Heres one that stuck in my gullet.



"THIS is a national scandal. Nothing short of it. Australian thoroughbred horses are whipped daily and consistently and nobody knows why.

It is cruelty on a massive scale and Australians should be ashamed that we have not ordered the barbarism to stop years ago.
Sections of the racing industry maintain the whip does not cause pain to a horse. Pat Hyland, a former wonderful jockey and now a trainer, said on Wednesday: "It doesn't hurt the horse. Horses are tough animals."
Hyland needs to answer this question then: if it doesn't hurt horses, why are they being struck in every race, every day around the nation? What possible point is there in whipping? Just thank God Hyland is not your anaesthetist.

The chief executive of the Australian Racing Board, Andrew Harding, is one of the brightest administrators in the game. Yesterday he would not answer the question whether the ARB considered whipping hurt horses. The reason? Because if he said "yes" there would be a flurry of court action by animal welfare groups. If he said "yes" the barbaric nature of whip riding would be laid bare. And he could not say "no" because that answer is so utterly and obviously wrong and without substance.

Victorian chairman of stewards Terry Bailey told Melbourne sports station SEN on the same day that he did not know whether the whip hurt horses. Presumably, it could well be causing terrible pain yet it is allowed to continue because the highly paid and highly qualified racing vets can't figure out whether lashing a horse's rump and shoulder inflicts pain.

If racing does not know whether it causes suffering then it should not allow the practice to continue until it finds out one way or the other. People who are charged with maintaining the welfare of thoroughbred horses cannot be allowed to be in denial or a permanent state of ignorance. ...."


http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24542804-21147,00.html


imho - horses are NOT tough animals. They are very sensitive and very spiritual.


Many of the better jockeys use "hands and heels" only for their horses.

Is whipping a sadomasochist considered to be a cruelty?

Horses can think for themselves. If you treat them badly, you can end up dead. The people who make the strongest connection with horses are those who work with them day in, day out. Not some animal libber who wants to set them free so they can destroy our environment and get ravaged by parasites.

Isn't the whipping a strategic thing? To let the horse know when to pace itself and when to push itself to the limit? Obviously you wouldn't hurt or bruise an elite athlete and think it would make them run faster. But you can't exactly talk to a horse in the middle of a race.

IMO race horses are generally very happy and well looked after creatures.

There's nothing better than being at the peak of your physical fitness (from memory), and if a horse is unhappy, it will not perform.

If a horse comes out of a race streaming blood from excessive whipping, which does happen, then I'd say that this is barbaric.
However, most times, a horse only needs to be shown the whip to know that it's time to give all. Other times the jockey doesn't even touch the horse whilst going through the whipping motion, or he/she may only whip the horse very slightly. Lots of humans don't mind a slight whipping from time to time  

As well, they get more holidays than you or I.
All they need to do is do what they love doing as best as they can.
If they don't love it, or if they're no good, well then they're dog meat