There is still much left to be improved in the horse racing industry. In my opinion, these are some of the things we could do:

1. Implement training programs that better prepare the horse for racing conditions in order to help reduce the incidence of fracture in racehorses. Nunamaker (2002) devised a training program that includes short bouts of high-speed exercise early in the regimen, which would make training similar to running an actual race. Nunamaker suggested that this would reduce the incidence of damage fatigue.
2. Switch tracks from non-turf surfaces (dirt/synthetic) to turf. Countries that use turf tracks, like the UK and Australia, have a reduced risk of catastrophic injuries when compared to the US, where dirt and synthetic tracks are more common [2].
3. Enrich the environment of the stalled horse. Foraging devices designed to get horses to work for their food would allow the horse to spend more time feeding, like it would if it were being fed roughage. It has also been suggested that putting mirrors in stalls gives the horse the illusion of a larger environment, as well as a new “friend” to socialize with [3].
4. Regulate drug policies in the North American horse racing industry so that they come more into line with those that are in place around the rest of the world [4].
5. Appoint a central governing body that has the ability to implement and enforce consistent rules across the country. To me, this is the BIGGEST problem the North American industry has, and all the other issues stem from this. In the US, there are 38 individual state agencies that operate under the Association of Racing Commissioners International (RCI); however, the RCI has no authority to implement and enforce any changes that they would like to see in the industry [4]. I really think that having one national regulatory body, to oversee all these critical issues, and to be able to do something about them, would really help to improve the welfare of these animals.

Sources

1. Nunamaker, D. M. 2002. On bucked shins. Annual Convention of the American Association of Equine Practitioners, 76-89.
2. Clarke AF. 2009. Review of safety of turf versus non-turf (synthetic and dirt) racing surfaces. AAEP Proceedings 55:183-186.
3. Houpt, K.A. and Waran, N. 2003. Horse Welfare since 1950. Pages 207-215 in The State of the Animals II (A.N. Rowan and D. J. Salem, editors). Humane Society Press. New York.
4. Allin, J. 2011. The Chemical Horse: Drugs in Horse Racing. International Fund for Horses. Available at: http://www.horsefund.org/the-chemical-horse-part-9.php. Accessed: April 1^st, 2012.