Are thoroughbreds raced too young?

While some may say that racing two year old thoroughbreds is normal, two year olds are not mature enough for the tasks asked of them on the race track. Is it all about the glamour, the prestige, the fun hats, and betting? A day at the races is a fun time, but what happens behind all the wealth and glamour? The thoroughbreds are young and confused, their bones haven’t even finished maturing, and they are asked to run a long distance in a closed pack of horses. The sole reason they run is out of fear and adrenaline. They truly don’t understand why they are there.

It is true that in racing, one wrong step from the horse could mean lethal injuries for them and their jockey. Thoroughbreds are asked to start racing as early as the age of two. Horses bones don’t completely mature until they are five. They grow in height until the age of three and their spine growth isn’t complete until the age of five. When they race, the thoroughbred is in a full gallop. It will put three times its weight on one leg on a straight away and five to ten times its weight on a curve. Is this fair to ask premature legs to endure all of this? The potential of these thoroughbreds can be thrown away so easily if we use them up at such a young age.




Horse racing in the United States started in 1665 with only mature horses. It was not until approximately 40 years ago that it was even considered that a horse could race under the age of three. Even then, many were considered too young at three years old. When horse racing became more professional, they introduced racing two year olds. 85% of thoroughbreds raced at two to three years old are reported to suffer from illness or injury. In my opinion this is too much of a risk to take for your horse. A horse does one of two things; 1. What he think his human wants and 2. What he thinks he needs to do to survive. He has to trust his owners with his safety and wellness. Why would someone take advantage of the trust of an animal?

Thoroughbreds have so much athletic ability to carry out a second career in eventing or show jumping after they have finished racing. In my experience, it is hard to find a retired racehorse that is completely sound. The impact causes bowed tendons or bone chips which could enable the horse from passing a vet check. Most people looking for a horse don’t want to take a chance on a horse that could possibly turn up lame from an old injury. Throwing a horse into something as dangerous as racing, can affect the horse for the rest of its life. If they’re not already euthanized from an injury that was too bad for them to live. Bucked shins are an injury that is solely caused from the impact on immature legs. Bucked shins are tiny cracks in the cannon bones of young thoroughbreds which do not show up on X-rays. Though it doesn’t sound like much, take it from a runner that suffers from shin splints, it is not very much fun! An Australian study on racing two-year old thoroughbreds showed an appalling 40% of them were unsound by the end of the season.


Growing up around horses, I have seen the impact a horse could make on his owner. A horse can teach life lessons to his owner or rider, either teaching them how to stand up after being knocked down or being a friend when it’s needed. Knowing the dangers and risks of racing a young thoroughbred and owners choosing to race them anyway, this just sickens me. To put a horse’s life and career in danger seems inhumane. There is no concern for the horse at all. It is all about the money.

Of course there are some horses that make it off the track sound and have a healthy second career. It has been proven that early work can strengthen a horse’s bones. Nevertheless, keep in mind that horses naturally work themselves playing in the field. The amount of pressure on their legs during races could prove to be too much for them to handle. “Two-year-olds, as we know, can be here today and gone tomorrow.”
-Gai Waterhouse, leading racehorse trainer (2). But, the biggest benefit of racing two year olds is economically. To further encourage investment in race horses the two-year old races have some of the highest purses. The health of the horses should be more important than the money involved in the races. It is also important to consider that two-year olds only make about three to four starts in a year while older runners get six to seven starts in a year. This means that even though the purses may be higher for the two-year old races, there are more races and more opportunities to win with an older horse.

We need to stop racing the young horses that are being raced right now. Racing horses while their bones and joints are still developing, is unsafe and inhumane. Often, the horrifying results and injuries from racing two year-olds is covered up by the glamour of race day and the excitement of The Triple Crown. This treatment of thoroughbreds, who just aim to please, is sickening. If we can’t stop the races, the least we can do is start racing them when they are more mature.