Letter to the Editor: A Unique Opportunity

Last week, the 40th Asian Racing Conference took place in Sapporo, Japan. You may ask what relevance that has for anyone with horses in Continental America or Europe? The answer is many owners and trainers today play on the global stage. As an extremely small owner and breeder, even I have horses in the U.S., Ireland, England, France, and fractional ownership in Australia. And what do we all do first thing every morning? Read the Thoroughbred Daily News, and many listen to the Nick Luck Daily Podcast. In doing so, we have a rough oversight of what is happening in our industry on a daily basis. Sometimes word filters via 'bush telegraph' from countries outside the U.S. long before it ever hits media sources.

I'm sure there are perhaps other industries as globally connected, but I can guarantee not to the same extent, and this makes this industry unique. The connectivity of the Thoroughbred industry affords us the opportunity to manage information, to market, to publicize, to promote any message. Do we recognize this? Do we utilize this? NO. Why? Because we are all too siloed, too busy paddling our own canoes, too fractionalized to work together for the greater good of our sport and business.

The chairman of the Asian Racing Federation, Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, spoke of racing's social licence and “the challenge of how we as an industry are seen by people who are not in racing.” The International Forum for the Aftercare of Racehorses (IFAR), whose one-day conference preceded the Asian Racing Conference, did much to place the topic of aftercare on the minds of those in the corridors of power of racing jurisdictions around the world.

There has been too much bad press on the subject on what happens to Thoroughbreds when their racing careers are over. Sadly, this is not unfounded, and it does need to be exposed, but unfortunately we as a collective have failed miserably to address this situation. Yes, great strides have been made in the last 15 or so years, but it is only since the inception of IFAR that the topic has been addressed uniformly. The organizations we have are brilliant, and are a gallant attempt to stuff the dike. They are a base from which to work to develop a model we can be proud of as an industry, and not a stopgap.

We all know racing's social licence is wafer-thin. We know our fan base is diminishing in not all countries, but most. There are a gazillion marketing strategies out there with ways to attract a new and younger audience. The issue is the majority of the younger demographic today has no reference to horses, and has probably never even seen one in real life. Horses are about as relevant to them as dinosaurs.

What we do have in the Western world is a mental health crisis, be it children with ADHD, learning issues, social anxiety, depression, isolation; adults who are the victims of domestic abuse, alcohol or drug addiction, PTSD, veterans, prisoners or those battling suicidal tendencies. The field of Equine Assisted Services (EAS) is one which has expanded exponentially over the last 20 years, to where today, many governments around the world are now helping to fund various EAS programs which are proving to be so much more effective than any recognized form of therapy or medication. The fact that EAS is changing lives is possibly one of the best-kept secrets of the 21st century.

Today, there are a number of EAS programs using Thoroughbreds, and we are discovering that the Thoroughbred is ideally suited for this type of work. It is not a given, however, that this could be an avenue for many of our retired racehorses, as outside of the Thoroughbred community, our industry is viewed by many with suspicion and distrust. We are certainly not held in high esteem outside of our bubble. But we could be, and we could be leaders, IF instead of each paddling our own canoe, we come together collectively to promote the work being achieved by our retired racehorses engaged in the various models of EAS around the world.

Not only could we inform, but we could reach a huge swath of the population and connect them to these magical creatures, creating an understanding of the bond which has existed between horses and humans throughout the centuries. Guarantee you wouldn't be finding articles in the Daily Telegraph titled “Should we be riding horses?” any more.

Call EAS an olive branch to reconnect this industry to the rest of society, or carry-on selfishly banging your own drums proclaiming all the good you all individually do. (FYI, it's not working.)

It's time to do better. We have an opportunity to create meaningful change, but this will not happen until organizations and corporations come together to work jointly to the same end. I have asked the world's auction houses to facilitate information on the many different modalities of EAS programs available. I now ask the racing and bloodstock media outlets if they would be prepared to do so? And whether the world's racecourses would take a look at programs such as Abijahs currently in operation at Canterbury Park with a view to replicating something similar.

We are a global community. It's time to begin acting as ONE, and not as individual fiefdoms, if we are to survive as an industry.

Suzi Prichard-Jones is an owner/breeder, and the author of 'Byerley, The Thoroughbred's Ticking Time Bomb.' She is also founder of the Byerley Turk & Godolphin Arabian Conservation Project.