My wife and I have been rescuing neglected and unwanted racehorses for the past nine years. Last year, Greatwood became a registered charity specifically dealing with thoroughbreds in need of care and attention, with the object of finding them a new home and a new life appropriate to their capability.

So far we have achieved 100% success and in the second half of last year, for instance, we re-homed 15 horses to various disciplines, this year we hope to achieve a total of 30, which we expect to be the maximum possible on 50 acres of pasture and a normal range of traditional farm buildings. This number may put into perspective the problem that lies ahead.

As far as I know, we are the only charity in the West country devoted entirely to rehoming thoroughbred horses, and I thought it might be of interest to you, if we were to apply the knowledge and experience which we have in this field, to an assessment of the situation which we expect to arise in the Westcountry following a ban on hunting.

I understand that there are 63 hunts in the Westcountry, and that there is probably an average of 50 horses per hunt. Of these 3,150 horses, my enquiries have led to the conclusion that about one third may be thoroughbred - say 1,000. The majority of members of hunts in the Westcountry are farmers, for whom this is their sole hobby and recreation. Those to whom I have spoken will not countenance drag hunting, and subsequent to a ban on hunting with hounds, in view of the state of farming in the foreseeable future, will almost certainly dispose of their horses.

There is already a surfeit of horses for sale. Ex-racehorses, almost without reference to pedigree and racing performance, are fetching £400 - £500, or they are referred to us. An ex-racehorse - and indeed an ex-hunter needs to be let down slowly, turned out with other horses and then prepared for a new discipline. At that stage, in our case, the horse is sent, on a free lease for life, to a home that has been, and will continue to be, inspected by a field officer from The International League for the

Protection of Horses. Hunters being disposed of after a ban on hunting will have no such provision made for them. They will effectively be un-saleable, and are likely to be left on a farm to deteriorate. In the case of thoroughbreds, this will be rapid; they need concentrates twice daily, good pasture, regular worming and farrier work, rugging up in poor weather and bringing in, in the winter - treatment which they are most unlikely to receive when they are surplus to requirements. Most of our horses here came into that category, and we are familiar with the result. In previous years, hunters falling into this category would probably have been shot.

Unfortunately, there will be a 'Catch 22' situation, because there will no longer be a hunt to administer the bullet and remove the carcass at a reasonable price. The alternative - to transport the horse to Potters abattoir at Bristol - would prove prohibitively expensive for most farmers - and we understand may shortly be unacceptable to the abattoir.

We believe that these 3,000 horses deserve due consideration from any government that intends to implement a ban on hunting, which will clearly put their welfare and their lives at risk. The non-thoroughbreds will prove as unsaleable as the thoroughbreds, but they will deteriorate less quickly. Nevertheless, within 18 months of the ban, two thirds of Westcountry hunters or 2,000 horses will be in a state of neglect, unless the problem has been addressed in advance.

We shall be happy to put our knowledge and experience at the disposal of any scheme designed to prevent suffering amongst these horses, but we cannot emphasise too strongly the time it will take to put any effective plan in place. Personnel with the knowledge and experience of these types of horses will need to be enlisted, and finally the cost which will have to be met.

The Greatwood charity, we believe to be highly cost effective at £50.00 per horse per week. An operation designed to save, and re-home redundant hunters we estimate would be at least twice as expensive, and would have to be in existence for at least five years. It will require efficient organisation, staff, pasture and stabling, and it will have to be put in effect now. If it is not, there is a predictable catastrophe waiting to happen to horses, which have no choice, created by a political decision for which they are in no way to blame.

MICHAEL YEADON: Trustee Greatwood Caring for Retired Racehorses

Trustees: Reverend Jeremy Hummerstone, Alison Cocks, Michael Yeadon
Hon. Vet Surg: M. Cubberley B Vet Med MRCVS
Hon. Farrier: R. Squire Dip WCF
Founder Helen Yeadon

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Date uploaded to site 17 May 2000