Horse Harry’s Girl Killed After Racing at Royal Ascot

Horse racing is a shameful and deadly spectacle, as Royal Ascot has demonstrated once again this week.

Two-year-old Harry’s Girl was killed after being forced to race at Royal Ascot. The horse sustained fatal injuries during the second day of the racing event.

According to Animal Aid, since 2013, 33 horses have been pushed beyond their breaking point and died in jumps and flat races at Ascot. The causes of death include fractured pasterns, fetlocks, cannon bones, pelvises, and legs.

Instead of acknowledging the immense suffering that horses are forced to endure at Ascot, race managers view fatalities as just the cost of doing business of training and competition.

The racing industry is dangerous and deadly for horses. It’s estimated that nearly 3,000 horses have died in UK horse racing events since 2007, from heart attacks, shattered bones, and other injuries.

How many more horses have to die before horse racing is put out to pasture once and for all? Horses are beautiful, sensitive, intelligent animals who shouldn’t be made to suffer and die for entertainment.

Abuse on and off the Track

Jockeys whip horses to push them to their physical and psychological limits. Imagine being pushed beyond the point of exhaustion: the bones in your legs straining to hold up the weight of your body, your bleeding lungs incapable of taking in enough air, and you’re forced to keep running despite it all. This is what life is like for these horses.

Forcing horses to risk their lives on the racetrack is wrong, regardless of their age. But it’s especially heartbreaking that many are forced to start racing when they’re still in their infancy, at a stage when their developing bodies are particularly prone to damage. It’s hardly surprising, then, that injuries, lameness, and exhaustion are common.

When not racing many horses are isolated and confined in individual stalls for long hours, and individuals exploited for breeding can be isolated from others for years on end – this is no life for animals who would naturally roam with their herd and make their own choices.

Horses May be Drugged

Drugs, both legal and illegal, can be as ubiquitous in racing as flashy hats are at Ascot. Horses may be drugged to mask the pain of existing injuries and conditions, keeping them running when they should be resting or receiving treatment. And illegal drugs are sometimes used to try to make them run faster. For example, Mahmood Al Zarooni – a trainer with one of the world’s biggest horse racing operations – was banned from racing for eight years for doping horses with prohibited steroids.

‘Retired’ to the Abattoir

When horses used for racing are considered too old or stop performing well enough to be deemed profitable, they’re often discarded like used betting slips. Approximately 1,000 horses from the UK and Ireland racing industry are killed in abattoirs every year. Some are turned into dog food or cheap meat, while others face horrific live-export journeys to Europe.

Never Bet on Horses

Royal Ascot is enormously profitable for horse owners, jockeys, and trainers. Motivated by money, horses lives are put at risk in every race.

You can help protect horses: urge all your friends and colleagues to boycott Royal Ascot and all other horse racing events.

If they want to bet, they can wager on a football match, Formula 1, or any other sport where the participants are consenting athletes, not exploited animals.