It’s the Year of the Horse! Take Action for Exploited Horses Around the World
The 2026 Lunar New Year celebrates the Year of the Horse in the Chinese zodiac – symbolising freedom, strength, energy, and vitality. Yet horses around the world endure lives of exploitation, pain, and neglect for the sake of tourism, racing profits, and experimentation.
Horses Are Not Carriages
Some are forced to languish for long hours in extreme heat without adequate food, water, shade, or rest. Some are visibly underweight, with ribs and hip bones protruding. Others suffer from open wounds caused by ill-fitting saddles and harnesses that rub their skin raw.
A new video with footage from Egypt, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, Thailand, and the US exposes an unmistakable truth: No matter where in the world horses are used for profit, they suffer.
In Mallorca, exhausted horses are forced to pull tourists in the hot weather with temperatures reaching 35 degrees Celsius. They’re exposed to noisy traffic, often collide with vehicles, and collapse from heat and exhaustion.
In Egypt, horses pulling carriages near iconic landmarks are whipped and beaten to keep them moving. In Southeast Asia, horses are tied up for hours under the blazing sun, waiting for the next paying tourist. And in the US, horses are forced to navigate busy streets filled with traffic and noise – conditions that cause intense fear, stress, and painful hoof and joint damage.
Horses are sensitive animals who evolved to roam free, form social bonds, and graze throughout the day. In tourism settings, they’re commonly isolated, restrained, overworked, and denied proper food and veterinary care.
When horses are no longer deemed profitable – because they’re injured, sick, or simply exhausted – they’re often abandoned, sold, or sent to slaughter.
In Horse Racing, Horses Never Win
According to Animal Aid, in the UK, around 200 horses die each year from racing-related injuries.
Horses don’t choose to race – the animals are terrified as they’re whipped into submission in front of thousands of screaming and often drunk spectators at events like Cheltenham Festival and the Grand National.
The Year of the Horse celebrates freedom and vitality, but horses used for racing are denied any autonomy and are pushed beyond their limits.
Horses Used for Meat
But what about the horses who don’t die at the races? Most people attending these events probably don’t think about what happens to ‘retired’ horses.
A 2021 Animal Aid investigation found that more than 4,000 horses used for racing had been sent to abattoirs since 2019. Their flesh was either sold for human consumption, given to dogs used for hunting, or fed to animals kept at zoos.
Many of the slaughtered horses were young Thoroughbreds – that’s because an excessive number of horses are bred into the industry, and those who aren’t selected are disposed of like waste products.
A PETA US investigation into South Korea’s largest horse abattoir uncovered workers beating horses with poles and horses being killed in front of each other.
Horses Used for Drugs
Horses are exploited for experiments all over the world. In India, for example, they are kept in barren, crowded sheds and have their blood drained for the drug manufacturing industry.
They, along with donkeys and mules, suffer from infected wounds and other serious health problems, as well as eye conditions and blindness. They are forced to lie and stand in their own faeces and receive little or no essential grooming.
Make This a Year for Horses
Make 2026 the year you take action for horses.
If you’re taking a trip, never ride horses or take animal-drawn carriage rides at tourist sites anywhere in the world. Every ticket purchased helps sustain this cycle of suffering. You should also avoid all horse racing events. If your work or friends are planning a trip to one, inform them about the cruelty of the event and do something else instead.
The Year of the Horse represents a time for bold action. Take these quick actions for horses today!
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