Focus on welfare: The aftercare challenge - 'there is zero reporting back as to how it's spent'

Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything

In October 2019, the ABC ran a story on its current affairs program 7:30 alleging mass cruelty to former racehorses in abattoirs. Unsurprisingly, ‘The final race’ sparked horror among the general public and industry participants alike. With the industry already subject to anti-racing backlash, serious intervention was required which included plans for national horse traceability reforms and revised state equine welfare strategies.

Although progress on national horse traceability reforms appears to have stalled, all Principal Racing Authorities (PRAs) have taken steps to establish rehoming frameworks, emphasising second careers for retired racehorses.

Racing NSW states that it provides private retraining or retirement options, while other states partner with independent recognised retrainers and sponsor competitions to promote retired horses.

Racing NSW allocates 1.5 per cent of prizemoney to its equine welfare fund, while Racing Victoria dedicates 2 per cent and other states deduct between 1 - 2 per cent.

Racing Victoria discloses its welfare funding allocations the Equine Welfare Strategic Plan, with between 30 - 15 per cent dedicated to specific initiatives in post-racing programs, veterinary and welfare operations, reducing risk in racing, and reputation/education funding. In the Racing Victoria Annual Report, the number of horses completing retraining programs is listed, with 435 finishing the program last year.

Rehoming figures are not disclosed by Racing NSW, nor is the distribution of the equine welfare fund.

Options for increasing demand

This lack of transparency becomes particularly concerning in light of the negative perception not only in the public but also within equestrian participants, which poses substantial hurdles for finding new homes for retired racehorses.

David Catlow, Managing Director of British Horseracing's official charity, Retraining of Racehorses (RoR), emphasises the critical importance of addressing welfare concerns post-racing, especially in light of the distressing revelations brought to light by consumer perceptions of welfare in British racing.

“The retirement of horses is one of the primary concerns alongside injuries, deaths and concerns on the track. And of those people who name welfare as a reason to ban horse racing, 52 per cent cite the treatment of horses after they retire from racing as a concern.

“Out of the results of the latest surveys, 51 per cent of equestrians have concerns about the welfare of the horses that puts them off horse racing as opposed to 41 per cent of the general public.

“So, (British) equestrian riders have more concerns about racing than the general public”.

A recent survey by Equestrian Australia identified increasing costs and declining participation in equestrian sports, posing risks to the organisation. This trend raises broader concerns about the impact on the rehoming of retired racehorses.

Tasracing's Chief Veterinary and Animal Welfare Officer, Dr Martin Lenz, emphasises the importance of combating such concerns by stimulating demand for retired racehorses through sponsorship and advocacy of the thoroughbred.

“Our role at the moment is to try and stimulate demand for off the trackers. So the way we do that is to approach all the different equestrian sports and have them think about putting on OTT specific classes to try and make the OTT horse stand out”.

Jamie Stier, Racing Victoria’s (RV) Executive General Manager of Integrity Services, highlighted RV's commitment to supporting retired racehorses through sponsorship of its Off The Track program. Stier emphasised the importance of monitoring the active participation of retired thoroughbreds in these events, indicating RV's ongoing dedication to promoting and supporting equestrian activities for retired racehorses.

“This financial year, we have had over 2000 retired horses enter equestrian events. We monitor the participation throughout our off the track horses so that we can continue to drive and support equestrian activities. Nowhere is immune to the financial landscape and it's something we're conscious of and we continue to monitor and we'll strive to limit any impact that it has.”

An initiative aimed at increasing demand for retired thoroughbred racehorses from Racing NSW is Equimillion. This competition offers a minimum of $1 million in prize money exclusively for retired thoroughbred racehorses. It includes 40 classes spanning various disciplines like eventing, jumping, dressage, and show horse.

Shenae Lowings, a prospective Australian Olympic Eventing rider, has first-hand experience with Equimillion, having competed in last year's edition and winning the EVA 95 Open eventing class riding the former Chris Waller-trained five-time winner Yiyi (No Nay Never). Lowings spoke highly of the program and has observed an increase in demand for retired racehorses following the inugaural event.

"I've noticed an uptick in demand since Equimillion, which is great. People obviously want to have a horse that is eligible for Equimillion."

As NSW's rehoming and aftercare program is privatised, there is no support offered for independent retrainers like Lowings. Nevertheless, she is willing to absorb the costs for the long-term benefits of the horse's future.

"I looked into funding a few years ago, but it was more prevalent in Victoria, and New South Wales has private farms, so I've handled it all myself, really."

"It's definitely something that I've always done and will continue to do because I think it just gives them a great boost, a chance of a new life, and it's also a bit of a fun process. You learn a lot from it."

