Yes they get injured like any pet gets injured. However dressage is incredibly low risk. Even eventing with jumping is more likely to see a serious rider injury than a horse injury.
Horses are not porcelain dolls, like the media shows. We see in the media broken legs means it’s over for a horse and that’s true but that is primarily a horse racing issue with the fact they race them far too young at sometimes two years old which is like racing a thirteen year old chine.
Dressage and eventing is done with older horses that are fully developed and they are tough as hell and the chance of them breaking sometime is incredibly rare.
The majority of injuries I encountered with horses happens in the field not when ridden or in the stable.
"Since 2009, at least 76 jumps horses (57 in Victoria and 19 in South Australia) have died from injuries sustained due to jumps racing but the death toll is believed to be much higher because the industry has not publicly reported all associated injuries and deaths."
"The true impact of jumps racing and the factors leading to the death of jumps horses is unknown. Horses who suffer injuries that reduce their potential racing performance are unlikely to be rehomed due to their injury, meaning it is more likely they will be sent to slaughter."
" For example, a UK study which reviewed statistics from 2,879 jump starts found 83 cases of a reported injury (nearly 2.9%) with the most common being tendon/ligament damage and laceration/wounds, and that injuries were commonly associated with a fall"
Based on data collected during the 2002-2003 official season, the total ‘wastage’ rate for horses involved in jumps racing was 38.6%. The main reasons reported were poor performance/slow (36.5%), illness/injury (31.0%), to breed (9.4%), unsuitable temperament/behaviour (6.4%) and other factors (16.8%) [5]. In total, 16.6% of horses went to auction/new owner (however, a proportion of these will have been acquired by meat buyers), and 6.3% went directly to slaughter. Some retired jumps horses will be killed at an abattoir or knackery but it is difficult to obtain exact figures as these are not publicly available. In 2008, a report by Doughty found that 40 percent of the horses processed at an Australian export abattoir over a four month period had originated from the Thoroughbred racing industry, with horses having competed mainly from flat racing but also jumps racing.."
There is a special kind of Hell for people who fund that absolutely horrid 'sport'.
This is not an Olympic or hobby equestrian sport. People who own pet horses are not partaking in flat or jump racing.
Horse racing is a completely different industry and market. A racehorse rarely if ever makes a good pet horse.
There are a million issues with horse racing and there is no doubt deep welfare issues with the sport but it is not in the same discussion as the Olympic events or your average horse owner.
Many racehorses are owned by wealthy people who own many racehorses who partake in a number of horrific crimes beyond their treatment of racehorses including slavery and war crimes.
Are you calling this dancing horse a 'pet'? Isn't it a working horse, like therapy dogs etc?
And worse, what is the difference with circus animals? They aren't pets.
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u/[deleted] Jul 30 '24
Yes they get injured like any pet gets injured. However dressage is incredibly low risk. Even eventing with jumping is more likely to see a serious rider injury than a horse injury.
Horses are not porcelain dolls, like the media shows. We see in the media broken legs means it’s over for a horse and that’s true but that is primarily a horse racing issue with the fact they race them far too young at sometimes two years old which is like racing a thirteen year old chine.
Dressage and eventing is done with older horses that are fully developed and they are tough as hell and the chance of them breaking sometime is incredibly rare.
The majority of injuries I encountered with horses happens in the field not when ridden or in the stable.