Manifesto proper in English translation - Nov. 2024

 

 

Manifesto in English

Hard stake of the race horses

  –  Equestrian sports connected to betting industry must be run down!

’There is a vast humanity problem baked into the horse-sports industry around the world. And this embarrassing phenomenon we must tackle now with determination and power.’

GR 2023

Hard competing of race horses is unethical and illegal!

 

Some minor editing was done 22.2.2025 on pages 5 - 9. 

One chapter of major importance is added on the page 2 on Friday, 18.4.2025

 

  The horses drawn into horse racing and gambling are practically outlaws everywhere. - In the lax interpretation and supervision of our Animal Protection laws, we have throughout the decades flogged our harness-race horses with a harsh and merciless driving whip. In other words, the drivers in the harness-races - as well as the jockeys in gallop races! - all over the World openly whip their horses hard and merciless with their standardized and permitted, but so cruel whips! Causing these sensitive, big animals immense pain, strain and serious health problems, as well as endless fear and discomfort.

Update 5/30/2022 : Earlier I talked here about "steel whip" in context to the trotting "driving whip". But the steel rod woven into the authorized whip has long been replaced by a similarly heavy and flexible - immensely painful - fiberglass or special plastic. The steel rod was said to brake apart in some situations. (Not for other reasons!?)

  In totaliser-racings, there are rules and quantitative restrictions for the use of the driving whip, but to be more precise, our, and I assume most other countries’, animal protection laws have almost entirely prohibited hitting any animal with such merciless whips. Yet, when the whip is with the drivers and jockeys on the racetrack, we constantly see hard, brutal and merciless whippings of the horses. And one of the very main reasons for this is, that the punishments for such actions, compared to the big money prizes laid on the races, are insignificantly small fines, and occasionally given, insignificantly short suspensions. - But: Neither unnecessary, nor unlawful use of the whip today results in disqualifying of the performance! - Which, of course, is a serious shortcoming in the rules, and as such, will need immediate and strict correction everywhere. Unconditionally and everywhere with the plain principle: No manners, no money! 

With prize moneys as high as they are today, that is the only effective form of punishing policy to stop the track whipping of the horses. Every rider, trainer and horse owner will have to obey that. - And if for some reason someone doesn't want to, (for example selling high the 2-3 year olds, or a stallion that is about to become highly valuable in breeding), a separate, tough, and intention-breaking clause should be added to the rules for such cases. (Added here 18.4.2025.)

  -  So we have it for the horses in the competitions, on the tracks.

   Where as during training of these horses, in the absence of supervision, the use of this brutal whip is wide open for use for anybody. Meaning that, together with other horrible cruelties, the use of the whip is up to everyone’s own discretion! 

    And this soulless conduct of horse racing, together with loose interpretation and control of the animal protection laws, haven’t gone without consequences, neither here nor anywhere else -. On a global scale these fast, but also the most lovable (!), large animals, actually sensitive like us humans, die in the thousands in those races every year! - And in addition to harness racing (trotting) horses, here I only talk about the thoroughbred racehorses of the flat-surface races! - Including the training, gambling has done it, that these horses die, are being injured, disabled and killed by euthanasia, or finish up as track surplus in killing plants and slaughterhouses, in tens and hundreds of thousands every year! - So we are finally to understand that we are talking here about an ugly, unbelievably cruel carnage!

 

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   - But this side of the celebrated horse racing is rarely discussed about. And when it is, such talk usually remains isolated or superficial and brief. - And as this industry has been left to grow unlimited, now there are millions of these horses and colts crying out to us for help!

   - May this manifesto help us now to hear this their endless, silent cry.

 P.s. After this manifesto has spread out the cry, the situation of the horses on the racetracks have bettered enormously. But the horse whippings haven't disappeared completely. We still see the ugly driving taking place commonly in some countries and on some racetracks. So You, the large public, still need to be alert about this big shame taking place here. - The way anyone can learn into seeing this unnecessary, unlawful whipping, watch what is happening on the track begining some where on the last 500 - 600 meters before the end of each race. - When the horses are beginning to get tired of the high speed held so far, and the real fight for the big price money begins between the drivers/jockeys.

 - So, in case you gamble, at least stop betting to the rogue tracks and countries, in which the horse beatings are still allowed. - And, of course, my suggestion would be not to gamble on horses at all. - Never, and to nowhere. 

The abused neighbor calling us for help

  As a grass eating herd and prey animal, the horse evolved in evolution into a silent escaper. And as if to protect its own flock from outer danger, even in the worst at our hands a horse does not shout out his anguish and pain. And this silence in hard situations; when you would expect a horse to cry for help, is now being used by us humans in a cynical way. - We have turned this unfortunate, fast animal into a pawn to be brutally exploited and whipped in our gambling races! – As if these sentient beings wouldn’t have sense and feeling and soul at all!

   But, unlike the way we’ve been used to thinking and talking about these silent animals, today we know they feel, think, analyze and experience things much like we humans do. Like us these "race" horses too have a well-developed nervous system that is very sensitive to pain, fear, anxiety and distress. In addition to the fact that they, like us, have versatile cognition and emotions (e.g. Donald M. Broom 2016), they are known to experience pain and suffering quite similarly with us. - And it may be, they are even more sensitive than we - ! (L. Tong 2014 and 2020)

   And because of this subtlety and close resemblance to us; if we want to keep horses here as our help and companions, we must start treating them, as we are expected to treat here each other. - That is; with the same thoughtfulness and care as we want to be treated here ourselves. - In the ethical thinking, guiding us here as the people, that must belong to the basic rights of these sensitive, intelligent beings in our hands! ---- And therefore it is a great shame of us all, and particularly of those involved, to have instrumentalized these horses as racing machines and pawns for our fun and gambling. In which game and gambling they are literally being whipped into deadly over-speed and long-term illnesses. - Into invalids and deaths in incredible numbers!

