Thoroughbred Horse Welfare Challenges: From Rape to Relegation

Written here as a poem, each verse is structured as a three-line haiku. The haiku is a Japanese poetic form, in this case consisting of seventeen phonic syllables in a five-seven-five pattern. Traditionally, haiku evoke images of the natural world.

James Garnham is the penname of David Mellor. He is a Professor Emeritus aged 81 years, who draws on 55 years of post-PhD scholarly experience and advisory roles as a biomedical scientist, animal welfare scientist, and bioethicist. James has lived in Australia (24 years), Scotland (21 years), and now New Zealand (36 years so far).

Trigger warning: The following story may contain references depicting sexual assault. Please contact your local support service if you need help.

Contents:

• Using Wild Free-Roaming Horses to Benchmark Thoroughbred Welfare
• Behaviour of Free-Roaming Horses in Benign Conditions
• Benchmarking Thoroughbred Welfare
  • Breeding welfare
  • Birthing welfare
  • Foals’ priorities after birth
  • Nursing welfare
  • Weaning welfare
  • Yearling sales welfare
  • Race-preparation welfare
• Thoroughbred Welfare: Specific Issues
  • Stables
  • Exercise
  • Aversive Tack:
  • Bits, Tongue ties
  • Tight nosebands
  • Draw reins
  • The Whip
• Retirement or Relegation?
• The Driving Force
• “Comforting Fictions”
• Postscript

– Thoroughbred Welfare Challenges: From Rape to Relegation –

–

Using Wild Free-Roaming Horses to Benchmark Thoroughbred Welfare

–

A benchmark requires

a common foundation to

be informative.

—

Claiming Thoroughbreds

are spared extremes wild horses

face is misleading.

—

Comparing stable

management with exposure

in the wild is flawed.

—

When would wild horses

be credible benchmarks for

Thoroughbred welfare?

—

Not during severe

drought-induced water shortage

or food scarcity.

—

Not during extreme

hot or cold weather with no

shade and no shelter.

—

Not when excess rain

floods rivers and blocks access

to safe higher ground.

—

Not when bad wildfires

overwhelm large tracts of land,

blocking all escape.

—

Nor in countries where

equine predators kill or

harass band members.

—

Such extremes disrupt

normal behaviour patterns

in free-roaming bands.

—

In benign living

conditions some benchmarking

becomes possible.

—

Wild horses would then

be as free of these extremes

as would Thoroughbreds.

—

So, wild horses and

Thoroughbreds both need to be

free of these extremes.

—

Behaviours in and

between wild bands can then be

good welfare markers.

—

Behaviour of Free-Roaming Horses in Benign Conditions

–

Bands consist of a

stallion, his mares, his young

foals and older ones.

—

Bonded horses crave

company, becoming quite

distressed when alone.

—

Being in a band

is reassuring, it is

calming, it feels safe.

—

Alert band members

warn of danger while others

rest or are grazing.

—

Stallions, often

the most vigilant, keep watch

over the whole band.

—

So, they have known their

mares for some time before the

mating season starts.

—

When “in season”, mares’

sexual receptiveness

attracts stallions.

—

The stallion leads

courting behaviour until

the mare is willing.

—

So, mating between

consenting horses is not

at all coercive.

—

Within bands, mare-foal,

mare-mare and foal-foal bonds are

strong and important.

—

When bonded, horses

often stay close, touching or

grooming each other.

—

Stallions have strong

bonds with their colts, and

play with them often.

—

Their play continues

unless the colts compete to

mate “in season” mares.

—

Banished from the band,

they may then join all-male groups

of subordinates.

—

These groups provide young

males with the company that

all horses desire.

—

Stallions play with

their fillies, but rebuff them

if they start flirting.

—

Foals stay near their dams

for four-to-five months, sucking

milk, seeking safety.

—

Natural weaning

by the dam is gradual,

at around nine months.

—

These weanlings have their

mothers and bonded others

as companions.

—

They remain with their

family group until close

to two years of age.

—

Behaviour in bands

overall seems supportive,

protective and calm.

—

Strong bonds give rise to

a companionable

sense of belonging.

—

Life transitions seem

unhurried, occurring at

a natural pace.

—

Resolution of

stallion fights near mating

seems to be quite fast.

