A number of Britain and Ireland's leading experts in equine welfare and thoroughbred retraining met for the inaugural Behind The Bridle seminar, an event specifically designed for addressing wellbeing in horses.
The event took place at Newmarket's Rowley Mile Racecourse and featured a panel of six industry specialists who led discussions on a number of topics ranging from preparing racehorses for retirement and retraining to the importance of properly trained staff to the wellbeing of the thoroughbred.
Co-host Richard Phillips said, “The panel were absolutely brilliant. We had James Ferguson, Newmarket trainer, discussing welfare and wellbeing of horses, along with Dr Rachel Annan, who is an expert in racehorse behaviour. We were also fortunate to have Therese Murphy from Equi-Ed, talking about how we educate racing's people, along with Andrew Braithwaite from the British Racing School, Anna Kerr from The National Stud and Diana Cooper from Godolphin all bringing their own perspectives.”
He added, “As well as being very experienced, they were all fascinating about the subject matters and wanting to find ways to ensure we move forward and explain that we can improve horses' welfare and wellbeing. The premise of the session was to share ideas and to start the conversation – it's really important that this is very much the beginning of conversations, not just a one-off event.”
The event, organised by The Jockey Club, was designed to bring together leading industry voices to explore how focusing on the wellbeing of the thoroughbred can support performance and improve their long-term welfare and suitability for retraining and life beyond racing.
Philips added, “There were so many different organisations in attendance. The conversation around wellbeing and welfare is so important and whether that's a difficult conversation or perhaps it makes people feel uncomfortable, it's a conversation worth having because we're all here for the same reason, it's for the good of the thoroughbred.
“Retraining Of Racehorses were there along with HEROS, a great retraining centre, with the Levy Board, Horse Welfare Board and lots of people in the room asking questions, talking about the very same subject. It is a fascinating subject and there's so much good work going on
“We've improved the thoroughbred in so many ways as well. We've made a lot of progress to make their lives better but we can always do more. To share those ideas is always fascinating and inspiring.
“I think basically we're all on the same side – the whole industry wants to come up with as many good ideas as possible and listen to other people's ideas, come up with research and also show the public how much we do to make sure that a horse has a great life.”
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