   - And, as horse people and veterinarians know, it is not even rare in the field that these horses are whipped and strained in training and coaching into nervous wrecks and crazy. Meaning, from then on they are unfit for any use for anybody -.

  -- When this happens, they are just pushed aside, and in hope of that awaited "Million-dollar-horse", the same crime is started again with the next colt!

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The Treatment of these Horses Requires our Special Attention

 

  It was at the beginning of the 1980s that I had the opportunity to get to know firsthand this, for our racetracks approved whip, and its gruesome pain power.

   On two different days I tested that steel rod inside hidden driving-whip, the test been done so that, with different intensities I hit with it along the side of my right leg, protected by a sturdy fabric trouser leg. And that way I quickly learned that this gracefully designed whip was capable of producing intense pain even with relatively low impact strengths. - It was impossible for me to tolerate even, for example, 20% strength of the blows, very generally seen given on the backs and sides of horses in races, because the rules, supervision and weak sanctioning of the drivers allowed and made it possible.

  From the stands and sides of the race tracks I had seen a lot of brutal and hard beating of the horses with this licensed, standardized whip, but now I knew that somehow this very extensive, brutal, systematic cruelty would have to be stopped. - That such a whip should never be allowed for hitting, commanding and frightening these large, but very sensitive animals. Not even a single unnecessary blow should be allowed here. Meaning, that hitting with a whip like that should always be limited strictly to the very rare cases when trying to prevent an immediate, serious danger. - If even then?! - So strong and intense was the pain of that whip on my leg, covered by the loose, sturdy denim fabric.

   Now the problem left here was, how to get this systematic horror stopped in the whole industry? For by then I already knew, the problem would certainly not be easy to tackle.

   Many attempts had been made to stop it, many were still to come, and yet, no one and no animal protection organization had found the ways and talks to get stopped this insanely extensive cruelty to these poor, wonderful horses. So I had already learned, that this was not a case-as-usual monster for any one or any party to get to grips with. - Something very unusual and unexpected had to be found in order to tackle the devil and get this, from a human point of view insanely cruel carnage stopped here.

   Today countries collect billions and hundreds of billions in euros, dollars, pounds, kroner, …. in tax from this gambling industry, horse trading and other operations, as well as income taxes from various kinds of jobs, in and around this industry. Huge cash flows are being generated. But with the help of the flood of information on the internet, I was finally 2018 able to grasp this issue to such an extend, that I could help others too to take a closer look into this large, ugly side of the celebrated equestrian sports and its connection to the gambling industry. - For us all to see what is really being done to these horses and foals behind our backs. So that we could all get together to demand and supervise here a proper, quick end to this common shame of the whole humanity.

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   Living completely outside the industry, most of us are mere bystanders in this ugly matter. But since the horses are unable to defend themselves against this organized, systematic abuse and brutality, we as human beings must now stand up for them and take strong action against this our common shame. Because, for us to be human beings at all, how could we ever allow this abomination to keep going on here? - And, therefore, one of my primary efforts in making humanity and governments aware of these things is, to get us, our government and governments elsewhere aware of this shame, and to break this, for the horses merciless connection between the horse racing and gambling industry. 

Just recently (autumn 2024) I got to hear someone to call this request unrealistic. But, so shall it not be accepted to be! - This serious animal welfare issue must, without delay, come into serious discussions with positive results in all necessary official levels.

 - Although, due to the size and complexity of the issue,  e.g. with a 5 or 10 year phased decommissioning plan. During which time all gambling related racing with horses must be banned and driven down; and - at will - replaced with races taking place only with man powered mechanical and/or motorized vehicles or devises. - As I have presented below concerning the want for a replacement solution.

Humanity versus Money and the low brow Status Seeking

Cruelty, money betting and excessive prize money in racing. - Today, the horse racing industry exudes greed and unsophisticated ambition and pride, and low brow numbness towards these sensitive and noble animals.

   - Gallop and trotting competitions linked to the hard betting mean to these horses endlessly crippling whip trashing and bit-dicipline, pain, fear, stress and anxiety. - And in addition to various physical strain injuries in training and competitions, due to prison like stabling and inappropriate competition feeding, more than 90% of racehorses get stomach ulcers from that constant stress and anxiety they face in the industry.

   - More over for the same reason, the field can be overshadowed by an inexplicably high number of, for the horses extremely painfully killing colic; a serious internal cavity disease with intestinal knots, twisting and blockages. - And when there is also life-threatening doping of horses with foreign substances, as well as equally dangerous overmedication with licensed drugs, the industry strangely starts to smell. - Track deaths, training deaths, obscure stable deaths, thoughtless, and even sadistic torture, and to slaughterhouse leading, destructive training and competition junk. - That is what is taking place under the surface in the industry -. And although that’s not the whole picture of the industry, it undeniably throws large shade on it.

   For decades, countries have earned millions and billions in income from totalizator races. And e.g. this is why our societies have been reluctant to adequately take into account this twisted exploiting, systematic, serious abuse and mistreatment of these horses. But, with the power of mind and a pen, I have now set out to seek a strict change and end to this, for us all so shameful phenomenon here.

