Assignment 16- Kayla Conrad

Almost everyone in here has been to Keenland at some point in our lives, including myself. We get all dressed up, got eat breakfast with the works, and then bet on horses based on what color they are. It makes for an enjoyable day out with friends and family. What isn't as enjoyable however is the gruesome reality that these beautiful animals face during their short life.
You can first start by looking at the beginning of the horses' careers, the Yearling sale. Its an annual sale every September where horse breeders come to sell their one year old horses to trainers in hopes of making it big. It is the first decision maker for these horses because it decides who will train them for the next year. The last Yearling sale brought in a total of 272 million dollars, the highest horse bringing in a record breaking 3 million dollars. These young horses are strategically bred so they can be as old as possible going into the sale since thoroughbreds' age is determined on the year they were born, not the month. This causes breeders to artificially induce heat onto the mares in hopes of producing a foal as early as possible, which can cause birth defects and possible harm to the mothers.
After the sale, these horses will start immediate training for the Kentucky Derby or any other race for two year old. To put this into perspective, the horse to human age ratio is about 4:1, this is the equivalent of training a 4 year-old for the Olympics. That just doesn't seem right does it? These horses are not physically or mentally mature enough to undergo the intense training they will go through. But this isn't even the worst part. For every one horse you see at the Kentucky Derby, there are 300 more that weren't as lucky.
According the PETA, a whopping 10,000 thoroughbreds were sent to Mexico and Canada last year to be slaughtered. And sadly, no horse is safe from this awful fate. Ferdinand was the 1986 Kentucky Derby winner and was sentenced to slaughter after his owner deemed him useless, the same happened to 1999 Kentucky Derby winner Charismatic. Most thoroughbreds face the same conditions when being sent to slaughter, usually is they don't win races. This issue of thoroughbred slaughter is one that angers the rest of the horse community because of the mistreatment of these animals.
Now, in a perfect world I would say we stop the unnatural breeding habits of the thoroughbreds but it is simply not feasible. I am also not saying we should stop horse racing because it creates a 3 billion dollar industry for Kentucky. What I am saying however, is that America should have control over the treatment of the horses in their last few days.
In 2007, the United States Department of Agriculture banned the domestic slaughter of horses, forcing these animals to be packed into double-Decker trailers and shipped to Mexico and Canada with no food, and very little water, completely mistreating these animals. And this is just the travel.
When the horses were put down in the United States, we could regulate how the animals were treated to insure they were well taken care of instead of mistreated. When the horses were shipped off to other countries, most received little to no contact with humans or other horses, created psychological issues to develop. Along with this, they were also malnourished which created much more stress for the horses. In the U.S., the horses were typically euthanized with little to no pain, in other countries they were shot in the head while conscious, usually taking 2-3 shots for them to finally pass on.
This ban has other consequences as well, it caused an increased number of horses bought to slaughter along with an increased number of unwanted horses. The main problem with an increased number of unwanted horses, is that there is a decrease in space at rescue farms for them. My family even saved an off the track thoroughbred before he would have been sent to slaughter. But sadly, most rescue farms do not have enough land, money, or resources to take in more horses, effectively increasing the number of slaughters.
Another issue with horses being sent to another counter to be slaughtered, its that we have no control over what happens with the meat. Most will be sent to France for human consumption and other will be made into dog treats you can find at your local supermarket.
This ban on domestic horse slaughter was eventually lifted in 2011, but nothing happened. America saw it was cheaper and easier to ship the horses to another country so they wouldn't be burdened with killing the horses. If only these Americans actually knew that it is worse to send the horses overseas instead of supervising their care here in the states.
In conclusion, America should take control of the treatment of the horses so that we can regulate how they are treated and hopefully change the racing industry. So next time you are at Keenland, instead of looking at the pretty colors of the horses, look at the pain the horses have, and will, go through.