Equestrian sports have been entertaining humans for centuries. Many of these sports have turned fun entertainment into a business. The focus has changed from having fun to making as much money as possible. In every equestrian sport, questionable things are done to train and get horses to their “best” potential. Equestrian sports should have stricter regulations and enforcement in order to ensure and maintain the safety of the horse. The “Big Lick” gait should be banned from all horse shows due to the methods used to get horses to do it. The “Big Lick” gait is an unnatural high-stepping movement that Tennessee Walking Horses are trained to do.Tennessee Walking Horses naturally have odd gaits, but people take those natural movements to an unnatural extreme. They do this by using a process called soring. According to the Animal and Health Inspection Service, soring “may be accomplished by …show more content…
In equestrian sports, the horses are the athletes. Unfortunately, they are owned and do not get to make their own decisions like human athletes. Many owners choose to give their horses drugs they do not need in order to enhance their performance and (again) gain money. According to “The Dope On Horse Racing”, “Testosterone would have benefits especially for a horse who has been gelded (castrated). But Maylin cautions that these four steroids are being abused.” Some of the drugs used for doping are approved for therapeutic use, but others are not. Boldenone, nandrolone, stanozolol, and testosterone are steroids that can be used for therapeutic treatment (Bossert, Red). However, not all horses need them and they are being abused. Most drugs with a high performance enhancing effect do not have an approved therapeutic use, but they are used anyway(Allin). Equestrian associations should make it required to have a veterinarian check out horses and prescribe the drugs to be sure they are not being