  Due to the pressure of the General Public here in the Nordic countries, the barbaric horse whipping on the tracks has come down from what there was seen as general practice in all races in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. (And since autumn 2019, Finland prescribed the use of the driving whip in racing, down to but a small wisping, after I had sent my alarm mailing

 

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of this, then still badly unfinished manifesto, to the incoming governing parties, the Ministry of Agriculture, and our state owned money gaming monopoly Veikkaus Ltd.)

  But, even though the things have been proven in this respect on the tracks, the worst still takes place to these horses in their training. In the more and less obscure training stables and outlying training tracks in remote places throughout the country. Places that remain, and will remain, unattended. - There just can't be bodyguards to defend and protect all the fouls and horses in every turn of their lives with the guards own life and body. And such security being impossible to arrange, even concerned veterinarians say, “despite all the laws and regulations, adequate safety to these horses is difficult to outright impossible”. - And this is a point of view, vitally important to take into consideration when we explore this problematic matter. - Since it is known that the horses to be raced need to be given training and exorcise, and since it is known too, that they can not be left safely alone to the hands of many of these their trainers, the dilemma is unsolvable. - The dilemma is unsolvable, and therefore, too, I'm talking here, that the whole industry need to be closed and run down. - Closed till the day when there will only be reliably reliable horse owners and training and handling personnel to treat the horses properly also in the situations, when there will not be bodyguards around protecting the horses around the clock, 7 days a week, through out their career years.

Animal cruelty in horse racing is systematic and common - like a norm

 

  "Jag har sett många hästar som varit skadade. Det blir vullnader på huden och man kan direkt se hela piskans längd som en upphöjning." – "Det värsta är ändå hur rädd hästen blir för spöet i framtiden."

   "I have seen a lot of abused horses. – There are welts on the horses, all the entire length of the whip – .” - "And yet the worst thing in all this is how fearsome the horse will become of the whip in future."

   That's what Lars Audell, racetrack veterinarian, appointed by the Ministry of Agriculture to Solvalla Trotting Center in Stockholm, said to the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet about the use of that merciless trotting-whip and its effect on the horses. - Audell, despite all the death threats, fought for decades for the horses on this main Swedish trotting track. Also his battle on this matter was left only half way, with results in the pressure, not much more than marginal.

   - The use of the whip in competition on the track itself has its own restrictions in different countries. But since the punishments for infringing those, already far too permissive limits, tend to be too lenient everywhere, they are also violated everywhere. - On the other hand, the terrible fear of whips these horses have been subjected to in training, follows them even though it may seem to us, that the whip is no longer used so wildly on the track itself. - These horses can be made to run in terror at breakneck and killing speed, only by the driver's hush, signal whistle or shout, or any other signal given – or by only a couple of slight snaps with the whip on the cart's handle or on the horse's back - if they have already been treated beforehand with fear and brutal beatings, in order to drum into them the desired traits in their "training".

  - Not to mention the "training" at the training stables of the famous Swedish trainer-and-driver-star, Åke Svanstedt, in which horses were treated with electric shocks à la Svanstedt–Jepson–Persson's jeng. When the eyes of a horse - scared for the rest of its life - are wide open with wild terror and discolored red (from burst veins?) when returning to the training stable.

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   Or, as happened in another case reported to the media from there: the horse entering the stable came forward on its hind legs and beating air with its front hooves. So that its trusted caretaker, a young man - soon to become a licensed driver himself - looks in horror at what had been done to his cared for horse during the electric whip training on the remote training track of the stable. And - being powerless in the situation - he walked aside to cry.

  I'm referring here to Åke Svanstedt's former horse handlers, Disa Zetterman (whose fake interview in a TV documentary led to the public prosecutor taking the case to court) and Paw Mahony, who both testified in the Svanstedt case in the Skaraborg District Court, Sweden, between November and December 2009.

   - The TV documentary that led to the trial itself can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7X1FNupnBc . It is a well-made report by the Swedish Television TV4 "Piskad till framgång", (“Whipped to success”), which the channel aired on November 30, 2008. - Well worth watching if you understand Swedish. (or can get it translitterated to your language). And the case of Paw Mahony is reported by the paper Aftonbladet. Here a link: https://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/trav365/a/7lPajW/jag-har-blivit-hotad-till-livet

Sectarianism and Good-Brother Corruption

 

   One of the difficulties of outsiders trying to clean up the manners and attitudes toward horses in the industry has been, that their suggestions and critics have faced the inward turned sectarianism of the industry. With stiff and dull jealousy its people claim and guard their right to dictate how and what outsiders should think of the industry and of the prevailing practices there in the treatment of the horses. - All over the competitive horsesports!

   - And, as I have found out from a couple of animal welfare organizations here, the guarding of the fields’ own sand box can quickly grow hostile and life threatening against the critics. Which is why only state power can effectively deal with this bunch, and get down to the roots of the evil when now, with the increased awareness about these horses and the way they are treated, vast changes are required.

   - Only the problem with that will be: how do we get our state power to take the proper action needed? Since, in our society today this is not necessarily as certain and sure as one might think. Since a considerable number of current members of the decision-making apparatus and civil servants are having personal connections to the industry. - That meaning that, in addition to the gambling, many from those mentioned above actually own and part-own racehorses, or are "Good-Brothers" with such owners. - And, as we know from the corruption in our good-brother society, the phenomenon tends to have its own, gnawing weight in many of our common matters -.

