Industry Info

The Life Of A Race Horse

Retraining

After racing the best males will become stallions and the best females will be selected as broodmares. The majority of racehorses do not go on to perform stud duties after racing. However, unless there is some serious problem, ex-racehorses normally have many years left in them. Ex-Flat racehorses especially are still young in terms of physical development and experience, as they tend to hang up their racing plates before they reach 10 years old.

Jumps racehorses tend to finish their racing careers at an older age than Flat racehorses. They are typically larger animals, bred for stamina rather than speed, and often they will have more experience than ex-Flat racehorses.

In the majority of cases, owners and trainers take a great deal of time and trouble to find suitable new homes for racehorses leaving their care. Thoroughbreds are versatile, highly intelligent creatures who are used to having human contact.

However, the athleticism and temperament of a Thoroughbred racehorse does not immediately lend itself to a second career, so retraining by a competent person is often required.

Retraining of Racehorses Charity

The Retraining of Racehorses(RoR) is a charity established in 2000 whose aims are, first, to raise funds within Racing to provide and maintain facilities for the reception, care, retraining and re-homing of former racehorses and, secondly, to raise the profile of ex-racehorses within the wider equestrian world in order to promote their adaptability to other equestrian pursuits and, thirdly, to work towards achieving an equilibrium between the demand for ex-racehorses and the number of horses leaving racing that are suitable for a second career.

There are three centres currently supported by the RoR. All three centres are clear in their objectives which are to re-school and re-home ex-racehorses. These centres are the Thoroughbred Rehabilitation Centre based near Preston in Lancashire, Greatwood Retired Racehorses near Marlborough in Wiltshire and Moorcroft Racehorse Welfare Centre in West Sussex. Details of the centres and other retraining centres as well as other information about the charity can be found on the RoR website www.ror.org.uk

An objective of the charity is to promote former racehorses in other sport horse disciplines. In general thoroughbreds have an even temperament, are athletic, versatile and highly intelligent and with the right care and retraining, a former racehorse can be extremely rewarding. Many have gone on to be very successful in Eventing, Dressage, Show Jumping, Showing, Endurance and Polo or are simply hacking around the countryside or are happy in the hunting field.