Is Horse Racing Fun?

I’ve always felt myself really lucky to live so close to a racetrack as I do, and having the chance to go watch the horses race whenever I feel like it.

I was having a conversation with some friends over dinner the other day, and we got talking about horse racing and how much I enjoy it.

They are not horse lovers, and they have never been convinced that horse racing really is fun.

So, I thought I’d do my best to put my best argument together!

So, is horse racing fun?

Absolutely! Watching horses race is really exciting and fast paced, and there are many ways you can have fun during the day while doing it. Horses are truly incredible creatures capable of amazing feats of speed, and you can always make it a bit more interesting with a bet!

Naturally, whether or not something is fun is entirely subjective.

However, if you’ve never given it a try, how can you know whether or not you find it fun?

After all, there must be a reason it has been as popular as it has!

Let’s look further into it.

Why is horse racing so exciting?

The simple answer is that horses are just astonishing creatures.

They are capable of unbelievable feats of speed, and there is no substitute for witnessing that live—you can only have a bare sense of how fast they are going when you’re watching on a screen.

Not that watching it on TV isn’t exciting, too.

But the speed of the event is the main thrill. Horses can run 30-40mph, which is really quite amazing to watch.

Other than that, most racetracks are abuzz with life on race days.

People will come from far and wide, often getting very dressed up, making the whole day a big event.

This kind of pageantry is really exciting to a lot of people, even if you’re not so bothered about the racing.

Betting is another way that horse racing is exciting.

Even if you’re only betting a small amount for fun, having a stake in a race can make it so much more interesting.

This is absolutely one of the main pulls with horse racing, and some people can make great money doing it.

So, in that sense, horse racing is exciting for the same reason any sport is exciting.

Competition, amazing feats of strength and speed, a personal stake in it through a bet.

All of these things create a very exciting environment.

What about the horses, though?

Do they enjoy it?

Do horses enjoy racing?

This is a tough question to answer, and the answer will vary by horse.

We tend to forget how individualized animals are; no two are going to be completely the same, and what they are like will determine whether they enjoy racing.

In general, horses are mostly quite indifferent about racing.

Of course, they would not do it of their own accord; most of the time, when you leave horses to it, they will simply stand around and graze.

They will probably do a little bit of running, but not at the speeds they would during a race.

So, this gives you an idea.

There’s nothing inherently cruel about racing, but the horses don’t necessarily ‘enjoy’ it in the sense that they would choose to do it.

That said, many jockeys will tell you how excited and eager horses can get before a race.

They will show visible signs of anticipation, at the very least, if not outright excitement.

The only real answer is to remember that animals have very different minds from our own.

Some horses enjoy racing, some less so.

Do jockeys enjoy racing?

For the most part, they probably do—or, at least, they did at the beginning of their career.

However, being a jockey is not easy.

It requires a strict diet regime, as you need to be under a certain weight to compete, such that in the past jockeys used to have special bowls for vomiting into.

So, to most jockeys, it is really more a job than anything else.

It’s something they are very good at.

Again, I am sure that on a general level, they enjoy it more than they dislike it.

However, it is still a job—and in many ways a gruelling one at that.

Is horse racing cruel?

In general, no, it isn’t. the industry has been heavily regulated in recent years to stop any unethical practices and keep horses happy both on and off the racetrack.

Horses are treated with the utmost care and respect.

Whether not horse racing is cruel depends entirely on the practices of the racetrack.

There’s nothing inherently cruel about it, like I said.

So, as long as practices are properly observed and regulated, horse racing is not cruel.

So, it can be, but horse racing is only as cruel as the person organizing it.

So, whether or not it’s fun will depend on you—however, humans love to see things compete in a very fast race, that’s a given!

So, given its popularity, we can definitely say that horse racing is, on some level, inherently fun.

This may change as attitudes change and certainly the industry will have some way to go to fully modernise itself, but overall, there’s something fun in horse racing for virtually everyone! Go and try it and find out for yourself.