ONLY GOOD CAN COME OF THIS.

​This week the ridiculously expensive Racing Post is highlighting Horse Welfare and the progress that is being made by the powers-that-be to improve the life of the thoroughbred from cradle to grave. Let’s not beat about the bush, The Racing Post must be commended for travelling a road that maybe ten years ago they would have avoided because their readers might have thought the topic ‘nothing to do with them’, when in fact it is of importance to all of us. It is on the sword of horse welfare that our sport might founder in years to come. The B.H.B. should also be congratulated.
In an article by (sir) Alastair Down – the honour is conferred by me, though as she must read the Racing Post one can only hope Her Majesty will recognise his contribution to racing and literature and rest the ceremonial blade on his shoulder sooner rather than later – on Carrie Humble, the founding mother of racehorse rehabilitation in this country, we are reminded of the disgrace that hit horse racing flat in the face with the appalling neglect of Hallo Dandy, the 1984 Grand National winner. Carrie Humble rescued the horse, returned him to health and he became the flagship of Thoroughbred Retraining.
I am a naïve sort of person and believed that anyone blessed by the good fortune of owning a Grand National winner would take their responsibilities seriously and ensure the horse was happy and cared-for in retirement. I was shocked this was not the case and it made me question Gordon Richards and Neale Doughty as, again naively, I thought they would want to make certain for themselves that their hero was in good health. 1994 was the year I discovered to my horror that to some people the horse was only a vehicle to personal success. The scales fell from my eyes the day I read about Hallo Dandy and since then I have believed that respect for the horse should be key to every element of the sport. From foal to retirement.
The B.H.A. and its director of equine health and welfare should be praised for the research work they are conducting, especially as it will be in-depth and given the proper consideration. This is no knee-jerk reaction to either bad publicity or the demented wailing of those opposed to our sport, though, as the Princess Royal said in her piece that accompanied Alastair Down’s article, perhaps we should reach out to these people and regard them as ‘critical friends’ rather than a threat to our way of life. They are in many ways a mirror that reflects what may go unrecognised by those of us who through over-familiarity with the status-quo of our everyday accept as normal that what might have room for improvement.
I doubt if a forced break for horses that have fallen will do much for horse welfare, though perhaps if every faller is assessed by a vet before it is allowed to return home injuries might be flagged up sooner, with perhaps a compulsory veterinary certificate of soundness required before it is allowed to run again. It should be the same for any horse that pulls up on the flat. But it can only be applauded that the B.H.B. is not only researching this issue but is prepared to reject the proposal if the facts dictate it do so. This is not a publicity exercise.
It’s brilliant that fatality and faller rates have dropped by a third in twenty years, especially as there must be far more racing now, and I hope it is a similarly good news story with regard to serious injuries.
I remain unhappy with hurdle racing as the potential for a hurdle to swing while horses are jumping, for a horse to put a leg through the hurdle, is unfair and potentially far more dangerous than an open ditch or water jump. Why we have not switched to the brush hurdle is beyond my comprehension. National Hunt is the only equine sport where a horse is asked to jump a fence that is not secure and padding the hurdle does not, to my mind, go far enough. I would love to know what jockeys think of brush hurdles, whether they prefer the traditional hurdle. It is fascinating that horses cannot see the colour orange and if a colour for padding can be found that horses can see it could easily reduce fallers and fatalities even more.
When I first started writing to the racing papers about my concerns on horse welfare the response of the powers-that-be was that once a horse left a licensed stable it was no longer the responsibility of racing but the sole responsibility of its owner. It demonstrates the progress that is being made that such a stance is no longer the official line and that racing as a whole has the responsibility to ensure horses are treated with respect and dignity whether they are mere foals or old warriors pensioned off to a life of ease. I also tried unsuccessfully to rally bookmakers to linking the Grand National with raising money for horse charities, suggesting they might have charity boxes in betting shops. Not one reply.
This sport is nothing without the horse. No stone should be unturned to ensure we do not have to bow our heads in shame at the treatment metered out to horses whether in-training or out.