Court Rules Padded Racing Whip Causes Pain to Horses
A Tasmanian court has ruled that whipping a horse with a padded racing whip (the ones that jockeys use) can cause unreasonable and unjustified pain, and therefore is seen as animal cruelty under law.
This is quite a radical decision, as there is a long standing industry claim that padded whips don't cause horses harm.
The case that brought this decision on, was originally highlighted by the RSPCA, involving a racehorse trainer Liandra Gray, who was recorded repeatedly striking a horse with a padded whip. The trainer plead not guilty, arguing that she used less force than what jockeys use in a race.
The court rejected the defense and relied on video evidence and reports by experts to reach a conclusion.
The advocacy ground Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses welcomed this decision, as it is a critical step forward for horse welfare and urging Racing Australia to reconsider the use of whips in competition.
This raises some interesting questions as previously the padded race whip was seen as not cruel or infringe on equine welfare. So when we look at the whip we want to understand, does whip material has an effect on applied forces (like striking)? and does using a whip make horses run faster and win more races?
Let's take a look at the evidence currently available
Whip material
Researchers investigated whether three whip types (padded racing ones) had an effect on exerted forces. They had two flat padded racing whips, and one softer padded circular - like a cylinder- racing whip. The initial results showed that the softer padded circular one, exerted higher forces than the other two.
After this, they looked at if the core of the whip made an effect on the exerted forces, when the different padding was applied. The core type influenced the amount of force exerted, with one of the cores applying more force no matter which padding was on it. This shows that whip flexibility plays a major role in the influence of exerted force.
Tightening whip rules in harness racing
In a study investigating the relationships with a series of rule changes that moderated whip use in Australian harness race winning times, found some interesting results. There were changes made between 2007 and 2016 regarding when, what force and frequency of whip use during the race. Despite concerns that tightening of whip regulations might reduce performance, none of the results showed any reduction in either fast or medium winning times in races following the tightening of regulations governing the use of the whip. Naturally, this questions the need for whips to increase racing performance.
Whip use in horse racing
Similar to the harness racing results, two studies found that use of the whip didn't increase winning times in horse racing. Not only this, but no improvement in speed, velocity or other parameters like improved steering, reduced interference or increases safety were found by whip use.
Conclusion
The court ruling that using a padded whip is now seen as an act of cruelty will cause a stir, and will be used to call for further protection for equine welfare. With the growing body of evidence that using whips in racing doesn't improve horses performance, I would like to think they will eventually be removed from racing. But as we all know, tradition likes to grip tightly to what has always been done.
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References
Wilson, B., Jones, B. and McGreevy, P. (2018). Longitudinal trends in the frequency of medium and fast race winning times in Australian harness racing: Relationships with rules moderating whip use. PLOS ONE, 13(3), p.e0184091. doi:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0184091.
Evans, D. and McGreevy, P. (2011). An Investigation of Racing Performance and Whip Use by Jockeys in Thoroughbred Races. PLoS ONE, [online] 6(1), p.e15622. doi:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0015622.
Thompson, K., McManus, P., Stansall, D., Wilson, B.J. and McGreevy, P.D. (2020). Is Whip Use Important to Thoroughbred Racing Integrity? What Stewards’ Reports Reveal about Fairness to Punters, Jockeys and Horses. Animals, 10(11), p.1985. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10111985.
Toma, M., Pandya, Y.H., Dongre, D. and Nizich, M. (2021). Assessing Forces Exerted on Horses Using Varying Riding Crops. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science, 98, p.103341. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jevs.2020.103341.