—

Benchmarking Thoroughbred Welfare

–

Breeding welfare

A Thoroughbred’s life

starts when a strange stallion

rapes a restrained mare.

—

Restraints may include

a painful upper lip twitch,

and back leg hobbles.

—

Speed of mounting is

preferred for efficiency

on each breeding farm.

—

Benchmarking against

the calm courting of wild mares

scores low for welfare.

—

Mating apart, most

stallions have no contact

with other horses.

—

They often become

very aggressive towards

handlers and others.

—

Biters when approached,

skittish when handled, they are

seen as dangerous.

—

So, staff often wear

armour: protective helmets

and body padding.

—

Alone and needing

company, stallions get

low scores for welfare.

—

Likewise for “teaser”

stallions, high frustration

levels dominate.

—

Their role: to sniff out

mares ready to mate, signalled

by an erection.

—

Once signalled, “teasers”

are replaced by a chosen

elite stallion.

—

Thus, their desire to

mate is thwarted just as they

make ready to mount.

—

This occurs over

and over again, leading

to low welfare scores.

—

Birthing welfare

–

When left alone, mares

prefer to foal at night in

a secluded place.

—

They can control when

labour starts, so foals can be

born while it’s still dark.

—

During birth, lethal

problems may arise and need

expert attention.

—

Under lights or with

“birthing alarms” staff can tell

when labours begin.

—

Mares, often moved for

repeat inspections, may then

have disturbed labours.

—

These welfare tradeoffs

rank mare disturbance below

improved foal outcomes.

—

When effective, this

strategy appears to be

quite reasonable.

—

When not effective,

disturbed or prolonged labour

may harm the fetus.

—

The welfare balance

then, unavoidably, shifts

to the negative.

—

Foals’ priorities after birth

–

A foal that never

breathes never suffers, because

it’s never conscious.

—

To survive, foals must

start to breathe well or they will

not become conscious.

—

They must produce heat

to stay warm, stand up, walk and

stay with their mothers.

—

They must search for the

udder, find a teat and drink

enough colostrum.

—

Mare-foal bonding starts

early; both play active parts

in securing it.

—

Once conscious, foals can

suffer if injured, chilled, starved,

sick, or kept alone.

—

Foal care focuses

on these, but its success needs

staff with expertise.

—

With it, poor welfare

is minimized; without it

welfare can be grim.

—

Best practice is to

prevent these states so that no

treatments are needed.

—

Nursing welfare

–

The mare-foal bond is

key to foals feeling nurtured,

safe and protected.

—

They must learn “does and

don’ts” of their new, alien,

often hostile world.

—

They learn the pleasures

of the “comfort suck” and the

mare’s attentiveness.

—

They learn tastes in mares’

milk of forages they can

later eat safely.

—

Family groups in

bands act collectively to

raise every foal.

—

When split up, foals learn

from panic, and great relief

when reunited.

—

Yet, they are split for

the week-two rapes, which get the

mares pregnant again.

—

The objective is

to maximise the number

of foals each mare births.

—

Other disruptions

to good family-group care

occur frequently.

—

Family group bonds

and band integrity are

often subverted.

—

The probable long-

term welfare outcomes for foals

will be negative.

—

Weaning welfare

–

Wild free-roaming mares

wean their foals gradually,

at about nine months.

—

They also remain

in close contact with their foals

for up to two years.

—

Thoroughbred foals are

abruptly weaned at four to

seven months of age.

—

This abrupt, early-

age split increases the stress

for both mare and foal.

—

This also disrupts

mare-foal bonds and ongoing

family support.

—

Guidance from trusted

band and family members

is not on offer.

—

Friendships with other

foals are lost when they are sent

to different farms.

—

Foal welfare outcomes:

disorientation, great

unease, loneliness.

—

Yearling sales welfare

–

Yearling sales can stress

foals in many ways: teaching

can help reduce this.

—

Preparing foals to

face the sales is needed to

secure their welfare.

—

On-farm: staff, stables,

routines, foals and horses are

unfamiliar.

—

When applied calmly,

groups of foals can be taught with

trauma-free methods.