 

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   But if the systematic torture and whipping of horses has become widely normalized here as part of the mentioned gambling industry, we must be able to hold the government - created and elected by us to safeguard humanity in our society - accountable to take appropriate actions to help these horses out of their plight and abuse. That is, using the available means, without delay, to dismantle the current, terrible position and situation of these horses. The abusive horse racing and training culture with ties and connections to gambling and betting must disappear! All together!

  - May there be many others, to help me and other opponents of this highly controversial industry in this mission.

Science offers us Valuable New Information

    For a long time, there has been speculations about horses being whipped in the races and about whether they feel pain from this whipping or not. But when it comes to horses feeling pain, we can thank e.g. Australians in that subject matter. In 2014, information was sought in Sydney about the horse's ability to experience the pain produced by whipping. And this is what the investigation looked like when reporter-veterinarian Jonica Newby got the opportunity to investigate the matter for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE6MikeGYsQ .

  The report becomes Perhaps most interesting for us from the point 11:30 onward. When the pain sensitivity properties of horse and human skin are compared by Newby and Dr. Lydia Tong of Veterinary Forensic Pathology from the University of Sydney. - In the video the reporter even put her own skin to the whip test. Though the jockey didn't quite dare to hit her harder than perhaps half as hard as jockeys hit their horses all the time in the races. And good so, of course. - With bruises, welts and camera pictures and the heat camera pictures showing the results the issue becomes rather clear to us what even the famous soft padded riding whip caused. - The same day and the day after!

  Pathologist Tong, on the other hand, could show us colored microscopic cross-section images of human and horse skin. Surprisingly, the horse, apparently has many more sensory nerve endings under the surface that react to a stimulus (e.g. whiplash), and they appear also to be closer to the surface than what has the human skin.

 

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   From this finding, Dr. Tong interpreted that the horse's pain sensitivity and strength to a whiplash can be even greater than what we humans would experience. - But for this see also her later, more extensive and detailed study on the subject from 2020: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/11/2094 .

   - This more elaborated, larger study came to show us that the whiplash sensitivity appears to be similar in humans and horses. – …. "The findings show that the pain-sensitive epidermal layer of the horse's skin is as richly innervated and has the same thickness as human skin. Which shows that humans and horses have similar key anatomical structures for experiencing surface pain.” (Conclusions)

 About the issue see also Animals Australia in 2023: https://animalsaustralia.org/our-work/compassionate-living/science-reveals-whips-hurt/

  What this so clearly begins to point to is that, in general we people have been and are just far too insensitive and thoughtless to have these, in danger and pain always soundless animals in our hands and under our control.

  As for the research and discoveries of animal consciousness and emotions in general, long-career ethologist, Professor Emeritus of Cambridge University, Donald M. Broom on his part says in the abstract of his scientific article: "There is evidence for sophisticated cognitive concepts and for both positive and negative feelings in a wide range of nonhuman animals." ("Considering animal's feelings", 2016) - And in this today a good number of other recognized animal scientists are siding with him -. -- And this, and the fact that horses feel pain, is no longer disputed in a rational discussion today (2025). It is now a matter of, what we socially accept to be done to these marvelous creatures.

 

  So, having now acquired this deeper knowledge about the horses, think only what horrors we have witnessed and condoned to these, in pain and fear always silent, finely sensitive neighbors!

  - Further on I will shortly highlight also the research information recently published by researcher-veterinarian Kati Tuomola's Finnish research group about the heavy-handed handling of our own horses on racetracks. - In this case, the very common, even serious mouth damages, caused to horses by various bit arrangements together with too heavy-handed steering in training and racing.

For Us to Rectify the Situation

   Stuck and locked in its questionable attitudes, the horse racing industry is a prisoner of its own filth. And in so being, it cannot be expected to honestly reform itself. - Not to say about abolishing itself if that is the only logical consequence. - So, in case this scumbag soiled with numb indifference, greed and cruelty is to be cleaned up, the intervention of external actor strong enough is needed. And for that Herculean task, there won't be many suitable actors to be found.

   The only conceivable body for this task is the state; the statepower of our countries. However even the state is receiving a lot of money from the industry in the form of taxes and 

 

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being the full owner of Veikkaus Oy, the administrator of all Finnish totalizator gaming. So entrusting the clean-up work solely to the state power, without control of a vigilant civil body, that would be like leaving a goat to guard the garden!

   But in a matter like this, we as a civil society we can put legal and parliamentary pressure on our government and state civil service. Since, in addition to ethical considerations, the current horse-driven totalizer races should be abolished as illegal. Because, apart from causing the associated pain, suffering, distress and anxiety to the horses in competitions as well as in their hard training, this so-called sport is only meant to give us commercial fun and entertainment.

   Which, we must take it, is something seriously unnecessary here, and as such, in direct contradiction of our animal protection laws. As well as against our human ethics. In other words, if this abuse, torture and unnecessary harshness these horses are known to face in races and during their training cannot be prevented, due to the lack of the huge resources required for adequate supervision, the government will have to take steps to phase out as unnecessary all this part of our amusement industry. - Now using horses merely as running machines and pawns in the gambling games.

Some legal background

 

   Looking at the legality of the matter, even though the industry is generating money to the state, the current animal protection law can not be interpreted or applied in such a way that these horses could be tortured, scolded and whipped on the racetrack, or off the track, in their training, as is currently the case. Everything like that has been illegal in Finland as unnecessary at least for the entire duration of the current law (since 1996). - And as a matter of being, this should never have been given space over the past decades!

