They are forced to run with nothing chasing them.

With the money that is available in the horse race circuit, the owners use every technique known to man. They are constantly re-evaluating the deaths and injuries to determine what went wrong. Injuries might be prevented by including management practices to minimize low hoof heel angle, incorporation of more frequent, shorter high speed works or races in exercise regimes, avoiding excessive accumulation of high speed distances over short periods of time, recognizing and rehabilitating horses with mild injuries and avoiding the use of high toe grabs. It appears important to achieve uniformity of racing surfaces and for the spectrum of environmental conditions “seen” by the horse’s musculoskeletal system.

Sorry I don't know these horses or what has happened to them but I do know that for all the money spent in the horse racing industry, these animals are often just seen as investments and money making prospects and very little is given over to their physical and emotional needs. Yes, they are given high quality foods, but many do not have the opportunity to graze as a horse should and this impacts on their phisicality and emotional stability. Most are given the best in vet care, but like many athelets are not given the time to recover properly before training begins again. And you are right if these animals are shattering their bones something is very wrong. Often the drugs they are given to recover from one injury cause more serious long term injuries later on, but hey who cares after they have done the job and won the money. Not all people in the racing industry are like this, some do care and take proper care of a horses needs. But they are far and few between and let's face it, the needs of the racing industry are not conducive to a horses needs - only that they run fast on command, and that is using the 'fight or flight' reflex to flee a perceived danger. Doesn't do much for a horses emotional stability to have that played on all the time, which is why many thoroughbreds are considered 'crazy' because they have been 'damamged'. (Sorry - down of my soapbox now!)

Let me just say that running for a horse is an enjoyable things for them to do, it's WHAT they do....they run and play when free. Now, racing itself isn't an inherently cruel thing BUT in my experience the racing industry is. I've seen the inside and the majority is NOT pretty...it's vile and I boycott racing for that reason. Now, as for the injury, it's sad but it happens. I've known horses who have snapped legs just running in the pasture and taking a wrong step. Flukes happen....but yes, the industry is corrupt.

Something is wrong. I heard awhile ago about something in the genetics of the horses. Both Barbaro and Eight Belles have common bloodlines. Somewhere in there bloodlines is Danzig. He was an amazing sire, but research is being done to see if his genetics might cause bad legs. He himself had leg issues. As an owner of thoroughbreds, I am very interested in this. If anyone has any other info about the genetic research being done with Danzig's lines i would love to know. I do not feel that this is some crazy idea. I do belive that there might be something in Danzig's genetics that do cause bad legs. My own horse Darzig, was a grandson of Danzig, out of Daring Blue and sired by Ziggy's Boy. He was put down due to leg issues, so with 3 horses, all with Danzig lines, being put down due to leg issues, i do not this this is just a coincedence. Again, if anyone else knows anything about this, please let me know.

I agree something is wrong. How are these animals going to continue to provide entertainment for us if they cannot stay injury free?

No, they are not common, yes, they are more common than anyone would like. These horses have been line-bred to run and consiquently are narrow boned. The problem is that they are run when they are very young and their bones have not yet gotten their full strenght. But this is a economic problem for the owner as well as a emotional problem for all of us, so I imagine that they are putting some money into trying to find a solution. After all, think of how mush money Barbaro would have made his owners had he continued to run.

I have heard of horses - not just racers getting injured like this but it is uncommon, as suggested it is probably has some sort of genetic influence to do with the bone structure and strength in the legs. It is terrible what goes on though, while in England i worked alot with race horses and they are not 'pets' they are 'moneymaking athletes'. They are not allowed to be a horse and are started in training very young. their lives are dictated by their success which i deem to be unfair. i have an ex racer of 10 years old he stopped racing 4 years ago and i don't know why i cant get any details and either he didnt perform well enough or he was injured. It is rare that an injured race horse survives, it is normally shot and sold for meat as the owners are out to make money and most arent bothered about the animals welfare as long as it can run well. And if it cant it is normally sold on until it ends up in the wrong hands one way or another and ends up doing a completely un-thoroughbred like job (like here in SouthAfrica Pulling carts) or it ends up as dog food. It is all about profit margins with most owners and if the horse isn't making a profit they don't see the point in keeping it. My ex racer is a lovely boy, great temperament but clueless about horse etiquette. He is in his own little bubble and doesn't even seem to notice the other horses - he has probably never been allowed normal horse interactions before and his personality has been altered drastically because of this. :-D