"I've had quite a few (thoroughbreds) in the past that I've rehomed, and some that I've kept. Being involved is really good, especially now that we've started our own breaking and pre-training business, Woodlow Equine. We see quite a few come in, and then we keep in contact with the trainers, and they usually let us know when they've retired."

Racing Queensland has another unique initiative, providing new owners of retired racehorses ten free lessons across a range of areas including feeding and nutrition, general care, groundwork, behaviour and ridden components.

The inside line

Leading Victorian acknowledged retrainer Louise Abey has retrained numerous retired thoroughbreds through Racing Victoria’s Off the Track programs however admits increased costs, dwindling support and demand for retired thoroughbreds is making rehoming increasingly challenging.

“It's tough at the moment placing horses. I have been involved in a lot of Racing Victoria’s programs and they've had some terrific initiatives, including the RESET program as well as the Racing Victoria’s grants programs, which we were lucky enough to get a couple of grants from that helped get us started”.

Funding provided by Racing Victoria’s RESET program provide direct support for horses that are sound and have good prospects but have not been successful in transitioning to a second career outside of racing.

“In the past, horses like that just wouldn't get picked up. We've had some really good horses come in, and because they had maybe 12 to a program, it meant that we got paid. We took them to rallies, we took them to shows, and could do a really, really solid assessment of them.

“We’ve had two come through the RESET program that have gone on to Riding for the Disabled out at Western Port, which is really cool”.

However, despite the benefits of funding from programs like RESET, it often isn’t enough, compelling retrainers to shoulder the majority of costs of spelling, assessment, and rehoming horses from their own resources.

“The grants helped assist me with wages, and that meant that I could get another rider and it did get us going. But with the cost to correctly spell and correctly assess a horse, there's always been a gap”.

Assuming proactive steps, Abey collaborated with dedicated retrainers Lyn Shand and Lisa North to establish the charitable organisation 'Beyond Racing'.

“We were lucky enough to get a few grants through the charity to provide a subsidy for the costs of retaining and helped bridge the gap, I think we put nearly 100 horses through the program at about $3,000 per horse.”

While charity support like Beyond Racing provides some reprieve, Abey remains concerned about the difficulty in finding suitable long-term homes for retired racehorses, particularly those that don't fit traditional criteria or may pose challenges for inexperienced equestrian riders.

“The hard bit is finding suitable homes that don't get six months down the track and say, oh, it's really expensive having a horse, can you have it back?”

Many thoroughbreds have a better chance at a positive future when correctly assessed and rehomed, and we need better funding for this. To help address these challenges, Abey believes that improved transparency regarding a horse’s historical health, veterinary records, and behaviour can assist retrainers in placing the horse in an appropriate home.

“The more transparency, the better job we can do and the better it is for the horse and for the whole industry,” Abey emphasised.

“There is often a misconception within the industry that the 2 per cent taken out of prizemoney to the Equine Welfare fund is all spent on racehorses when they retire, and because of this, owners can be reluctant to financially support their horse once they finish racing.

“The Equine Welfare funds thoroughbred horses during their racing career as well; a large part of this is committed to the horse while they are still racing including injury prevention, raceday vets, traceability etc.

“Clear information about who is responsible for the horse on retirement, and what that may look like is a great start.

“I think we can improve this area with accessible pathways for owners, and that will help bridge this gap, and the more they can stay connected with their horse the better for the horses and the industry as a whole.”

Dr Lenz of Tasracing compliments these suggestions by ensuring that the assessment period is robust, highlighting the importance of appropriate funding for retrainers to conduct thorough assessments.

“We talk about a utilisation rate, trying to prove that there's less horses that fall out of the system early. But, at the end of the day, the challenge is to try and rehome every horse that is re-homeable. And I think one of the first things we've got to try and get better at is making sure horses are actually assessed and for their suitability”.

Private initiatives

The industry is fortunate to count on forward-thinking individuals who prioritise aftercare for retired racehorses. Renowned syndication company OTI is at the forefront of this effort, ensuring horse welfare remains a top priority in its business.

In response to concerns raised by the 7:30 Report exposing the dark side of horse racing, OTI's Chief Operating Officer Terry Henderson collaborated with passionate thoroughbred enthusiast Campbell Wansbrough to establish a sustainable equine welfare program within the business. Juggling his university studies and part-time work at OTI, Wansbrough manages the comprehensive program, guaranteeing ongoing support for every horse under the OTI racing team's care for the duration of it's life.

The OTI Equine Welfare Program operates on two fundamental pillars: the tracking register and the welfare fund.

