Honouring the Year of the Horse should mean more than celebrating a symbol. It should mean asking what real respect looks like in a modern society.
IN Chinese culture, the horse symbolises strength, freedom and nobility. During the Year of the Horse, images of galloping figures fill Lunar New Year decorations and social feeds, celebrating power and grace.
While horses receive paper honours and symbolic praise, real horses are paying the price with their bodies. Across the world, horses are exploited in industries that treat them as disposable tools rather than sentient beings capable of feeling fear, pain and exhaustion.
Nowhere is this contrast more jarring than in tourism and sport – industries that defend cruelty as “tradition” despite readily available humane alternatives.
Near Egypt’s Great Pyramids of Giza, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) investigators uncovered a hidden graveyard where horses used for tourist rides were discarded after collapsing from neglect. Forced to haul visitors in blistering heat without sufficient water or veterinary care, they were beaten when they slowed and abandoned when their bodies gave out. Their suffering unfolded in the shadow of one of humanity’s greatest monuments – a stark reminder that progress is hollow without compassion.
Horse racing presents a similar contradiction. Across Asia and beyond, it is promoted as sport and prestige, yet it leaves a trail of broken legs, stress fractures and premature deaths. Horses are whipped, pushed past their limits, then euthanised when injuries make them unprofitable. Even those who survive the track often face uncertain futures, including slaughter. This is not sport; it is bloodsport.
Peta has urged the International Olympic Committee to remove equestrian events from the Games: there is no way to compel animals to perform dangerous feats for human entertainment without coercion.
Horses do not choose to race, jump or endure training that can leave them with bleeding mouths, shattered bones and chronic stress. Modern Pentathlon has acknowledged this reality by removing horses from its competition. The Olympics should do the same.
Honouring the Year of the Horse should mean more than celebrating a symbol. It should mean asking what real respect looks like in a modern society.
The good news is that compassion and progress are no longer at odds. Innovation has made cruelty obsolete. Cities worldwide are replacing horse-drawn carriages with electric alternatives that offer the same charm without forcing animals onto hot pavement, into traffic or through exhaust fumes. These options are safer, cleaner and reflect the future modern cities claim to embrace.
When cities choose animal-free attractions and ethical tourism, they send a signal that progress does not require victims. Ending the use of horses for entertainment affirms values of empathy, responsibility and leadership that transcend borders.
As the Year of the Horse unfolds, societies should align symbolism with action – retire horses from racing, reject animal-based entertainment and support innovation that reflects values rather than outdated habits.
Xiru Ong
Malaysia campaign coordinator
Peta Asia
The Sun Malaysia
