Mike Cattermole speaks to Roly Owers, chief executive of World Horse Welfare, about what he thinks some of the pandemic's lessons for racing are.
The effect of Covid-19 has given, and will continue to give, the horse racing industry challenges on so many fronts.
It’s not just the many thousands of people who work in the industry who face an uncertain future. So, too, do the horses themselves.
While the debate continues about when is the right time - and how - to try and resume racing in this country, the charity World Horse Welfare has expressed concern about the “grim consequences” for some horses which could end up as surplus to requirements.
World Horse Welfare is British-based but has a big international influence as it works across the full spectrum to improve the horse-human partnership.
World Horse Welfare is and never has been anti-racing. Quite the contrary. It works with the BHA to promote responsible horse sport and part of the funding it receives each year comes from the Peter O’Sullevan Charitable Trust.
When racing does resume here in the UK, there is bound to be a massive over-subscription to the races on offer, even though the BHA is attempting to work closely with the training fraternity to determine which type of races would be in most demand.
While racing is about to start again in countries such as France and Germany, many trainers are worried that horses could leave their bases in the UK to be given opportunities to race elsewhere.
More seriously, further down the line, when the fallout from Covid-19 is clearer to us all and we anticipate a significant economic downturn, this will have an obvious effect on the racehorse population and both the British and Irish racing industries.
The main issue will lie with those who tend to race at the lower levels, are owned by people with lesser financial resources and trained by those who may be facing some hard questions concerning the future of their chosen way of living. Many will face the prospect of losing their business.
For these types of horses, the market is extremely limited and the possibility of healthy horses being euthanised is a genuine and horrifying one.
Roly Owers, chief executive of World Horse Welfare, says: “Now, more than ever, we are likely to see the grim consequences of the sport not being able to sustain the current number of racehorses.
“Overproduction has always been a root problem, even in good times. For some, there is a tolerance of ill-considered breeding which inevitably results in too many poor quality horses.
“The system simply will not be able to cope with a significant increase in the number of horses leaving racing and many end up at risk of falling through the cracks.
“The core message of the charity is responsible breeding and we have an opportunity now to start as we intend to move forward and look at ways of reducing breeding that is not in the best interest of either the sport or the horse.”
There are approximately 14,000 horses in training in the UK and around 5,000 of that number are retired each year, and replaced by the new arrivals, the yearlings and two-year-olds.
In 2017 (the most recent year I have figures for), there were 4,778 foals born in the UK from mares covered by registered stallions (169), whereas in Ireland the figure was 9,689 from 251. That’s a total of 14,467 foals.
World Horse Welfare believes that a way could be found for a financial incentive to reduce breeding stock, starting perhaps with retiring ageing mares who have not produced a winner.
Owers added: “There is a golden opportunity now to take a look at the real health of racing. How do we want to emerge from this?
“We must all look out for each other, recognise our responsibilities to each other and to our horses and fulfil them. We must not be afraid of making compromises along the way if we are to survive and indeed grow.
“Those thoughts permeated the strategy of the report from the Horse Welfare Board in February and so much of that is fundamental to how racing adjusts itself now to emerge as the sustainable industry it wants to be after the pandemic.”
He concluded: “World Horse Welfare will continue to work with the BHA and others in racing to adopt both a practical and compassionate approach to horse welfare that considers both the short and long-term effects of our actions.”
