Dear editor,
Response to article published on Monday, April 15: The Aftercare challenge – ‘there is zero reporting back as to how it is spent’
Correct, there is zero reporting back and if there is any transparency into how state-accumulated welfare funds are being proactively spent in NSW, I have been looking in all the wrong places.
However, the issues raised within said article around traceability and welfare of retired racehorses, are not as big as everyone makes out.
Why is it not a big issue? The simple answer - the solution to the problem already exists.
I believe the welfare of retired thoroughbreds can be broken into two categories; 1. Traceability, the monitoring of health and wellbeing of a horse from birth to burial and 2. Rehoming, the re-education and sourcing a caring lifetime owner.
The technology to monitor and trace an animal is already operating successfully in other agricultural sectors. It also appears that with the right commercial incentives, skilled and caring equestrians are willing to take up the challenge of re-education. Admittedly, this doesn’t always guarantee a home but should provide the majority solution, while additional safeguards can ensure that no thoroughbred ‘slips through the cracks’.
Post-race scenes show love and care between a strapper and her horse | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
The welfare issue we face is much broader.
As industry stakeholders, we simply don’t have an appetite to work collaboratively to broker change. Whilst other agriculture industries are out there telling their welfare and sustainability stories with pride, we remain head in sand, happily paying our levies. I am yet to see anything tangible to indicate we are serious about addressing these issues since the Thoroughbred Welfare Initiative (TWI) Report laid it all out in 2021 – Kick Up excluded.
We might ask where all the welfare funding is, but equally, where are all the industry ‘powerbrokers’ whose photos and brands adorn the dust ridden TWI website?
I applaud OTI, MyRacehorse and others for implementing these ‘private’ welfare initiatives, but the reality is, it just promotes further complacency from those who should be more accountable. Unfortunately, these private initiatives, created with all the right intentions, further dilute the prizemoney returns to their owners who are already taxed a welfare levy.
I would argue, any further private welfare levies would be better directed to an industry innovation fund, focused on solving industry issues.
Early starts for trackwork at Caulfield | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
Some might ask, fairly, who am I to pass judgement?
I am an owner and breeder, and more recently, funded and developed a digital booking portal called Breedr.horse. I live and breathe thoroughbred innovation. I’m three years in, and the battle for easier access to data and greater data sharing is still as challenging as it was on day one.
Breedr is one of many products in the market that could easy pivot to make tracking a retired horse automated and very simple.
In layman’s terms, Breedr creates a horse profile, its automatically pulls pedigrees and race records, and then, as a horse moves farms, receives treatments, or is covered by a stallion, the horse profile can be automatically updated.
Any owner/s along the life journey of the horse can request for updates, and if granted by the managing owner or farm, the system automatically updates previous owner’s dashboards. They can add photos and invite people to see the horse. Not rocket science, just data being used efficiently for multiple purposes.
Breedr, however, is not the silver bullet.
The quickest way to a national traceability and welfare program? Take it out of the boardroom and give innovation a clear run at it.
The silver bullet lies in the creation or reallocation of industry funding that incentivises data points such as Breedr to work with the likes of Prism, Inglis Digital, Arion, the Auction Houses etc, to merge data sets and collectively problem solve.
It’s all there!
Tom Seymour | Image courtesy of Breedr
In the three years of Breedr, not a single administrator, board member or committee person has approached or shown any interest in what data I collate or how it might serve to help the industry at large. There is an underlying sense of loyalty and commitment from all the service providers to keep investing in new tools to help participants and improve the health of the horse… but we don’t have anyone that will listen to us let alone create an environment that fosters new ideas and technology.
Again, it cries out to the need for an independent innovation fund.
For those who know me, I am also a very strong advocate that innovation is the key to drive modernisation and foster growth. A more modern industry will form the pathways to attract new workers and new investment, in turn securing the longevity of the industry we all love.
I am willing to acknowledge that some of the personal views expressed here on welfare might be misguided or misinformed. To that, I would welcome the opportunity to be corrected or informed otherwise. I don’t believe I’m an outlier in that regard.
Again, well done to all those enterprises recognising the need for a welfare strategy; I just think there might be a smarter way to achieve the same outcome.
For those with an interest in learning more about what innovation is out there and how it could be applied to both our racing and breeding industry, don’t miss the ‘EQUATE ‘24’ event in Scone on July 2-3. To register your interest go to www.equate.horse.
