Ex-racehorses on Trainers' Websites

,I've been helping a friend research the history of her ex-racehorse - ( Racing Post is always a good place to start!) - and ended up spending lots of time delving through the websites of various racehorse trainers. A couple of things struck me.

First – considering that horseracing is a mega-million pound industry with a lot of high-flying high-achievers involved in it, one way or another – it 's amazing how disappointing, and sometimes downright wonky, many trainers' websites are. Sometimes they are creaky, DIY freebie versions with lots of typos. Even more professional ones are often difficult to navigate, and frequently do not provide the information you would really like. (A bit of consumer feedback might be helpful there!)

And so often the sites are badly out-of-date, with the last 'News' or Blog Post being months, sometimes years, earlier. Some trainers – even some very high-profile ones – do not have a website at all. (Perhaps they feel they do not need to bother with on-line marketing and publicity? ) Probably much of this is down to racehorse trainers, and their staff, being racehorse-trainers and horse-handlers, not techies. Ah well...

The other thing I noticed was that some trainers, often the smaller ones, clearly take a keen interest in the lives of their horses after they leave racing. These trainers will have a specific page of their site, sometimes a very extensive one, detailing the activities of their former charges. In sections with titles like 'Where are they now?' or 'Old Friends', there will be photos of ex-racers lolling about in fields, canoodling with kids and dogs and bunnies, and doing lots of good stuff in their new careers – showing, hunting, showjumping, teamchasing, polo, even sidesaddle demonstrations in fancy-dress. It's heartwarming to see, and it certainly shows just how versatile and adaptable ex-racehorses can be, given the opportunity.

It also shows that trainers do have a heart! Some of the ones I came across were obviously very proud of how their ex-inmates had succeeded in their new lives. And, these trainers seemed to think it was important to let people know that they took considerable care to re-home their retired racehorses appropriately. After all, as British racing likes to say, “It's all about the horses”. And these days, when many more people are concerned about caring for animals than perhaps used to be the case, it surprises me that more trainers don't publicize their achievements in successfully re-homing their ex-racers. Apart from anything else, it would be great PR for the industry. Also, if a trainer is proud of his re-homing record, it seems fair to assume he takes care to get it right and do the best for the horse, by choosing the 'right' new home. Therefore, he would probably be a good trainer to approach if you are seeking an ex-racehorse and want to know the full truth about it - including whether you could handle and ride it safely.

Of course, a regularly up-dated 'Where Are They Now?' section on a website would take a certain amount of office-time to keep up to – but surely not that much? No doubt for the really big trainers, who keep two hundred horses at a time and often have a high turn-over rate, it might be almost impossible to keep track of all the retirees. But then, these Big Boys have dedicated administrative staff – and techies – who surely could give it a bit of input?

And, obviously, the updates would rely upon the new non-racing owners feeding back to the trainers on how the horses were progressing. In my experience, this has a feel-good factor at both ends. Many trainers are delighted to receive the occasional update on a horse they once trained. ( I'm talking perhaps once a year, or occasionally when the horse has achieved something outstanding. Start sending weekly chitchat and you will soon be heavily de-Friended!) And for an ex-racehorse owner to see a picture of their happily-retrained Boy or Girl on the website of a racing trainer can be quite a thrill.

I think it's something all ex-racehorse owners should support, and encourage!

Here are some of the sites I found with lovely pages where trainers proudly show their re-homed horses.

Ruth Carr                 www.ruthcarrracing.co.uk

Robin Dickin            www.robindickinracing.org.uk

Micky Hammond      www.mickyhammondracing.co.uk

Alan King                 www.alankingracing.co.uk

Philip Kirby              www.philipkirbyracing.co.uk