Corruption
The equine industry has been notorious for having corruption involved just like with any other industry. Most of the corruption that comes from the equine industry has come from the horse racing world and the show world. When Lauren was asked to define the equestrian community she said, “A little bit corrupt. I would not say necessarily here (Lexington) but most of the show horse world and race horse world is.” Corruption in the equine industry is something that is well known. In the racing world it is not common to hear that a race horse tested positive for a drug that is illegal. In the show horse world there is also corruption with trainers paying off judges to make sure their students win their class and trainers giving their student’s horse tranquilizer to make them more manageable. The reason why all of this is occurring is due to the money that can be earned and that this industry is really all about money. This is further proven why Laruen Nethery said, “Money is the reason why. There is a lot of money to be made in the equestrian industry.” While observing I did not see any corruption out on Lauren’s farm. For the most part, she treated her horses like they were made of glass. Most of the trainers involved in the industry want to take care of their horses due to them being their money making source. There are trainers who are corrupt and will use any methods to make sure their horses’ perform well. While corruption is very obvious in the equine industry there also tends to be a problem with sexism.
To learn more about racing corruption click here.
To learn more about horse tranquilizer click here.
To learn more about racing corruption click here.
To learn more about horse tranquilizer click here.
Sexism
A common preconception with this industry is that the only people really
involved with the equine industry are females. However, that is not true
there are more men involved in this industry than females and many
females struggle to break into this industry. Sexism is something that is
also seen in the business world. There are females that hold very good
jobs, but they are only paid 80% of what a man would make (Wilman, 2010). The equestrian industry also has
problem with sexism. When I was talking to her about corruption in the equine community, she made sure to
draw attention to the problem of sexism. Sexism in the racing world is something that Lauren, wanted every
female about to enter the racing world to know. She shared her experience of sexism when she was a female
jockey. She said, “I never had really experienced a whole lot of discrimination being a woman in another field
like high school or other jobs. I worked for UPS briefly before I decided I wanted to work with horses and it
was very equal opportunity employer. There is no equal opportunity in racing. They do not care. There are
ten male trainers in New York I can name off the top of my head that will not hire female jockeys. It is really
hard being a woman in the racing industry.” When I began to ask more about the discrimination of female
jockeys she told me that in New York, there were a total of three female jockeys and that all of them struggled
to find work due to their sex.
To learn more about sexism in the racing world click here.
