In the wake of recent horse deaths, The Jockey Club has a new program for the welfare of the horses. The equestrian community is still reeling from the death of horses at the Saratoga Racecourse and Sonoma County Fair, in light of which, the equestrian body announced a program to improve the traceability of retired racing horses.

There also have been concerns voiced about the fate of retired racing horses suggesting that those horses end up being easy targets for kill pins. Despite, having a running program called the Thoroughbred Incentive Program where retired horses are given for adoption by the club this new project was formulated to increase the reach of the program and tracing effort.

Equestrian Body’s new program for retired horses

At the 71st round table conference on matters of horseracing, the equestrian body announced its plan to trace retired horses which will involve the breed registry and digital certificate managers. The new program of the jockey club will work to trace horses foaled in 2017 or earlier and whose current status is unknown. This will exclude the horses given for adoption under Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance.

The program aims to find the status of horses who are not actively racing or breeding and were not officially registered as retired from racing. It also includes horses who were not exported, reported dead, and do not have a Thoroughbred Incentive Program number. Speaking on the new horse welfare program the senior counsel at the club, Kristin Werner said, “Owners are reminded that they can, at any time and free of charge, update ownership information with The Jockey Club through Interactive Registration and should report deaths to the registry in a timely manner“.

The breed register will start with the last traced connection of the horses and the digital manager will provide details of the horses whose status is unknown. The move is to give the equestrian community signs of serious effort and create faith in them about the program and its process.

Equestrian Body’s present process

The equestrian body’s present process provides the status of the registered horses.  At present there is a system of issuing digital foal certificates for foals born in 2018 or after. The system will highlight those cases of horses but their status isn’t officially registered. The owners are required to give the latest updates about the horse on the system. The status could be dead, breeding, retired from racing, auctioned, or adopted. Post their response the digital manager will proceed and send them a message about the further process depending on their selection.

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The system will also catch cases where the owner fails to respond and then the aftercare process could be started in that case. The breed registry made the process of transferring a horse as retired from racing through digital signature. This online process of transfer will help in tracing those cases where the horse has been put on a second career and put back for training.

The new program is an effort to improve the system, better trace the horses, and be updated about their status. This will help in better care and welfare of the equine athletes.

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