—

A key aim is for

youngsters to be confident

when close to people:

—

When staff stand in front

or beside or walk towards,

or past or behind;

—

When touched, patted, stroked

or each foot is lifted, or

a halter fitted;

—

When walked from place to

place with a halter rope, or

lunged with a long rope;

—

When moved into and

out of stables or briefly

held in indoors stalls;

—

When vehicles with

horse floats are driven past or

they are parked nearby;

—

When guided into

a horse float, held inside it

and then unloaded.

—

Failure to teach foals

these things makes the yearling sales

much more traumatic.

—

But such teaching can’t

prevent unique impacts of

the whole sales process.

—

The worst stress occurs

in so-called yearlings that are

only six months old.

—

Unfamiliar

stressors for yearlings in the

sales process include:

—

Once loaded, longer

travel times in the horse float

to reach the sales site;

—

Arrival in a

strange place, with strange horses, smells.

gates, races and yards;

—

Repeated movement

alone, between yards and the

auction arena;

—

Clanging gates, noisy

crowds, shouting auctioneers and

loud-bidding buyers.

—

And if sold, the same

stresses apply, but worse when

moved to their next home.

—

Stressed more by strange staff,

horse floats, smells, other horses

and new surroundings.

—

It’s no surprise that

yearlings exposed to this are

often tranquilised.

—

Race-preparation welfare

–

Grim welfare harms are

common in yearlings being

prepared for racing.

—

Far more yearlings are

sold than will ever perform

well on a racecourse.

—

This gross surplus lines

up the many failures for

major maltreatment.

—

The view is: the horse

must prove itself, and if it

fails it is guilty.

—

It is blamed for not

earning a good return on

its yearling sale price.

—

It’s “charged” with having

 no heart, no courage; it’s just

useless, lackluster.

—

Its’ “punishment”: to

extract from each horse ev’ry

possible dollar.

—

The care given to

yearlings that show promise is

callously denied.

—

Some trainers keep them

on, pretending promise, to

keep their training fees.

—

Ill prepared, injured,

some are entered in races

just to get race fees.

—

They are squeezed by the

system until they can no

longer make money.

—

Their fate: the final

destination for most of

them is the meat works.

—

From yearling sales to

meat works, failures are denied

any agency.

—

The “cannon fodder”

of the industry, they are

described as “wastage”.

—

Thoroughbred Welfare: Specific Issues

Stables

–

Early designs sought

to please owners and help staff

keep the stables clean.

—

Then, welfare needs of

horses were not known, or, the

“known” was largely wrong.

—

Sadly, this remains

the case and stable design

has hardly evolved.

—

Kept solo in stalls,

each horse is prevented from

contact with others.

—

Thus, their need to see,

hear and have close physical

contact is thwarted.

—

Improvement is slow,

matching acceptance of the

need for required change.

—

Wire grids and bars could

replace the top halves of doors

and walls between stalls.

—

Sight of others would

improve, but contact touching

would be limited.

—

Horse-friends like to lie

or to stand close, but this strong

urge remains thwarted.

—

Bar spacing in stall

walls, if widened, could allow

more direct contact.

—

But it would still not

be possible to share much

that may be enjoyed.

—

Although hard-wired, most

sharing cannot happen with

a wall in the way.

—

Any rewards would

be overwhelmed by the weight

of thwarted desires.

—

In stables with stalls,

contact and company are

key welfare issues.

—

Exercise

–

Stabled Thoroughbreds

are denied all agency;

all day, every day.

—

Everything they do

is tightly scheduled, whether

outside or indoors.

—

Early morning, a

planned pattern of exercise

is imposed outdoors.

—

Tacked up, in single

file, the preordained pattern

is followed closely.

—

It is imposed: these

horses have no choice, unlike

horses roaming free.

—

It is absurd to

claim that these, and those in the

wild, are similar.

—

The more so, as they

spend most of each day confined

in cramped indoor stalls.

—

Grooming between friends

is precluded, as are long

hours grazing with them.

—

Friendly company,

contact and variety

are not enabled.

—

Enforced: coerced to

compete; cramped conditions;

lack of agency.

—

Healthy yes; fit yes;

other positive welfare

states, not enabled.

—

Aversive tack

Bits

–

No matter what age,

to bit a horse ignores its

physiology.