  That said, it is not only the whippers and tormentors of these horses on the tracks and during training that over the years have acted illegally in this ugly case. Justifiably, also all other parties permitting such abuse in this country must be considered accomplices in this abhorring matter. Either allowing this to happen with their rules or outside them, they have enticed and encouraged this to take place and to prevail. Each in its own ways (such as offering large prize money, allowing the industry to operate with insufficient and neglected supervision, thus undermining the animal protection law, and allowing too mild a sanctioning policy, not nearly adequate, to prevent this wide abuse of horses from taking place.

   I'm talking here at least about the Finland's Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and its relevant officials, the organization Suomen Hippos and the gambling companies Veikkaus Oy and the now gone Finntoto Oy. But, without forgetting our judiciary (!), I am also talking about our country's numerous governments and their political Ministers of Land and Forestry.

  So, when cobbling together the gambling industry and horse racing, one is inherently promoting and encouraging this systematic and extensive animal cruelty to these horses at the racetracks and in their training, we as citizens have the law backing us in our demand that the connection between the gambling industry and horse racing must be cut, as the mating of

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these two is inclined to generate serious issues of illegality, and goes against our animal protection law and its spirit. Such commercial, prize-attracting and betting-related horse competitions in general must be banned and driven down in our country. (And accordingly, this should happen in many more civilized countries!) - I will soon come back to that law in more detail and to the provisions of the law supporting this demand.

  Latest now it is perhaps worth emphasizing that this harsh critics of the brutal horse racing is, by no means, meant to discourage the hobby of countless enthusiasts, who act in the best interests and for the well being of their horses. The primary purpose of this manifesto is to draw public and official attention to the unthinkingly harsh and cruel treatment of these horses, so widespread worldwide, and to get the operators of the money betting totalizer game and the organizers of the races to clean up their game, by freeing the horses from this highly controversial industry. And until that, to treat them all here humanely.

Drive, drive! – Hit him, Hit him! – Run, Run!!!

 

  But let us take a closer look at the use of that standardized and authorized driving whip (maximum 120 grams, and total length 120 cm) in the harness (trotting) races.

  - Here in Finland the competition rule for the totalizer-races (that follows the international pattern) says e.g: "The horse must strive for victory or the best possible ranking". But in the spirit of the game, the totalizer playing bettors as well as the horse owners - attracted by large prize money - expect that their horses should win or place as second or third, by any means available. Which means, since the driver has the whip with him, he is expected to take it for his help. Which, generally, induces the drivers to push their horses (especially during the last 500 – 600 meters) at top speed, and with painful overexertion and anxiety, to the finish line. Even crippling the horses so they will require long-term care, or will be permanently disabled for life. - If they are not driven directly to their death right there at the track! - Or euthanized by a veterinarian on the spot -!

  In other words, when it seems to the driver/jockey that the speed and strength of the horse wouldn’t be enough for the expected victory and the good prize money without a whip, at the latest the spirit of the game and the pressures from various sides demand that more speed should be sought with the whip he’s got with him.

   This is what the horse owner, looking for a big payout, is expecting, and this is what the bettors putting their money in to the totalizer game are expecting. Because for these people, only that is fair totalizer driving on the track. - Despite the more relaxed rule, the motto on the track - under which the drivers partly drive! - is that in totalizer-racing and horse-gambling the horses "must give their everything".

  - In Swedish trotting talk, this is repeated in unison, and it is also very familiar here. But, unfortunately that "fairness" can not be fair to these horses! And if it can not; in

 

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the case of cruelty, we have to ask, whose interest should come before others? The bettors and horse owners, or of the horses? - This far well-being of the horses has been the one that have had to give way - . - In the gravest of manors - !

  There was a time, when the industry authorities responded to public pressure given by the public, worried about the brutality they had to see on tracks. And that way the previously common, flagrantly brutal culture of whipping and tormenting the tiring horses on the tracks started to seek limits, albeit quite slowly. But when it comes to big prize money, not forgetting the heavy beating of the Swedish horses, (- this was before the big change that finally came into force there on January 1, 2022 -), especially the French, Italians, Australians, British and Americans still whip their horses on the tracks to their hearts content, every day. - And after that they just collect the big prize money, and with a cynical smile pay the ridiculously small fine, set for this most shameful crime against animals and life, and walk out! - And the business goes on as usual!

  But, by saying all that I’m not to say that we Finns would look clean in this ugly matter. - Not at all!

   - Last year ( - this addition is from 2020 -) I watched the large money-prized (120,000 euros for the winner) Suur-Hollola Run 2019 online. And saw how our own, elderly "champion driver" gave his fine Swedish horse his well-practiced, cruel, hard lashes, when coming from the last curve into the finishing straight. - And over the years I've seen a lot of this horse “kindness” from him and numerous others of our driver "champions"!

   - Also the Finlands Trotter Queen 2020, “Ravi Kuningatar 2020” title was grabbed with a long, gross, ugly animal cruelty crime in the last part of the competition - . - There are videos of the starts on the internet -.

   (At that time I wrote 'is seen'. But after this manifesto was finally read in the right places, today we can fortunately say about that soulless whipping of horses on the tracks here and in several other countries, that “was seen”. - The change, what comes to whipping horses on the trotting tracks, has been enormous. And a special thank you from this goes to someone, unknown to me this far, who, flipping this manifesto on to Sweden in 2021, gave a jumpstart to this wave of invaluable change in the industry!)

