Horse racing generates enormous economic activity but imposes significant welfare risks. Understanding the evidence on racing injuries and fatalities is essential for informed debate about reform.
Racing horse welfare encompasses risks across the entire racing life: the physical demands of racing on developing skeletal systems in young horses, the use of medications that may mask pain and allow racing on sub-clinical injuries, the risk of catastrophic injury on track, and the welfare of horses after their racing careers end. The structural economics of racing create pressure to race horses before they are fully mature, to manage injuries conservatively rather than rest them adequately, and to maintain horses in training conditions that prioritise performance over wellbeing. Reform efforts have focused on medication transparency, track surface improvement, pre-race veterinary examination, and mandatory retirement programmes — all meaningful improvements that demonstrate welfare and racing are not entirely incompatible but require active management.