The process is simple, as Wansborough explains: “Every horse that we sell, $2000 out of the revenue that we generate from the sales goes into a welfare fund. So effectively when owners are buying a share in a horse, a small portion of that sales revenue is going into this fund to then be utilised for our retired horses and can be accessed whenever we need for a range of different purposes for our retired horses,” said Wansbrough.

At the heart of the program's success lies the efficient tracking register, which enables complete lifetime traceability of horses associated with OTI. New owners are required to provide updates every six months on the horse's well-being and whereabouts, ensuring transparency and accountability.

“We send an agreement form to the new owner and they agree to give us updates every six months, on how the horse is going and should the horse be moved on elsewhere; they're required to let us know and pass on those details,” explained Wansbrough.

Henderson emphasises the simplicity and effectiveness of OTI’s equine welfare program, advocating for a similar scheme to be implemented industry-wide.

“The thing that I couldn't believe is how easy it is to operate. It's focused on two things, the care of the horse and the tracking of the horse. And we seem to get carried away when we get into the bureaucracies within the industry of doing all sorts of other things.”

“I think that there is no reason in this modern day, why every horse that goes into a retirement program shouldn't be tracked. And we can then track it properly and apply responsibility to whoever is responsible to do it.

“It’s very frustrating for a business like OTI to have large deductions now come out of stakes money and there to be zero reporting back as to how it's spent.

“I think we'd all be far more supportive of the industry's welfare programs, if we could see how that money was applied for the benefit of the horse and the benefit of the overall industry.”

Sustainable racehorse ownership

Similar to OTI, micro-share syndication company MyRacehorse is leading the way in equine welfare initiatives, implementing crucial measures to safeguard their horses beyond their racing careers.

“We wanted to have quality control instead of leaving it into the hands of governing bodies. Owning 30 new horses every year, is going to add a lot of horses under our colours and under our banner, so we just wanted to create sustainable racehorse ownership as horse racing is just at the start of the career for a lot of horses,” said managing director Ben Willis.

To achieve this, MyRacehorse established the Horse Super Fund, which collects contributions from each micro-share purchase. Additionally, the company matches these contributions, creating a pool of funds available for retired horses at the end of their racing careers. Moreover, MyRacehorse has launched a merchandise store called Mane Street, with 10 per cent of the profits directed toward the Horse Super Fund.

Partnering with Jennifer Krawczyk, former Equine Welfare Manager at Racing Victoria, MyRacehorse takes proactive steps in forecasting the costs associated with transitioning racehorses to secondary life.

“We've averaged out that it's going to cost about $7,000 per horse to set them up for a post racing transition, but some will be less, some won't cost at all, some will be more.”

Regarding ongoing monitoring, MyRacehorse conducts audits every six months to track the current and former horses' status, ensuring transparency and accountability. However, challenges arise with horses owned in partnership, especially during online sales where control over their fate is limited.

“The messy part, I guess, is when a horse goes through an online sale, especially the ones that we didn't have majority ownership of, because we didn't have control over what happened to them.”

Despite these challenges, MyRacehorse remains committed to tracking retired racehorses comprehensively. Willis echoed Henderson's advocacy for industry-wide funding of aftercare, proposing a simple funding solution.

“It should be something as simple as, after you buy a horse from the sale, a welfare tax gets added on, and then that gets bundled by Magic Millions or whoever you buy it off.”

What is the solution?

Acknowledging the significance of traceability, support for retrainers, and boosting the appeal of thoroughbreds in leisure riding through sponsorship, it's essential to acknowledge the need for funding to drive these initiatives forward. Financial limitations present the most significant hurdle to advancing efforts aimed at enhancing aftercare outcomes for thoroughbreds.

David Catlow, advocating for increased funding for RoR, proposed an interesting strategy of small transactional contributions at high volumes as a potential solution.

"We know that approximately 5 million people attend racecourses every year. If the ticket price, currently at £25 (AU$48), were increased to, let's say, £25.50 (AU$49), would that deter racegoers? If even a small portion, like 50p (AU$1), were allocated to horse welfare and aftercare, could this be a selling point?"

While this solution is viable, it's important to emphasise that the responsibility should not solely rest with our audience. Trainers are committed to providing a positive experience for their owners, both at races and stable visits. However, it's equally important to educate owners about the process of transitioning horses out of the racing industry and this should be advocated for at the start of their journey to reduce any element of surprise.

As industry participants one thing is for certain; we all have a role to play in this process and accountability belongs to all.

If you know of leadership or innovation shown in the aftercare space, please reach out to editorial@ttrausnz.com.au and share it with us.