Criticism

Organized groups dedicated to protecting animals, such as the Humane Society of the United States and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, target some horse sports with claims of animal cruelty. Horse racing and rodeo are most commonly targeted,^{[citation needed]} due both to their high visibility and to the level of stress and potential physical dangers to the equines involved.^{[citation needed]} Criticism of horse racing and its practices runs a wide gamut,^[vague] however; while some may consider even fairly drastic discipline of horses non-abusive, others may consider abuse to be anything done against the will of the animal in question. Some people may consider poor living conditions abusive, while others might consider riding abusive.
Some behaviors and activities are widely criticized as abusive by people within the horse industry, even if not illegal as a matter of public law, while others are so widely condemned that they have been outlawed at the federal level^[where?] and violations can incur criminal penalties.^{[citation needed]}
In 2009, animal rights group PETA released undercover video of alleged abuses of former race horses at a slaughterhouse in Kumamoto, Japan. The group states that 20,000 horses, including former Thoroughbred race horses, were killed in 2008 in Japan for use as human and pet food