—

Its sensitive mouth

is a protective gateway,

designed for safety.

—

It rejects all things

that are not food or water,

including all bits.

—

When bit-free they are

calmer and less spooky than

when they are bitted.

—

Bits cause pain: pain, or

the threat of it, is used for

controlling horses.

—

Even light pressure

of metal on sensitive

mouth parts is painful.

—

Gums, tongue, teeth and lips

are highly pain-sensitive

and injury prone.

—

Clear signs of bit pain:

gaping mouth; tongue placed above

or behind the bit;

—

Head tossing; tilts head

at exercise; head high; rears;

backs up; tail swishing;

—

Skittish gait; crabbing;

pulls on the bit; grabs the bit;

bolting … and others.

—

These signs are seen when

bitted bridles are used; they’re

not seen when bit-free.

—

Yet, a belief these

signs are normal persists. It’s

been called “Bit Blindness.”

—

And denying that

bits cause pain is clearly a

“Comforting Fiction.”[1]

—

Riding or driving

bit-free and pain-free provides

clearer ‘noise’-free cues.

—

Note that not every

bit-free bridle is pain-free;

this must be assessed.

—

Free-roaming horses

run with sealed lips, dry mouth, and

head/neck extension.

—

Swallowing before

running creates a vital

vacuum in the mouth.

—

The soft palate is

clamped to the tongue and buttoned

up to the voice box.

—

This guarantees an

unobstructed throat airway

and prevents strangling[2].

—

Bits unseal the lips,

dissipate the vacuum and

cause salivation.

—

The slightest of gaps

unseals the lips, leading to

compromised breathing.

—

Low jowl angles, which

occur with tight reins, obstruct

airflows markedly.

—

Overbending leads

to an unstable palate

and a crimped airway.

—

Throat obstruction leads

to “waterlogging”[3] of lungs,

tiring, and “bleeding”[4].

—

And stumbles, falls, fractures,

catastrophic accidents

and sudden death.

—

Note, neck extension

widens the airway

and prevents lung damage.

—

We found no reports

of breathing problems among

horses “raced” bit-free.

—

Tongue ties

–

Horses try to ease

bit pain by rolling their tongue

up behind the bit.

—

Or they may place their

tongue over the bit, also

to get pain relief.

—

Both make the tongue bulge

up, deep in the throat, pushing

the soft palate up.

—

This interferers with

breathing. Tongue bulging is blamed.

Bit pain is ignored.

—

Their solution is,

pull the tongue forward and tie

it tightly in place.

—

The tie itself stops

lip-sealing and suction, and

the palate flaps up.

—

Breathing compromise

persists, as does intense pain

from the tie and bit.

—

Thus, horses’ defense

against bit pain is thwarted

by painful tongue ties.

—

Tongue bulging never

occurs in horses ridden

or driven bit-free.

—

It is obvious

that bit-induced mouth pain is

the primary cause.

—

“Do we really need

to ask again if we should

ride and drive bit-free?”

—

Tight nosebands

–

Their primary role

is to clamp the mouth shut to

prevent tongue bulging.

—

They also prevent

“unsightly” mouth opening

and cross-jaw chewing.

—

And they are claimed to

increase responsiveness to

gentle rein pressures.

—

But, applied tightly,

excess pressure on contact

points causes great pain.

—

And the bit-induced

pain remains, adding to the

method’s noxiousness.

—

Again, a painful

approach is preferred to the

one that is pain-fee.

—

Interestingly,

all three objectives can be

realised pain-free.

—

So, another case

where pain-free, bit-free bridles

could be used instead.

—

Draw reins

–

Comforting fictions

swamp all talk of the aims and

uses of draw reins.

—

Submission is the

aim, inescapable pain

is the instrument.

—

Fixed to the girth at

the sternum, they run through bit

rings to the rider.

—

Reins pull the chin down

towards the chest, the bit placed

on the bars and tongue.

—

Both sites are highly

pain sensitive; horses can’t

resist that pressure.

—

They arch their necks; their

jowl angle much reduced; their

airway badly crimped.

—

Such jowl angles so

impede their breathing that marked

breathlessness occurs.

—

Clearly, draw reins are

doubly noxious; they are of

great welfare concern.

—

They must be among

the worst tack straightjackets we

impose on horses.

