As for my thoughts regarding the Racing Industry in general, I pretty much hate it. The exploitation of babies is appalling to me--the foals are 'trained and broke to ride' at under a year old, then allowed to "mature" for a few more months, then made to race and by age 2, many are broken down to the point, they have literally no value and must be disposed of.
Although a horse's body is not mature until about age 8, the demands put upon them as babies is commonly accepted. The percentage of these youngsters that are destroyed due to this practice is huge and largely undocumented, but in my own experience, the numbers are staggeringly high.
Other factions of the horse industry also exploit and harm young horses--The AQHA futurities that have horses being shown at age two under saddle for example are just as guilty. The notion that now we have lungeline classes--where the horses aren't ridden, but must perform in a small circle casuses many leg injuries and long-term unsoundnesses down the road. (I don't start a horse until age 3 at the minimum and even that is too young, but one more year makes a huge difference in both physical and mental maturity IMO.)
In my opinion, whenever animal's lives are put secondary to the almighty dollar, we have a problem. The saddest part is that if horses were allowed to have even one more year of growing time, the cost to the owner/breeder is not all that much. Less than $1000 on average for that year and a chance at a better life. Still, I am in the minority and until others see this for what it is, the industry will continue to command that horses suffer.
