Dr Lydia Tong, a University of Sydney forensic veterinary pathologist researcher, has been studying the skin thickness of horses and comparing it to human skin.
"We found that, actually, there seem to be more nerve endings in the piece of horse skin, which was a big surprise,” she told SBS.
“In addition, this idea that the horse's skin is thicker and so they are more resistant to pain was a little bit debunked because the very top layer of the skin, which lies over the pain sensing fibres, was actually thinner in horses than it was in people,” she said.
Dr Tong suggests there are “no neurological or anatomical reasons” to believe racehorses experience pain any differently to humans.
Past research has indicated whipping has no effect on a racehorse's speed on the track.
'Violations go unsanctioned'
There are allegations violations go unsanctioned, and what would constitute animal cruelty off the racecourse is being overlooked on it.
Elio Celotto from the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses hopes Dr Tong's study will be a step towards eradicating whipping other than to control the racehorse.
"I'm not sure what more the racing industry needs to know that we don't already know that clearly these horses are running out of fear, and it's time that the racing industry changed the way they use their whips,” he told SBS.
But the Australian Racing Board says there are restrictions on how padded whips can be used on racehorses.
CEO Peter McGauran is satisfied with the way industry rules are enforced, and regulated.
He told SBS that, over the past 12 months, stewards have penalised on fined jockeys on 570 instances.
Mr McGauran estimates that to be 0.03 per cent of the 197,000 horses in competition.
“We will enforce the rules even more stringently, but jockeys have already adapted to the new regime and overall there is compliance,” he said.
Dr Lydia Tong plans to further expand her study into racehorses’ pain response.
