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Originally Posted by Thoroughbred Fan
First, horse racing is a brutal sport. They are a selected breed. They are inferior when it comes to health and soundness, but they are fast. In the US we have taken this selection way too far and patched the animals genetics with meds.
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I disagree with "patched with meds". Horses are grazing walking herbivores, not runners carrying weight at speed over distance. The very nature of not grazing 1000 acres is what is hardest on their physiology. Standing in a stall 22 hours a day is terrible for their health.
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In Europe, they race with less meds and it doesn't kill their racing. The bottom line is they breed a sounder animal, race primarily on turf, and at a longer average distance.
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And a slower speed. Speed causes bone and muscle-tendons-ligaments to blow apart, and there isn't much you can do about those physics. You can do some, but not much. There is a point of diminishing return, where the body can't be stronger. And they have different management and training practices, with far less stalling. And turf. Not dirt.
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I'd like for the US to breed heartier types and eliminate the bleeders and the glass horses from the stock.
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Take the speed out, and those problems disappear by themselves.