Proponents of the Horse Race
Horse racing is one of the oldest sports, and has evolved from primitive contests of speed or stamina between two horses into a sophisticated spectacle involving huge fields of runners, sophisticated electronic monitoring equipment, and immense sums of money. But the basic concept remains the same: The horse that crosses the finish line first is the winner. While some horse races are contested on dirt or turf, most of the major horse races are held on a synthetic surface known as an artificial track.
The race can be a short sprint or a long distance run over flat terrain. The shorter races, which are commonly referred to as “sprints” in the United States and as “routes” in Europe, usually require fast acceleration. The longer races, which are referred to as “stamina tests” or as “staying races”, typically involve a great deal of endurance.
A horse’s gait determines its speed and endurance. The “pacing” gait is the most common for thoroughbreds, and involves a rhythm that causes the front and back legs on the same side to move in unison. In order to prevent their joints from becoming too stiff, pacers wear hobbles. This type of gait is slower than the “trotter” gait, which has a different pace and rhythm. The trotter is the most economical of the two types of gaits, as it requires less effort to maintain the same speed as a pacing horse.
For a sport that attracts wealthy spectators in fancy outfits and sipping mint juleps, the world of Thoroughbred horse racing is a grim place filled with injury, drug abuse, gruesome breakdowns, and slaughter. Horses used in the sport are forced to run at speeds that can cause serious injury, and often endure whipping and illegal electric shock devices. The race industry is also rife with corruption, as horses are sold to new owners without full disclosure of their injuries. Many of the injured horses end up in a slaughter pipeline, where they are gassed to death.
Proponents of the horse race say that it can serve a variety of other organizational purposes. For example, by allowing several highly skilled executives to compete for the top job, an organization signals that it values its people and will hold leaders accountable for their performance. Furthermore, if the process is done well, it establishes a culture of leadership development by developing future executives through a series of critical roles that give them the competencies and seasoning needed for senior management positions. When this is the case, the horse race can provide a source of motivation for employees who see themselves on a path to the executive suite. However, critics point out that a horse race can lead to an environment in which top management may become too protective of their own people and fail to challenge them enough. As a result, the organization can lose momentum and miss its business objectives. When this happens, the organization must reassess its leadership processes.
Horse racing is one of the oldest sports, and has evolved from primitive contests of speed or stamina between two horses into a sophisticated spectacle involving huge fields of runners, sophisticated electronic monitoring equipment, and immense sums of money. But the basic concept remains the same: The horse that crosses the finish line first is the winner. While some horse races are contested on dirt or turf, most of the major horse races are held on a synthetic surface known as an artificial track. The race can be a short sprint or a long distance run over flat terrain. The shorter races, which are commonly referred to as “sprints” in the United States and as “routes” in Europe, usually require fast acceleration. The longer races, which are referred to as “stamina tests” or as “staying races”, typically involve a great deal of endurance. A horse’s gait determines its speed and endurance. The “pacing” gait is the most common for thoroughbreds, and involves a rhythm that causes the front and back legs on the same side to move in unison. In order to prevent their joints from becoming too stiff, pacers wear hobbles. This type of gait is slower than the “trotter” gait, which has a different pace and rhythm. The trotter is the most economical of the two types of gaits, as it requires less effort to maintain the same speed as a pacing horse. For a sport that attracts wealthy spectators in fancy outfits and sipping mint juleps, the world of Thoroughbred horse racing is a grim place filled with injury, drug abuse, gruesome breakdowns, and slaughter. Horses used in the sport are forced to run at speeds that can cause serious injury, and often endure whipping and illegal electric shock devices. The race industry is also rife with corruption, as horses are sold to new owners without full disclosure of their injuries. Many of the injured horses end up in a slaughter pipeline, where they are gassed to death. Proponents of the horse race say that it can serve a variety of other organizational purposes. For example, by allowing several highly skilled executives to compete for the top job, an organization signals that it values its people and will hold leaders accountable for their performance. Furthermore, if the process is done well, it establishes a culture of leadership development by developing future executives through a series of critical roles that give them the competencies and seasoning needed for senior management positions. When this is the case, the horse race can provide a source of motivation for employees who see themselves on a path to the executive suite. However, critics point out that a horse race can lead to an environment in which top management may become too protective of their own people and fail to challenge them enough. As a result, the organization can lose momentum and miss its business objectives. When this happens, the organization must reassess its leadership processes.