Horse races are competitions where horses race for prize money. Most often used to refer to contests between two or more finishers such as the Preakness Stakes which began the Triple Crown series, horse races can also describe close, competitive contests that require effort on all parts such as political campaigns.
Early accounts of horse racing date back to ancient Greece. Over time, it spread throughout nearby countries before making its way across Europe, Asia, and Africa – featuring both chariot and mounted bareback races with horses as race vehicles.
Modern horse racing uses handicaps to give all competitors an equal chance of victory. Based on various criteria such as age, distance, sex and time of year, handicaps are assigned in order to create an equitable competition environment and give each horse a fair shot at success. Handicaps serve a number of functions; including offsetting superior speeds or stamina with size or power advantages or compensating for injuries or poor performances.
While the horse industry promotes itself as an elite and socially acceptable sport, horseracing Wrongs activists criticize it as cruel and inhumane. According to them, many of the over ten thousand American thoroughbreds who die each year due to horseracing Wrongs activities are drugged, whipped, raced too early, trained beyond their limits before being abandoned when no longer winning or eventually slaughtered into dog food, glue or delicacies in France and Japan.
No matter the many scandals or allegations of horse abuse in recent years, the horse racing industry continues to thrive. It has adapted to new technological advances like thermal imaging cameras that detect when horses overheat after racing; as well as MRI scanners, X-ray machines, endoscopes and 3D printers that help spot injuries or signs of illness; in addition 3D printing now plays an increasingly vital role in providing care to injured or ill animals by producing casts, splints and prosthetics for injured or ill animals requiring medical assistance.
Even with its advancements, horseracing remains a dangerous profession for both horses and jockeys. A substantial proportion of horses that die on tracks have been injured; many more become unable to work after suffering serious or chronic problems such as bone fractures, ligament injuries or concussions that prevent further participation in horseracing. Although deaths on tracks have decreased recently, horseracing remains a high-risk activity that requires exceptional physical and mental skills for success.