,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out-of-date, with the last 'News' or Blog Post being months,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
