Are horses out of the danger zone?

One would not normally think of horses as animals in particular danger. They are used for drawing carriages and racing. One would assume that in our modern world there is ample expertise to put into the practice when using horses for whatever purpose.

Not quite so. Horses die in incidents occurring while drawing carriages and those incidents are far from being sporadic. The practice of forcing horses to draw oversized loads, sometimes in extreme weather conditions, is not the kind of news that reaches the headlines, but it is a fact of life. Horses pulling carriages in busy city streets are vulnerable to loud and unexpected noises, not to mention respiratory ailments caused by exhaust fumes. The safeguards provided by anti-cruelty laws are inadequate and cannot ensure that horses are not being overworked.

At the same time, there is an alarmingly high number of race horses dying in all forms of racing, although the majority of fatalities are known to occur in jump racing. Some courses are particularly dangerous and horses are forced to confront dozens of  challenging jumps (in the case of the Grand National this number is 30).

The use of whip is also problematic. There are guidelines on how to use the whip but who is to decide whether the whip was used appropriately or abusively in a particular situation during a race? Some horses were seen being whipped 30 or more times during a race.