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Equine Welfare

Reducing the risk of injury to racehorses on track is a significant challenge to racing jurisdictions world-wide and welfare is a core pillar of the IHRB Statement of Strategy. To this end, the IHRB initiated the Equine Injury in Irish Racing Risk Reduction (EIIRRR) Project to determine, analyse and mitigate risk factors for racing-related equine injuries in Ireland and to identify opportunities to improve safety for our horses and riders.


Furthermore, new standards for racecourse trot-up areas have been funded and, in many cases, installed. There has been an implementation of an evidence-based risk assessment for raceday injuries which includes engagement with trainers and vets before previously injured horses can return to racing, while as has always been the case, the IHRB Clerks of the Course also work closely with racecourses to ensure that the track is presented on raceday in such a way as to minimise risk of injury.




The Project’s findings have led to an enhancement of the IHRB’s raceday equine veterinary inspection programme to include examination of horses in the following risk categories: 

  • Horses aged seven or over in Flat racing races and aged 10 or over racing over jumps in National Hunt races 
  • Any Maiden starts in horses aged seven years or over 
  • Any horse that fell on its previous start 
  • Any horse which has run within the last seven days 
  • Any horse that has not had a race start in the previous 365 days
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Equine Injury in Irish Racing Risk Reduction Programme

View the report here

In October 2024, the IHRB hosted a seminar on 'Preventing Bone Injuries in the Thoroughbred' as part of our commitment to equine welfare and safety, to support relevant research and operationalise finding and implementing best practice in the management of raceday equine injury.

 

 For further information regarding any of the details contained in the report please contact the IHRB Veterinary team via [email protected]

John Oxx, Chairman of the IHRB Veterinary and Equine Welfare Committee and trainer of 35 Group One winners, including of course Sea The Stars, has distilled Chris Whitton’s findings based on decades of evidence and experience into ten points which when understood and put into practice will help achieve that.

  • Fractures are not random events; they are not caused by "a bad step" or "bad luck" 
  • Fractures are the result of gradual damage to the bone, which builds up over time, until it literally gets to breaking point. The time to this is the "fatigue life of bone".
  • Repeated fast work reduces the fatigue life of bone, meaning the accumulation of high-speed exercise is a risk factor for fracture 
  • Training over long distances at lower speeds also reduces the fatigue life of bone 
  • This accumulated damage is only clearly visible on scans such as scintigraphy, CT or MRI with good quality radiographs also being somewhat useful 
  • Loss of performance is an important warning sign on its own. A Trainer may not see anything else/specific wrong post-race and inadvertently continue with training and racing. 
  • Bone damage is reversible. Rest allows healing: horses must gradually resume training. 

    "Easy days" are very helpful to allow the healing cells do their work, for example easy day after fast work. 

    Occasional short breaks are also helpful (ideal is two weeks) 
  • Early conditioning of bone is critical in the young horse. For maximum benefit, they should ideally start training between October as a yearling and the Springtime of their two year old year. During that time, doing a sharp canter (15 seconds/furlong or faster) over 1f once a week significantly increases bone density. 
  • There is no evidence that the "National Hunt horse" is any different from the "Flat horse" with regard to early bone conditioning or bone fatigue life. 
  • Intra-articular corticosteroid treatment masks lameness in the racehorse meaning we lose the ability to monitor how the horse is coping with training. Lameness may improve but the underlying cartilage and bone damage needs adequate time to repair and may not if the horse continues to train or race. Studies have evidenced that in the seven weeks following intra-articular corticosteroid treatment, the risk of fracture increased from 1:50 to 1:6 
Veterinary Inspections

  • Pre-race inspections are used by the IHRB, in common with all major racing jurisdictions, as part of our strategy to optimise the safety and welfare of our participants, particularly by adopting any measures possible to reduce the risk of injury. 

    Horses identified as a particular focus from expert evaluation of Irish racing data for pre-race inspections include, 

    • horses who were withdrawn on a previous occasion for a veterinary reason; 
    • those which sustained an injury or veterinary condition last time they ran; and
    • those which fall into a number of categories associated with potentially increased risk of injury
    Horses noted to have visible or palpable abnormalities, particularly of the limbs, will have these observations documented so that any change can be monitored over time. 

    • identify horses injured in transit. It is in everyone’s interests that these horses are checked and cleared to run, or they run another day.
    • identify horses which have a clinical abnormality that may not be an issue in terms of increasing risk of their injury but once identified can be monitored by the IHRB and trainer in conjunction with the trainer’s own veterinary surgeon.
    • identify those horses which may not be Suitable to Race.
    • identify and examine horses that may be at increased risk of injury based on evidence from data on racing injuries in Ireland (see EIIRRR project) and other jurisdictions.

  • In order to understand as well as possible the health and safety of our equine participants the IHRB Veterinary Team follow up on raceday injuries or horses that show signs of a clinical issue, such as lameness, so as to understand what is causing it and have a greater level of information to make informed decisions on raceday. 

    The more information that can be provided to the veterinary team via [email protected] about particular horses in advance of raceday should they have an injury or condition, the better informed the team on the day will be and so the more informed any decision they will make about the horse’s Suitability to Race.  Without this information, the team will always err on the side of caution if there is any doubt about the horse’s Suitability to Race and not allow the horse to race.

  • This programme runs year-round, and on a risk and surveillance basis.  A standard format is followed, with the people, premises and processes all reviewed.  There is a focus on equine care and safety with horses being identified and inspected, any medicines in use being inspected and assessed and compliance with the Rules of Racing and relevant legislation evaluated.  The inspections are always unannounced but with every effort being made to do them at times which make sense, ie. during the working day, unless there is a reason not to.  Feedback is given on the day by way of a conversation and a preliminary feedback letter, which is then followed up with a more detailed report.  The latter may issue with an Improvement Notice or notice that a matter or matters need to be referred to the IHRB Referrals Committee or Licensing Committee.