Cross Breeds

What do wild horses do if they break a leg while racing another wild horse?

Is there another wild animal around to shoot them? I don't understand how this precedent was set.

Public Comments

1. Wild horses don't race each other
2. they don't race. some times they chase each other. and if one breaks a leg, it's likely he'll get bitten and kicked, and eventually starve, or die of thirst. but then, wild horses are made of much sturdier stuff than thoroughbreds, which would never survive in the wild.
3. First of all, wild horses don't race each other. What happens is that in most cases the horse dies a slow, painful death or is eaten by a predator. The precedent of shooting race horses that break a leg was set because we are racing them for our amusement and entertainment. At the very least we can put them out of their misery if they sustain injuries that cannot be healed.
4. There are many way s a horse can break a leg. Just like any other mammal. If the break is bad, the animal could get caugth by a predator. Young horse do fall prey to mountain lions. Usually an injury to a wild animal is a bad thing.
5. An organism in the wild that suffers an injury is likely to die without human intervention. A horse that breaks its leg in the wild will be a victim of predators such as wolves, no gun necessary. This happens everyday in the wild. Organisms that get hurt have a high chance of death.
6. Horses that break a leg in the wild die. The reason a domestic horse is euthanized is simply because of the way the blood circulates through its body. Horses rarely recover from broken legs. Barbaro was a horse a year or so ago that broke a leg during a race and his owner spared no expense trying to save him. He hung on for around a year but ultimately was euthanized because of the pain he was in and other complications. Even with the very best medical care, horses just do not recover from a bad break, even if you don't plan on using them for racing. Here's an old article that explains a bit more about why broken legs typically spell doom for a horse: http://www.slate.com/id/2142159/
7. For most wild animals, such a serious injury as a broken leg usually spells death. Most likely it will be singled out by predators and killed, but even if it is not, it is unlikely to recover as the leg will not be set, meaning the bone cannot heal (or at least not heal normally). Infection is likely to set in and this, combined with the shock to the system of such an injury, will kill the animal. Some social animals have an advantage here. Wolves, for example, will feed and defend injured pack members, allowing them the possibility of recovery that is denied to other species.