligaments and legs in which skin is the only thing holding bones together.
Other injuries common to the sport include shattered legs and torn cartilage, and fractures of the sesamoid bones, two small bones in each foot located under the fetlock joint. A fractured sesamoid bone can be difficult to diagnose, but it usually results in pain and a loss of performance.
A shattered sesamoid bone may require surgery to repair. This involves removing the fragments from inside the hoof, putting steel-alloy screws into them to hold them together and then stitching them back into place. This can be done on the racetrack, or at a vet clinic. Another injury, called a spiral fracture, occurs when the front of the sesamoid bone is crushed against another bone. This is a common injury for jumpers, and can cause lameness in the knee or hock.