Nuffield #10 He Jumped Out When A Moose Got In His Pen
Canada’s strict biosecurity rules meant that I was barred from farms for the first few days of my trip, so Monday and Tuesday were put aside to focus on the non-cow strand of my scholarship; racehorse aftercare.
It might not be an obvious connection, but dairy and racing have many shared challenges, and its my belief that both industries can learn from each other in the constant push to maintain social licence and ensure that animals are managed as ethically as possible.
A sleeping foal at Highfields Stock Farm
My first visit was to the HQ of the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society who oversees racing in Canada- I visited their Alberta branch in Calgary. My undergraduate degree took us to Kentucky to learn about the American racing industry, and also covered racing in France, but the Canadian industry wasn’t one I knew a lot about, so it was great to start with an understanding of racing in Canada.
Canada only has Flat thoroughbred racing. Like America the vast majority of trainers are based at tracks. Most racing is on dirt, with a few notable turf tracks. In the winter horses travel south to race in the warmer climate of America; most of those in Alberta head to Arizona while those in Ontario will go to Kentucky. The dirt tracks are also shared with Standardbred trotting horses, which I’ve found is always lurking in the background when it comes to the ethical issues of racing, overshadowed by thoroughbred racing which has to balance a higher profile with greater public scrutiny. There is also a small Quarter Horse racing industry, and all three sectors pool their betting takings.
Equestrian Canada oversees racing as well as the other equine disciplines, but in reality there is little integration between the two. This is one of the areas where racing and dairy are similar. Racing relies on the wider equine industry to demand and to take on the horses that can no longer race, but there is a gulf between the two. Dairy relies on the beef industry to demand and to take on calves that (by dint of being male or half beef) cannot be miles, but there is a gulf between the two.
The thoroughbred industry and the Standardbred industry are working together to secure government funding for an online database to aid traceability. Their registrations are already done online, and they will implement microchipping to sit alongside it. Traceability is obviously an area where agriculture is miles ahead of the equine industry; while both have mandatory passports in the UK, there is no central database for tracking movements (compared to the British Cattle Movement System and compulsory reporting of movement) and it is quite possible for horses to exchange hands without the change of ownership being notified to the passport issuing body. For ex racehorses this is a challenge across the world, as there is no way to follow horses once they leave racing. There is however an argument that once they have their first home post-racing, subsequent changes of owner and treatment are outside the power of the racing industry and so no longer its responsibility. However, knowing what happens to horses is key to effective aftercare as by knowing the treatment and fate of horses steps can be taken to ensure that they are matched with the right homes and that new owners have the right skills and resources to care for them.
Off the track thoroughbred ready for a new home
Racehorse aftercare in Canada isn’t overseen by one central industry aligned body. Instead there are many groups across the country that promote thoroughbreds, incentivise new owners, and work to prepare racehorses for new careers. One of the challenges they face is that to obtain charitable status- and be able to raise money through donations- they have to be “rescuing” horses, something they clearly are not doing. It reinforced my firm belief that we have to move away from this narrative of rescuing racehorses. Not only is it blatantly untrue in most cases (all three of my ex racehorses for example were bought for cold hard cash from racing yards where they were adored) but it also reduces ex racehorses to helpless charity cases rather than extremely attractive and athletic animals with huge potential as leisure and competition horses.
Creating a demand for ex racehorses isn’t a priority in Canada. The declining North American foal crop means that there are far fewer horses around, and those coming out of training are snapped up. A sound horse leaving racing- and because it is 100% Flat with no market for point-to-pointers etc these horses are usually aged 3-6 years old- will fetch 4500 Canadian dollars. They are seen as hugely aspirational and really the breed that horse owners aim to own. The challenge they face is novice riders getting hold of horses- or people who don’t have the means to look after them. Alberta is in the middle of a massive drought and hay is scarce- and with this climate horses have to have supplementary feed in the winter.
“It’s like handing someone who’s just passed their test a Ferrari”
Mare and foal
The challenge of aftercare in Canada revolves around ensuring that the right horses get to the right people, and subsequently they receive the right treatment.
