system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5:Do horses know they're racing?

I've been told that when they win they're spoiled with apples and treats and stuff, but how do you teach competition to an animal? how do you make it understand that it is supposed to go faster than the one in front of it? how do we know they're not all just running together and wondering why the little guy on top of them is hitting them so much?
gpt
A racehorse usually doesn't need to be taught competition because they're born with it. Over hundreds of years people bred horses to be very fast, aggressive, and competitive. 

Does this mean they understand when they've won a race? Not really. But they definitely want to show the other horses that they're the toughest and fastest. In fact, sometimes the jockey has to actually slow his horse down, because otherwise the horse will run too fast too early,  and get exhausted and lose the race.