  - But, as we can see, finding the limits doesn't work for us either. Beyond all the ugly coaching, we see constantly this soulless "hard driving" on our tracks. - Because here too, fines and punishments for the crime are extremely small compared to the large prize money looming in the minds of drivers and horse owners. – In this case, the Queen transgression resulted in a fine of 1.500 euros. Considering, the first prize was 57,000 euros, of course, the fine looks ridiculous! - On top of that, the prestigious title of Queen was awarded to the Finnish mare “Virin Camilla”. -- And those big-prize, special starts are by no means exceptions to that ugly use of the whip. You can see it every day!

 

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  - If I just pick here one as an example: Last night I watched the last half kilometer of three domestic starts on the internet. One of races was for standard bred warmblood horses in Rovaniemi. When the horses of the Race No. 5 were coming down to the home straight, one of those well-known drivers from the north, Mauri Jaara, started to use his merciless whip on his poor horse. - A long series of 10 to 20 hard, brutal, extremely painful blows. And all that for the first prize of just 800 euros! (Rovaniemi 19.3.2021, Race 5). (In the appendix there are more of these lovely examples!)

  - Not only the horse owners and drivers display this skewed attitude and lack of respect for the life of these magnificent, noble animals, but the same attitude is also rampant among the authorities and other groups of actors with vested interest. This soulless attitude with the resulting, terrible practices, must be stopped immediately. Here and everywhere!

   - I know the statistics say that there are more than 80% of the population who support a total stop of all whipping of these horses! So, we can bank on large support for the horses and our cause. - One comes to wonder, however, what are for people those awkward, well over 10% of us, who are for this whipping and tormenting of these horses? We know they are either seriously twisted nuts or seriously misguided, but yet, why so many?

   - And how about the other racing whips? In other parts of the world the whip, used in very popular galloping competitions, is an impact weapon with a special plastic body and has a different shape. In most countries, its (expected!) impact surface has now been spread and padded, but it is correspondingly always at least a third heavier than our 120 grams trotting whip. In the field there is also a terrible percussion weapon widely used which is nearly four times heavier, i.e. weighing one English pound! And with these, too, the horses are beaten into pains and panic with terrifying, tearing blows, so that the horses sensitive skin and muscle tissues (and, as the Australian report here makes us to assume, very often the ribs too!) are damaged.

   - One can not but be horrified by the marks, exposed from under the skin at a slaughterhouse, or photographed in connection with necropsy, the investigation of the horse's cause of death. - The blows causing extensive bleeding at the impact areas can not be but very, very painful for these sensitive animals!

   It has been a serious loss for these unfortunate animals that, as a result of their evolution, they cannot, like dogs would, yell and shout out their fear, distress and pain at that horrible treatment they face in our hands. - Because it is largely this lack of scream, why it is so hard for us humans to notice and understand the pain, terror, fear and anxiety of these horses, when they are forced to run under the whip, torment and thrashing during the races. - And in their hardhanded training!

  But this is how these, into helplessness scared animals are being treated and mutilated, in the name of “sports” and betting. Worldwide every day in hundreds and thousands of starts! Thousands and thousands, hundreds of thousands and millions of hard, unforgivably terrible blows!

 

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And that breeding!

 

  The ignorant hard faces at the stables and in the betting arcades say that those horses are bred to withstand the hard and tough training and competition treatment they face as race horses. But, as a matter of fact, that is not true at all! Instead, it is far too much for them.

  - Or what else would show those shocking statistics of injuries, illnesses and deaths of these horses of the industry? – For example, in the USA alone, 1200 racetrack deaths per year! (See Appendix p. 25.) - And that is only the track deaths at the races! Not included the unaccounted deaths of them in their hard training!

  Of course this carnage cannot be acceptable for the amusement and pastime of the few emotionally poor and disabled spectators and money bettors! - Of course not, if the matter is still under control of our civilized and organized societies!

   We hear talks of breeding horses to make them faster, but how can we ever use such an extremely cruel breeding method, as is this racing-to-death of these fine, wonderful animals? And let us make this clear to us now: we just don’t need any further breeding to increase speed to these horses!

  - Already now we see that this breeding to seek additional speed to these horses has in some ways gone seriously wrong.

   Let’s just look at the large in number, extremely fast breed of English thoroughbreds. Their lungs cannot keep out bleeding (often severe, i.e. fatal) at their full racing speed even for a mile! And another problem is that the legs of these horses are too thin and too long, which deformity constantly amputates their front legs in an extremely painful way – and invariably leads to their death through euthanasia. - And of course, the use of competition aimed at breaking speed records as a means of eliminating such breeding deficiencies is wrong. - Even logic says that it only perpetuates the vicious cycle of these disasters.

  - The purpose of our Animal Protection Act is to, also, protect our horses as follows: "The use of a breeding method that may cause suffering to the animal or significant harm to the animal's health or well-being is prohibited according to § 8." And, of course, we must condemn such a breeding method, in which the speed records and whip resilience in training and big-prize races are the criteria! - We just don't need any extra speed from these animals. And this must become clear to us once and for all! - Aren’t there cars and other vehicles for us for more speed, if we wish?

Hand on Heart!

    We see that the plight of these horses needs us and our common humanity. That is, when these millions of horses cannot seek help themselves for their own and their future offspring's dire situation, we, the people, must stand up and ensure that this shameless desecration of life we are seeing in this connecting of horseracing and gambling, will end in our societies.

   This we also owe to the horses. The horses who so helpfully and humbly have served us here in countless of ways over the millennia. Who as our helpers, gave us immeasurable support and security of survival when needed. And who, our lovable companions and enchantingly wonderful cohabitants, with their immeasurably strong impact have helped us to move forward in our own success story.

