Readers React: There are better ways to appreciate horses than by racing them to death

To the editor: The cruelty inherent in horse racing is difficult enough to digest, but what really nauseates me is the hedonistic underpinnings of why such competition exists. (“Another horse fatality at Santa Anita; 23 thoroughbreds have died since Dec. 26,” March 31.)

True, watching stunning athletes (horses and jockeys alike) demonstrate their prowess and awesome beauty against a backdrop like the San Gabriel Mountains that loom over Santa Anita Park is compelling, even breathtaking. But the gambling by spectators; the drive by owners to acquire the strongest, fastest equines that are then raced way too early in their young lives; the trainers who carry out the owners’ ambitions to gain wealth and celebrity often at the expense of the animals — we can and should do better.

As a lifelong horse rider, owner and caregiver, who at one time even shared ownership of a racehorse, I can’t help but see the ruinous path that most racehorses take. It sickens me.

Plenty of other outlets exist to satisfy our greed, pleasures and indulgences that do not do so at the expense of sentient, intelligent animals.

Kathy Landis, Laguna Woods

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To the editor: Since it is impossible for horses to consent to being raced, it is well past time to end this barbaric sport that needlessly kills and maims countless sentient animals, all for human enjoyment and gambling profits.

I cannot understand why horse racing still exists when we have largely eliminated greyhound racing and cockfighting in the United States.

Matthew Black, Los Angeles

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