Early death of them? Racehorses retire from racing around age 5.. after that they are either sold to people who want them for personal use, or spend the rest of their life babymaking. I've ridden retired racehorses that are 22 years old... how is that a shortened life? Just because you don't hear about them after they retire doesn't mean they die.

If you're gonna say you're against horse racing, then you must be against all forms of equine sports... jumping, dressage, roping... hell it must piss you off just to see someone ride a horse.

There's "bad eggs" in every sport. Whether people cheat by using steroids, don't treat their horses well, whatever. But those people get weeded out.

As for horses breaking their legs, that's a result of bad breeding. Anytime that you are using a horse for a sport, be it jumping, western, whatever, there's a chance of injury. A poorly bred horse is a poorly bred horse. Had Barbaro been a show jumper instead of a racehorse, he more than likely still would have broken his ankle. The reason it's so "known about" with racing is because racing is the most publicized equine sport. Horses are like people.. they will go too far sometimes, and they will hurt themselves. Sometimes it's a true accident, where nothing could have prevented it, other times it's a result of overzealous breeding.

As for "beating" the horses... a proper jockey "swipe" with the crop really doesn't hurt. Take an envelope with some paper in it and swat your arm with the broad side. That's about what it feels like if the jockey is doing it properly. It looks a lot more vicious than it is, because they use a big overhanded sweep when they do it. In truth, when you "pop" a horse with a traditional crop it's more painful. The jockeys have been taught how to properly swipe, and how not to pop.

As far as horseracing and greyhound racing being "no different than dog fighting", how can you even compare the two? Dog fighting is two animals who have been taught to fear everything fight until one is dead. Horse racing is a horse doing what it does naturally.. running. There is no fear involved. I don't agree with greyhound racing, mainly because people treat dogs a lot worse than they treat horses, and because most racing greyhounds get put down when they retire because they can't be placed in homes after they retire.

There's bad people and good people in every sport, and the bad people always give the good people a bad name. But I can guarantee you that with horse racing, when it's done by good people, it is a sport, and a thrilling one at that.