Q. Which horse sport is by far the largest, has the most following and spends the most amount of money?
A. Thoroughbred racing.
Q. Which sport will you find the most prevalence of a poor standard of horsemanship?
A. Thoroughbred racing.
Billions of dollars a year are spent on breeding, training, nutrition, and veterinary care of racehorses each year in Australia. It is one of the largest employers of any industry in the country. In 2017-18 it generated $1.4 billion to the Australian GDP and people wager over $15 billion annually.
The question that goes around and around in my head is if horse racing is so important to both the national economy and to the horse industry, why do people in the sport not demand the very best in horsemanship from trainers, handlers, and jockeys? Why is it okay that racing contributes over 25,000 deaths to the total number of horse deaths per year in Australia (let’s not even mention the number of serious injuries)?
For the most part, from the day a thoroughbred is born until its career is over, it is treated like it is gold-plated. No expense is spared on its nutrition and vets and physical therapy and boarding and farriers etc. Huge sums of money are spent on surgery to correct conformation faults.
However, when it comes to training, short-cuts are the order of the day in the majority of stables. Priority is given to making a horse accept a rider and load into a truck and into a barrier. And even then it is a really poor standard of training that the average non-racing horse person would not accept. That’s why so much of my business as a trainer was educating ex-racehorses to be riding horses. It was extremely rare to see a racehorse that came straight out of racing that was safe or emotional and psychologically fit to be a riding horse.
Even if you don’t give a hoot about the welfare issues that surround an industry that exploits 2-year-olds and widely uses what I believe to be cruel and abusive practices, there are financial reasons to invest in the best horsemanship training money can buy.
Imagine how few accidents there would be if racehorses were trained to be emotionally comfortable and mentally fit. Imagine how much longer their racing life would be if they were trained with straightness and balance in mind to stay sound and healthy. Imagine how much better they would fare if there was a connection (and they were more responsive ) with the jockey and the handler. Imagine how improved their post-racing life would be if they were trained to be riding horses first before they became racehorses.
Photo: This is Rogilla who won the Caulfield Cup, Sydney Cup, Cox Plate and many other big events from 1932-35. He was trained by my mother’s uncle, Les Haigh and earned over the equivalent of $45,000.
The industry has the money to invest in better training, but they don’t have the will. Requiring racehorses to be better trained would not ruin the industry or money interests. It would not destroy anyone's livelihood to require that racehorses had 12 months of good training as regular riding horses before being trained to race. A whole new industry could spring up of trainers who took racehorses for pre-training on trails, to gymkhanas or working cows or dressage or novice jumping or ponying polo horses or pack trips, etc. I believe if this were done well it would be a huge plus for the horses and the industry as a whole.
I realize this is an unrealistic proposal. The industry has a very long history of resisting any reforms and they have the political clout to make sure their barbarism and lack of care are allowed to continue. But when I am made emperor of the universe, racing will one of the first things to be banned (along with vegemite :)).
PS: Before those that don’t agree with me accuse me of not knowing anything about the racing industry, let me assure you I know it very well. My family has been in the industry for generations - from breeders, trainers, jockeys, owners, and bookmakers. I know it for what it is and not for the glamour some people believe it to be.