—

The Whip

–

Whips have a handle,

shaft and flange. Whipping is meant

to cause the horse pain.

—

Jockey training starts

by learning whip use on an

automated horse.

—

Does practice whipping

a machine blunt the jockeys’

sense that they cause pain?

—

Euphemisms like

“encourage” and “persuade” seek

to cloud the issue.

—

Should jockeys, owners

and trainers be whipped to show

how painful it is?

—

Punter pressure is

massive. They want proof their horse

could not go faster.

—

Should those who favour

whipping be whipped themselves? Would

any volunteer?

—

Retirement or Relegation?

–

What fate befalls most

Thoroughbreds when their racing

days draw to a close?

—

Are plush retirement

farms that offer great care and

comfort beckoning?

—

Can they look forward

to easy lives enjoying

good companionship?

—

And comfortable

resting sites, shaded when hot,

and sheltered when not?

—

Will they have varied

grazing sites, food and options

for exercising?

—

And easy access

to outdoor ranges, and safe

shelter from extremes?

—

Will expert advice

on welfare be the highest

of priorities?

—

Sadly, an idyll

like this would hardly ever

be available.

—

Demand for such a

place always outstrips any

prospect of supply.

—

Each Thoroughbred needs

to be assessed thoroughly

for soundness and health.

—

Why have they retired?

Is their welfare best served by

keeping them alive?

—

Have they been injured

by the rigours of racing?

Are they disabled?

—

Can they transition

to other competitions;

dressage, cross country?

—

Has their race training

entrenched vices that preclude

most other options?

—

Even then, are there

enough opportunities

to meet the demand?

—

Relegation: the

horses’ fate when slaughter is

the only option.

—

They are assigned a

lower status; ignored; and

worse, denigrated.

—

Worthless when weary;

dog tucker only; nothing’s

given for their care,

—

Decide for yourself.

Is benign retirement a

“comforting fiction”?

—

What other options

could be deployed to secure

these horses’ welfare?

—

The Driving Force

–

Punters, from high to

low rollers, drive gambling on

Thoroughbred racing.

—

From beginning to

end, their only interest

is winning their bets.

—

They care nothing for

the horses’ welfare as long

as they are winners.

—

No welfare cost is

too high provided their horse

runs past the post first

—

Any winning ploy,

whatever the welfare cost,

will get their “thumbs up”.

—

Horses are treated

as unfeeling instruments,

as “sports equipment”.

—

They serve only for

punters’ gratification,

their image, their pride.

—

Gambling money is

the focus, the driving force

of the industry.

—

Doubts about cheating

remain, regardless of what

safeguards are in place.

—

Megadollar sums

are in play, spread over the

whole racehorse sector.

—

At all levels, the

resolute focus is on

money and winning.

—

From bottom to top,

they are the overwhelming

preoccupation.

—

“Comforting fictions”

–

“Comforting fictions”:

rationalisations based

on self-deception.

—

The aim: to strengthen

their hold on untenable

practices or views.

—

The method: only

accepting what agrees with

their preconceptions.

—

Their motivation:

angst at rejecting the known;

dread of the unknown;

—

Fear of ousting the

familiar, the safe or

the convenient;

—

And of disrupting

the dollar juggernaut of

their elite horse sports.

—

Once seen, bad welfare

actions must not be ignored;

ethics demands this.

—

Willed amnesia

in face of well-founded facts

is not the answer.

—

Only honest and

open actions will help to

retain SLO.[5]

—

Postscript

–

The welfare concerns

raised here are serious; all

are most disturbing.

—

If your standards are

good, personally you would

aim to maintain them.

—

Simply claiming they

are is not sufficient; you

must demonstrate it.

—

If they are not, it’s

up to you. Don’t delay. Do

something about it!

—–

Footnotes:

[1] Comforting fictions: rationalisations based on self-deception.

[2]Upward Displacement of the Soft Palate (formally, Dorsal Displacement of the Soft Palate)

[3] Negative Pressure Lung Waterlogging (formally, Negative Pressure Pulmonary Oedema)

[4] Exercise Induced Lung Bleeding (formally, Exercise Induced Pulmonary Haemorrhage)

[5] SLO: Social Licence to Operate