   In various parts of the world, it has been possible to abolish greyhound racing with its brutal background etc.. Of these I will take one case from North America. And I do this because the article quoted from a Canadian trotting magazine encouragingly shows us the power of the masses of enlightened and determined citizens in these sense and empathy involving, humane matters:

... "should animal rights groups target harness racing [would be our trotting races] because of whipping, the results could be disastrous. If you doubt it, just ask the greyhound industry in Massachusetts. A referendum to end greyhound racing in the state failed in 2000 , but its Backers persevered. In 2008, the public voted to ban the sport beginning in 2010, even though it will mean elimination of about 1,000 jobs."

  When training greyhounds for racing, the trainers encourage the dogs to mutilate and kill (as evidenced by recorded videos) alive rabbits, piglets and other small animals tied to the end of a running pole, until the dogs learn to do that predatory run, and they have enough enthusiasm for it time and time again. And when this became known to the people of Massachusetts, they considered it unacceptable and, consequently, voted to ban the so-called “Sport”.

  - In our fight for the plight of racehorses, it may yet be that we won’t get results overnight. But as a humanist, I must trust that this so-called “Entertainment”, now deeply shameful for all of us, will also be banned in not too distant a time.

Horses don't have the right to vote, but we have!

 

In totalizer gambling linked to horse racing we have going on here one of our civilizing-history’s strangest horrors ever. - We once took a sensitive, wonderful animal from nature as our helper and companion.

 

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  And now we are trampling the value of the lives of millions of these wonderful animals by allowing them to be cruelly lashed and brutally exploited, only to keep this completely unnecessary gambling industry going. And to be humans, now we must strive to end this disastrous tragedy and mess, shaming us all here. – All across the world, where ever there is this horseracing industry for sports, amusement and money betting!

  - In addition to the whip and other tricks, there are countless owners and trainers ready to use even a life-threatening arsenal of medicine and doping drugs in training and competing of these horses. - They take these "lazy poops” and "race rats", that already have been mercilessly driven to their end, and with whips and chemicals once again take the dangerous speeds out from these poor animals.

   - In case of these “lazy” called horses we have to understand, that the “laziness”, now corsely whipped out from them, practically without exception means that these horses would want to try, as much as possible, to protect themselves from getting hurt again. Or from getting into that, already familiar, terrible and life-threatening condition from that overspeed, demanded from them - ! - And I hope and ask now that we stop to think about what I am trying to communicate us about this industry and about these horses. The horses now being put to live their lives under those peoples’ whips and soulless commando.

   These horses don't have a language that we can understand. We have one.

   Women and freed slaves had to fight for the right to vote in our societies. Horses by themselves cannot put up such a fight for their rights. But we can all lend them some of our own democratic voting power and political influence. - So that, when we in our developed societies show our MPs and MEPs, in which matters and how they should represent us, we can start showing them our values and attitudes towards respect for life and animals. Now focusing on these, now thoughtlessly and brutally treated horses. - In other words, we can demand from our representatives and their parties to push in their parliaments and governments, in the EU parliament and in the international treaty tables for a quick end to this shameful abuse of horses as pawns in gambling and betting.

  – Thousands and hundreds of thousands of painful whip lashes daily on the backs and flanks and sides of these sensitive, noble animals for a fun and greedy gambling! What is this? We must start to understand, that we just can't let things like this go on here! - This meaning, we must show our concern and see that this shame and abomination disappears from here. - From Finland, and from elsewhere!

   And in this, for example here in Finland we have our own Animal Protection Act for our support. (- The law expired on January 1, 2024, and was replaced by the, today rather lax and ethically weak “Law on animal welfare", regarding, e.g supervision of the horse racings.)

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Our Animal Protection Act

(This we had.)

 

The first section of the Animal Protection Act defines the purpose of the law.

§1 Purpose of the law

The purpose of this law is to protect animals in the best possible way from pain and suffering.

Section 3 of the law states as follows:

Animals must be treated well and they must not be caused unnecessary suffering. Causing unnecessary pain and suffering to animals is prohibited.

Section 6 of the law states:

Excessive burdening of the animal and unreasonably harsh discipline and training, as well as excessively rough handling, are prohibited. Tying an animal in a way that causes unnecessary suffering is prohibited.

- The underlines are mine.  - And eg. tying the heads and mouths of the horses for racing or dressyr purpose is more often than not, harshly and immensely agonizingly and painfully done for the horses. And as such, is seriously crossing this part of the law. Here in Finland and elsewhere! (Added 21. September 2025.) 

 

  -- As for the necessity mentioned in the law, nowadays these racehorses tend to only have the function of a tool for money betting. They do not have any traditionally necessary operating functions. Instead, they are used to compete for random prize money in races, which, when tied to the gambling, are known to be highly dangerous for their health and well-being. - I say randomly, because "in every single start, even for the best horses, the victory is in the wind". As a certain, now deceased, old totalizer player so aptly said to emphasize the matter. - Even at our umbrella organization of the industry, Hippos it is known that in practice a racehorse as a source of income is reliable and certain for only very few and next to no one. - Acquiring a horse, keeping it, training it, going to competitions, as well as treatment, medication and vet-costs, are most usually inclined to take more from horse owners than it gives them in income. - So, as far as income and keeping in bread is concerned, many and most horsemen are living a bit expensive dream.

