In Defence of Horse Racing

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Around three hundred years ago three stallions made their way from the sun- baked Middle East to the grey shores of Britain. Known by the names of their owners, they were the Darley Arabian, the Godolphin Arabian, and the Byerley Turk. Today every single thoroughbred alive can be traced in direct male descent to one of these stallions. You may be able to marry a place in Burke's Peerage, but the Weatherby's stud book is closed.

Amongst those descendants you will find racehorses and polo ponies, hunters, show horses, eventers, happy hackers, dressage horses, show jumpers, stunt horses, field companions, side- saddle hacks and jousters. No other breed can claim the same diversity of talent. And all of these animals owe their very existence to the horse racing industry and those who breed racehorses. Without them the entire equestrian scene would be completely different; and without the incredibly talented thoroughbreds of yesteryear Britain would have significantly fewer medals for eventing.

Tomorrow is the Grand National, and as expected, newspapers are already running opinion pieces on the race, and on racing in general. This one in particular caught my attention, mostly because of the comparison with bull fighting (interestingly there is no reference to the Spanish activity in the main body of the article).

I won't disagree that racing can be a dangerous sport (for horses and riders). Nor will I deny that there are problems with end-of-career care for racehorses. However what the writer fails to understand or explain are the many initiatives now in place to improve racing welfare, or the care and attention that racehorses receive both from staff in the racing industry and the people who choose to take them on as competition or riding horses when their career is over.

Retraining of Racehorses is a fantastic charity that does a huge amount to both market ex- racehorses and help those who have taken them on. At major race meets across the country it organises parades of former racehorses, demonstrating the tremendous potential of thoroughbreds to excel in all disciplines. It runs competitions for a range of disciplines to reward ex-racehorses that are excelling in new careers. And they run demonstrations and camps to help riders get the most out of their new horses. Their website is full of advice for re- schooling thoroughbreds off the track and they have produced additional material via DVD (I have one of these, Bluey won it in an RoR competition).

"Of course it's not just during the Grand National that horses are treated as little more than replaceable inventory."

The above is a quote lifted from the article. The writer also makes a point of critiquing the Grand National because so few horses finish. If horses really were replaceable jockeys would push them around the course to finish by any means necessary. They don't. Jockeys pull horses up for the horse's welfare

.Just last week I was volunteering at the local point-to-point. There were a large number of horses entered and paid. On the morning of the race the going was heavy after a night of heavy rain. I spoke to a lady who had a horse entered and asked if she had declared her filly as a runner that morning. She hadn't. The filly hadn't raced before and they wanted her to have a good first experience. Three horses were declared. Had they run the filly there was a good likelihood that she would have been placed. Instead they left her at home, at the cost of the entry and a day out for her connections. She will race again on a day with better going.

Within racing yards racehorses are treated better than the vast majority of riding horses. Their nutrition, health and welfare are at the forefront of their training regimes. They want for little. Stable staff are widely known for the care they lavish on "their horses"; few people would take on such a challenging and financially unrewarding career for any reason other than real concern for racehorse care.

To say that these horses are dispensable is truly heartless

.The whole article reeks of a lack of understanding of the racing industry. I don't like to slate writers but this piece (and the footnote mentioning corrections that had to be made) strongly suggests that the writer sat down and dashed off copy with little or no research.

When horses come out of racing there are real concerns. Possibly official protocols need to be put in place for the best practice for the treatment of horses that are judged physically or temperamentally unsuitable for another career after racing.

At one point there were justifiable concerns about over- production, but the recession hit home and the global foal crop has reduced.

"And while deliberately hurting an animal is prohibited in many other circumstances, riders at the Grand National are actually required to carry a whip."

What can I say? A whip is not there to hurt a horse. It is not there as a punishment. The whips carried by jockeys are strictly regulated; they cannot go to the local tack shop and buy the same sort of whip used by your average Pony Clubber. Within a race there are restrictions as to how many times the whip can be used. Jockeys who flout this rule are given riding bans. Riding bans= loss of income= loss of opportunity= bad for career.

WHYYYYY was somebody allowed to write and publish a sentence so poorly researched?

Racing as a sport is in the public eye. The Grand National will have been a subject of discussion in offices across the country today as people who don't know a fetlock from a forelock place their annual bet. As a result it is always going to be scrutinised, and when this results in safer races, better welfare or better opportunities it is a good thing. The racing industry is after all a huge generator of income in the UK.

Polo is rather lucky that it is largely a minority sport, as I would hate to see what mainstream journalists with column inches to fill have to say about ride offs.

I have owned ex- racehorses for eight years. I will never deliberately choose another breed. Partly this is because I believe the equine industry owes horses coming out of racing a duty of care, and partly it is because I think thoroughbreds are the most talented, beautiful and intelligent of any breed. And I am not alone.

Silver Blue has now been out of the industry longer than he was in it. In his time with me he has competed to Open level in affiliated endurance, appeared on television, paraded at Newbury racecourse, been photographed for a charity calendar, spent three years at university and been re-trained to carry a side- saddle. At times the process has been challenging and several times it has looked like his riding career would come to an end, but ultimately he has overcome every barrier and is today a fantastic ambassador for the adaptability of the thoroughbred.

In a field of horses he still races. With no encouragement from me he will swerve and swoop through the crowd to reach his place at the front. He jumps for fun- riding side saddle I have little ability to stop him running out to the right and it can be difficult to push him into a fence. When given the choice of jumping a rail or following his friend around it he chooses to jump the rail. Racing is ingrained in him, six years after his last race he is still fighting to be in the front. Even coming from a Flat racing background he wants to jump.

While there are horses who have their lives cut short, or fail to thrive in new careers, there are thousands of cases of horses who have gone on to have second lives that have far surpassed their first.

I don't have the answer to completely eliminating horse deaths in racing (impossible- they also die eventing, hunting, showjumping and cantering around a field) or guaranteeing a happily ever after for all racehorses, but I do think that no good would come of banning horse racing.

Just lots of opportunities lost.