Welfare centre: disaster awaits if RoR funding for ex-racehorses does not change

Not one of the horses appearing in any RoR show or parade is unwanted or vulnerable, so why are they spending money on them?

The chairman of the pioneering establishment that became the first in Britain set up solely to care for ex-racehorses has claimed “disaster awaits” if the sport’s official welfare charity is not radically overhauled, with attention switched from staging competitions and towards helping vulnerable horses.

John Sexton, commenting on behalf of the British Thoroughbred Retraining Centre, delivered a stinging appraisal of Retraining of Racehorses, claiming the approach to funding adopted since 2015 had left welfare organisations dangerously short of money.

The BTRC, launched as The Thoroughbred Rehabilitation Centre in 1991, parted company from RoR last year and has become increasingly angry with RoR’s expansion of events that have attracted a significant number of high-profile former track stars.

In a letter to the Racing Post, Sexton said: “According to their policy statement to the Charities Commission, RoR’s aim is ‘to promote the welfare and rehabilitation of racehorses and former racehorses which are unwanted or vulnerable to abandonment, abuse, misuse or neglect, or otherwise in need of care and attention, in particular by means of retraining and rehousing’.

“Nothing there about shows or parades of retired stars of the sport, as popular as they may be with the public. Not one of the horses appearing in any RoR show or parade is unwanted or vulnerable, so why are they spending money on them?

“Not that this would matter very much were it not for the fact RoR has paid for its achievements in promoting the skills of retired racehorses by raiding the pot it ought to be spending on welfare and rehabilitation.”

After claiming direct RoR spending on welfare had dropped from being 100 per cent of its budget to around 30 per cent, Sexton said: “This has had a massively detrimental effect on the charitable centres, particularly following the universally despised contract system introduced by RoR in 2015 with very little warning.

“Contracts were imposed on all charitable centres, setting a rate per vulnerable horse and also setting a limit on total payment, thereby technically putting a limit on the number of vulnerable horses each centre could take. In the BTRC’s case it was 15, even though we were often dealing with more than double that number.

“At the BTRC we need around £450,000 a year, but the maximum RoR payment is one-sixth of that and is £10,000 below what they paid the TRC in 2002. Is that the action of an organisation keen to promote the welfare and rehabilitation of racehorses and former racehorses which are unwanted or vulnerable to abandonment, abuse, misuse or neglect?

“It does, of course, beg the biggest question of all: whether it is right for a multi-million pound industry like racing to rely on charities to look after its former athletes in the first place?”

Sexton added: “Currently RoR have a strategy review under way. It is long overdue, but it needs to be radical and to readjust the balance in favour of welfare and supporting the charitable centres, otherwise disaster awaits.”

In response, RoR chief executive Di Arbuthnot said: “Unfortunately, John Sexton appears to have fundamentally misunderstood the role and value of the competitions that RoR runs.

“In terms of our welfare strategy, RoR’s approach in recent years has been one of prevention being better than cure. Through education and the staging of hundreds of classes and competitions, we have succeeded in developing a genuine demand for former racehorses in the wider equestrian world. For example, over 4,000 former racehorses are registered on RoR’s database as currently active in dressage.

“Without the extensive range of competitions and classes across over a dozen different disciplines many more horses would be at risk of becoming vulnerable.”

Arbuthnot added: “With regard to John’s claim about the allocation of RoR budget, the largest proportion of our 2019 budget, just under half, goes directly to welfare needs and activities. Second career events, including the series and competitions, accounts for a third of our expenditure.

“BTRC’s unilateral decision to withdraw from the funding agreement in 2017 is the reason they no longer receive funding from RoR and remain ineligible to be accredited.”

Sexton also welcomed the ongoing support of the Sir Peter O’Sullevan Charitable Trust and praised BHA chief executive Nick Rust, describing him as, “almost a lone voice in recognising the danger racing is putting itself in with its attitude to aftercare, which has led to him being vilified in some quarters”.

BHA head of media Robin Mounsey said: “British racing’s duty of care to its horses extends well beyond the end of their racing career. The sport is fortunate in that it has a dedicated charity for the rehoming and retraining of racehorses in the form of RoR, and this charity receives significant funding from the industry every year, which helps fund a number of accredited rehoming centres nationwide.

“British racing has recently formed a Horse Welfare Board that has the remit to develop a new welfare strategy covering the whole racing industry. The strategy will look across the whole lifetime of racehorses, before, during and after they leave the sport.

“It is important that any sport which involves the use of animals should periodically look at its approach for how animals who leave the sport are cared for.”

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Reference: Racing Post