Introduction:
Horse racing has been an ongoing activity since the 1700s; it was the first sporting activity in Australia to be organised by a colony. Horse Racing commenced in NSW with 203 horses, and peaked in the 19th Century, with a ratio of one horse to every two people. (ALLDOWNUNDER). There is a wide range of horse racing: steeple chasing; harness racing, jumps racing, thoroughbred flat racing, handicap races, etc; but the main racing industries are harness and thoroughbred flat/ jump races (HORSERACINGKILLS). Today, an actual horse race will last from under two minutes with thoroughbreds and up to five minutes with harness; in which the horse will be put through immense pressure by the rider to win (FINDINGDO...).
Harness racing is a standardbred sport in which the rider is located behind the horse in a small cart in which the horse pills along at only a trot/ pace around a large oval circuit. Jumps racing is when the horses are to flat out gallop through the oval course whilst jumping over sturdy obstacles (often fake hedges) (HORSERACINGKILLS). These ‘jumps’ are set, on average, approximately twenty metres apart. Statistically, twenty times more horses are likely to be
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In the case of re-homing horses, there is a very high possibility that the horse will bring a list of mental health issues. Many ex-race horses will be afraid to work certain muscles and for example, if their stifles are commonly pulled out of place from exercise, they will refuse to put pressure or work those muscles in fear of causing pain (HORSEPROBLEMS). This can also be called phantom pains (NARRIE, 2015). Issues that are mainly seen in thoroughbreds are wind sucking, pawing and separation anxiety (HORSEPROBLEMS). Standardbreds are more prone to social anxiety although they are more likely to be able to learn more efficiently than thoroughbreds