   And now the relevant question of values: The systematic infliction of pain, anguish, distress and suffering on horses in races and training; is that and organizing these totalizator races here necessary, or is it unnecessary? - That is, if we think about ourselves: Is, or is not, organizing these gambling games using horses ( - There can be other means utilized for the purpose of this game and fun! - See the appendix.) necessary for us to survive and enjoy ourselves here? - Without which it would be impossible for us, the people, to survive and to find our own entertainment here.

 

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  If we now have to answer this is unnecessary, then how should we proceed regarding the use of horses here as game pieces? Faced with the impossibility of sufficiently protective supervision, ( - the off-track training and all - ), don't we then have to drive down this whole horseracing tied to gambling, as unnecessary?

And if we have to, how could it be done?

Article 16 of the same Animal Protection Act states:

"The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry can prohibit the holding of such animal competitions or other similar events where unnecessary pain, suffering or unreasonable strain may be caused to animals."

  And in case the MMM (some persons in it) would be unwilling to issue such a ban to these horse-torturing races, we can invoke this law and demand the executive state-power to do it anyway.

   This manifesto and its appendix brings out a number of facts that show that connecting the totalizator game to horse racing attracts, encourages and invites horse owners, trainers, drivers and jockeys to cruelty towards horses due to large prize money being offered. In this gambling-linked, high-prize-money-laden, merciless competing and training of horses, harshly coercive means and methods are used, causing the horses a lot of unnecessary serious pain, suffering and anxiety. - Methods like the cruel driving whip and bridles with special shapes, materials and equipment, enhancing the crushing effect of bit in the horse's mouth, as well as the beforehand conditioned signs as shouting, whistling etc. to scare the horses into their full speed and overspeed that now painfully breaks them, invalidates them and kills them in large numbers in the competitions - .

  And, therefore, I now demand, (and I assume, all reputable animal protection organizations will support this demand!), that the horseracing tied to the totalizator game and betting industry, attracting a vast number of accomplices to the cruelty and abuse of the horses, in a grave contravention against the purpose and spirit of our Animal Protection Act, should be prohibited and ordered to be closed down without delay, and forever abolished in our as well as in all other countries.

 

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  - In addition to being unethical, this animal cruelty is clearly against our law, and no institution has the authority to allow this in our country. In a civilized society with animal welfare law prohibiting this, such thoughtless entertainment may not exist and must be run down. - Unless it can be ensured by reliable monitoring and other means that no dangerous and-or harmful health and integrity violating activities will occur to these horses, either in their competing or in their training. - And, as I have already pointed out here previously, this later - from the point of view of these horses fully justified safety requirement - is known to be practically impossible to implement and to enforce.

  Taking into account everything presented here: If our MMM is neither willing nor able to act in accordance with the law and its purpose and spirit, by immediately breaking the link between horse racing and the totalizator game, and by banning and shutting down such horse races, then the Government and Parliament must take charge and get it done.

   Due to the scope and complexity of the issue, rationalization of the termination during the transition period may have to be considered. In that case, the totalizer competitions related to horse racing should be phased out, for example within ten years or by the end of 2035.

Thus every year a certain percentage of the number of horse races in the country and the number of horses to be declared would be removed, based on e.g. the numbers of races and horses in 2021. In addition, this rationalization should be tied to significant improvements of the rules relating to training, racing, holding, treatment and equipment of the horses as well as the compliance monitoring. - Related to this, e.g. racing without shoes, which is well known, serious risk for the well-being of horses, should be banned immediately! Similarly, foals under 3 years of age must be kept completely off the racetracks and not be subjected to the harsh training! And, of course, the full stop for whipping! Meaning that in race any unnecessary whiplash (lash other than necessary to prevent obvious moment of danger from happening) must lead to disqualifying the horse in question from the race.

When embarking on a change, proactive protection measures will be needed to prevent the export of these horses and foals out of the country, to potentially equally bad or even worse conditions and prospects in other countries.

- And in case we would be tempted to evaluate this aspect of horse racing from an employment-economic point of view, I must emphasize that the ugly aspects presented here, related to the corroboration of horse racing and betting, can not be justified by arguing the industry as an employer and creator of income streams. As I have brought up and repeated here: We are talking about highly developed animals like us, and about the systematic, completely unnecessary, severe violence that they are subjected to. And us being a society that considers itself civilized, we cannot deal with this issue as a business matter! This ethical principle, so valuable to all of us, should determine how this issue should be viewed, evaluated and managed here. - Horses are not toys given to us to grymly play with them! - No animal is!

 

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    From the summer 2019 onward I have brought, (also in quite strong emotional terms), to the attention of our country’s governance, i.e. the government and the parliamentary parties, that our current animal protection law had been drafted to also protect the country's racehorses from cruelty and abuse. And that during the entire period of the validity of the law, even though the enforcement of the law has been seriously neglected regarding these horses and their competition and training plight, the law itself became quite progressive in its time (1996). And we, as a civilized country, cannot allow this protection, - guaranteed by this law - to be compromised, even if there may be temptation to try that, when now reforming the law and changing its name.

In Hämeenkoski on November 11, 2019

Gunnar Roth

Updated numerous times.

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(By working day and night on these texts over the long winter I, already an old man. suffered pericarditis, a serious heart decease in summer 2019. Due to the lengthy sickness with open operation and long convalescence period with heavy medications, these texts have had to be worked on and added on, and dated numerous times, all along the years.) 

    This and the 26-page appendix with pictures, illuminating the topic more widely is found in Finnish in this very same blog.

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This translation was first put together in March 2024 with strong help by Frederik Habbe, to whom I owe my utmost gratitude in making this translation possible.

Updated 21.9.2025