Meanwhile while some count whip strikes!! This is what we are really up against!

[Chief Stipe]

Excuses no longer wash - it’s time to ban horse racing

www.thepost.co.nz

 

 

It might be a view to thrill the punters, but Sandra Kyle argues that horse-racing is unnatural, cruel and deadly.

Alan Crowhurst / Getty Images

 

Sandra Kyle is an animal advocate, and a member of the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses (CPR). She has just written a book entitled Pawprints On My Heart, A New Zealand Woman’s Journey To Help Street Animals In India.

 

OPINION: In 2020 I wrote an article stating that horse racing should be banned, and highlighting a spate of horse deaths that had occurred over several days. Fast-forward to 2025, and nothing at all has changed.

Between August and October this year, in the space of two months, eight horses perished - two in one day - as a direct result of being raced for gambling profits.

The latest casualty is Burn to Shine, a 5-year-old gelding who fractured his left shoulder and was euthanised on the track at Ellerslie on October 25. Forever Young, a 7-year-old gelding, suffered a fractured fetlock at Ashburton on October 19, and was euthanised after his race.https://bitofayarn.com

Shocking Delight, a five-year-old mare, lost her life on October 9 after breaking down in the Power Farming Timaru Maiden 1200m. She fractured her knee bone and was euthanised shortly after returning to her stable. On October 1 Just Faith was euthanised on the raceway, after severing her right hind flexor tendons.

 

Inmyshadow, a 9-year-old gelding, collapsed and died of cardiac arrest shortly after finishing race 5 at New Plymouth Raceway’s “Xtreme Raceday”. On the same day at Riccarton Park Racecourse in Christchurch, 6-year-old mare Our Milly Bee suffered a catastrophic fracture to her right fore fetlock and was euthanised on track.

On August 30, 5-year-old gelding El Chapeau was euthanised following a severe tendon injury at Riccarton Park.

On August 23, Our Daymo was euthanised after sustaining a fatal pelvic injury at Hawera Racecourse.https://bitofayarn.com

They were eight young, healthy horses who boarded the float on the morning of their race, never to return home again. Their last moments were filled with fear and agony.

 

The issues I outlined five years ago remain the same today. Deaths and frequent injuries; the cruelty of whip use and painful tongue ties; over-exertion resulting in nose and lung bleeds. Lives lived in unnatural confinement, where they are unable to exercise freely, graze, or socialise with other horses, the most basic needs of any horse to feel safe and content.https://bitofayarn.com

When “retirement” comes, it’s a very lucky few who will find a permanent, suitable home. Instead, many will board the horse float one final time, but they won’t be going to the racetrack. They will be going to the abattoir.

I love horses, and have rescued and rehomed them. They are highly intelligent, sensitive animals, known for their ability to form strong bonds with humans. This is why they are used in therapy to help people who are sick, or have physical, emotional, or cognitive challenges.

We owe horses a debt we can never repay. They have carried soldiers into battle for millennia - in World War I alone, an estimated 6 million died on the battlefield. Yet in the 21st century these noble animals remain commodities, not as unwilling participants in bloody wars, but for human profit and entertainment.

Those of us who campaign against horse racing are familiar with the excuses of those in the industry, who object to our presence at racetracks.

“It’s tradition,” they say, as if tradition is a justification to hurt others, and we should prioritise precedent over progress.

“We love our horses,” they say, cognitively dissonant to the fact that they constantly put them in harm’s way, and use a whip on their sensitive skin to inflict pain and fear.https://bitofayarn.com

Seriously, can you imagine doing that to your dog!?

“They love to race,” they say, but this also isn’t true. Horses don’t love to race; they love to run, which is not the same thing. We have a mountain of video footage of horses being coerced to enter the starter boxes, literally pushed in by burly barrier attendants, two on each side. This is known in the Industry as “bad manners” – not on the part of the attendants mind you, but on the part of the horse, who no doubt senses that statistically, things might not turn out well for them.

Yet another excuse we constantly hear is, “they’re bred to do this”. Well, so are dancing bears, performing seals, and bulls used for bullfighting. That doesn’t make it right.

 

Finally, there's this one: “Equine athletes are like human athletes – human athletes get injured too.” This is also disingenuous. Horses cannot opt out, sign a waiver, or willingly consent to be pushed beyond their limits. They have no say in the matter at all.

 

The pattern is clear: horse racing is an exploitative, cruel and deadly business, with victims who are helpless to do anything to help themselves. The average New Zealander, I believe, no longer accepts such abuse of innocent animals for human spectacle and gambling. It’s time to rethink our relationship with racehorses and to treat them with the respect and care they deserve. There is no way to make horse racing safe for them, so it should be banned entirely.

 

Greyhound racing’s ban becomes effective this coming August, after a 20-month wind-down. It’s time we did the same with horse racing. The majority of horses exist because of the racing industry’s constant breeding cycle. Slowing down the breeding cycle now will be a first step to phasing out the Industry entirely. Let those who want to gamble find other ways of spending their money, other than hurting helpless animals.https://bitofayarn.com

 

Just as with the hounds, as Winston Peters said of the dog-racing ban, “it’s the right thing to do”.

[curious]

Yep and there's a lot more to come. Might be extreme but it's what we are up against. Blind eyes won't work anymore.

[hesi]

Have a look at her FB page.

Extremist views.

She wants us to become vegetarian as well, so no meat works

[Huey]

You will never please them, no point trying to appease them. 

Take them on head on ... send in a battle hardened, heartless , merciless, cold hearted,harsh  @Chief Stipe to hollow out their souls!

[hesi]

43 minutes ago, Huey said:

You will never please them, no point trying to appease them. 

Take them on head on ... send in a battle hardened, heartless , merciless, cold hearted,harsh  @Chief Stipe to hollow out their souls!

You are probably right, you will never appease extreme people like her, especially when they write emotive claptrap like this.  How does she know their last moments were filled with fear, is she able to communicate with horses.  Racing should take them head on

"They were eight young, healthy horses who boarded the float on the morning of their race, never to return home again. Their last moments were filled with fear and agony."

[billy connolly]

3 hours ago, curious said:

Yep and there's a lot more to come.

More of this... a cross between a parrot and an ostrich ?

Edited 8 hours ago by billy connolly

[Chief Stipe]

3 hours ago, curious said:

Yep and there's a lot more to come. Might be extreme but it's what we are up against. Blind eyes won't work anymore.

Blind eyes to what exactly?  Counting whip strikes?  These people have only one objective and that is to end racing.  Why are you promoting racing instead of feeding them?  If you can't write anything justifying racing horses then take up a different sport.  Lawn bowls for example.

[curious]

5 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

Blind eyes to what exactly?

Using whips abusively and in breach of the rules. You are shoveling sh&t uphill with your argument. Aside from HISA which regards it as abusive, just this year the Tasmanian magistrates' court has deemed excessive use of a padded whip amounted to animal cruelty because it caused unreasonable and unjustifiable pain or suffering. The Tasracing Integrity Unit concurred, concluding that it amounted to an act of cruelty to a horse. The Australian Veterinary Association also reached a similar conclusion recommending that the use of whips for encouragement should be phased out altogether in all equine sports.

Continuing to allow it without significant or any penalty, is turning a blind eye in my eyes and will result in further negative outcomes for the racing industry. I'm surprised that you continue to support such an anti-racing stance.