The demand for them is across all disciplines, but the most novel for me were probably things like pistol shooting from horseback (really) and the phenomenon of chuck wagon racing. This is a popular spectacle at the Calgary Stampede, but unfortunately has had televised catastrophic injuries. This then feeds back negatively on racing. Public perception of racing is largely positive, but they do have a potential threat from the continued use of Lasix to treat horses with Exercise Induced Pulmonary Haemorrhage, a drug that is banned in the UK.
I was also told that there were individuals within the industry that reflect badly on it with what they perceive as standard practices; an issue that again is shared with dairy. Trainers in Canada sit a licence exam, but they do not have to undergo any mandatory training courses, and the vast majority have no formal education in equine physiology or nutrition.
Mare and foal accommodation
Standardbreds have their own approach to aftercare. Horses that never make the track are put into a performance pathway and pushed into leisure homes, while those coming off the track are in demand by Amish communities. As these communities will use different horses for roles such as general transport and transport to church on a Sunday, they require a lot of horses!
The other thing of note around the structure of racing is that each province sets its own legislation and licences, and the industry is very closely linked to gambling. Sponsorship for races is rare, so almost all purse money comes from betting. This money also funds breed society support. Betting both on and off track is contracted out, with different proportions of the take coming back into racing. Any racecourse has to have an affiliated casino, and Alberta caps the number of slots that can be in the province, which caps the number of racecourses. Entry to racecourses has generally been free- although that might change- and they are not usually places that attract family audiences due to layout, the number of races on the card, and lack of between race entertainment or options.
More lovely foals
I was shown around Highfields Stock Farm- where the stallion Fed Biz stands- by a really interesting woman who has horses in training and mares for breeding in Canada, America, and the UK. She is heavily involved in aftercare and I also met the rider who takes on all of her retiring horses and prepares them for new careers. There was a lot of emphasis on natural horsemanship techniques which I really liked to hear about as they have become integral to how I handle my horse.
Her current project with aftercare is to establish a new programme in Alberta, which will link new owners with horses coming off the track, but also use established centres to prepare horses for new homes and rehab any that have injuries. CTHS told me that while some new owners will approach trainers directly, others are intimidated so having a programme that can match riders with suitable horses is really important.
The declining foal crop in North America has been attributed to economic factors- breeding horses is expensive and often non profitable. The requirement for live coverings means that mares often have to travel very far to see stallions in a country as vast as Canada, and I also picked up on restrictions on modern reproductive techniques like embryo transfer making thoroughbred breeding less attractive, An ageing demographic, urban drift, and demand for Monday to Friday and 9-5 careers were also put forward as reasons for the decline. As a result CTHS is trying to encourage people to breed thoroughbreds. Interestingly I was told that sports horse breeders are using thoroughbred stallions on their mares after years of focus on warmbloods.
Access to labour was another challenge that is shared with agriculture. Racing in Canada has no standardised wages like the UK- trainers and studs pay what they want/can and it isn’t a lot. Coupled with long hours and weekend work, it isn’t attractive to the average Canadian, especially when urbanisation takes people away from horses. Losing seasonal worker access from Mexico has further depleted the pool of available workers.
Gorgeous hospitality at Highfields
As well as seeing his foals on the ground I watched Fed Biz cover a mare. It was the best time of the year to visit as there were foals absolutely everywhere, the youngest ones in stables with outdoor pens with their mothers, and the older ones in paddocks and field shelters with other mares and foals.
Highfield is a gorgeous and well run place and an idyllic location to be a mare or foal. Although there was loads going on- including a dressage clinic when I visited!- the horses were all peaceful and calm and had access to outdoor space. A great showcase of the industry.
At the end of the day I was taken for a quick tour of the stallion barn at Bar None Ranches, a highly diversified business which includes thoroughbred breeding and pre-training, rehabilitation, recipient mares for Standardbreds, Quarter Horse stallion management, mare boarding, arable farming, hop farming, and a new venture of tilapia farming! I didn’t get much time there but it was a very impressive place.
Several of my host’s retired racehorses were based on the farm ready for their new careers, as well as a two year old colt who was having a break from training at the track in Edmonton. It was one of these former horses I was told had jumped out of his pen… because a moose got in. Sadly I didn’t see a moose.
I am hugely grateful to CTHS for helping me arrange visits, meeting me in Calgary, putting me in touch with my chaperone, and to Highfields for being such generous and interesting hosts. As always it was brilliant to speak to people who share my unshakeable belief that the thoroughbred is the greatest breed on earth!
