This “Where Are They Now” story is a bit of a personal one for me. I first met popular New York-bred stakes winner Blindwillie McTell (Posse), affectionately known as Willie, back in 2018 when he was just a 2-year-old.

I was there the day he made his debut, finishing a game second at 19-1 in a state-bred maiden special weight at Aqueduct. The gutsy little bay impressed trainer Linda Rice enough for her to enter him in a stake next out and he proved worthy of her faith, splashing home to a good-looking graduation in the NYSS Great White Way S.

Willie opened his 3-year-old season in similar fashion, taking the Rego Park S. in his next outing, much to the delight of his exuberant owner/breeder Jerry Zaro. He took the Mike Lee S. two starts later and, once again, I stood in the winner's circle with Willie and his proud connections.

Willie's talent on the racetrack made him a fun horse to be around throughout his career, as did his winning personality. A very friendly and happy horse, he always tried his heart out and did so with plenty of enthusiasm, making him a barn favorite during his four seasons in the Rice barn and a personal favorite of mine.

In April of 2021, Willie let Rice know he had enough. She refused to run him for a low claiming price and Zaro agreed, so the decision was made to retire him. Being a gelding, the best option for the three-time stakes winner was finding a new home as a show horse.

I had recently assisted Rice in placing a horse named Mental Model (Into Mischief) with a friend of mine, who now successfully competes him as an eventer. So the conditioner turned to me to find a home for the lovable Blindwillie McTell.

I always knew Willie was special. I also knew he would love to have his own person and would give that individual his all in any discipline they tried together. I wanted to make sure Willie found a person who would recognize how special he was and would give him the best chance to thrive in his new career. So, I turned to one of my best friends, Caroline Letts, a hunter and jumper trainer based in Colts Neck, New Jersey, who had plenty of experience with off-track Thoroughbreds.

Letts was quick to say yes and we brought Willie to her facility in May of 2021. Under her guidance, my favorite little racehorse-that-could blossomed into a talented hunter and jumper. Her 16-year-old working student successfully competed him in Thoroughbred classes at a recognized horse show that September.

Since then he has taught lessons to kids as young as 12 and competed successfully in a variety of horse shows in both the hunter and jumper divisions. He even helped me achieve one of my dreams of climbing aboard one of the racehorses I had the privilege to follow or work with during my career. He is still as much of a perfectionist and overachiever in his new career as he was on the racetrack.

Willie continues to gain fans everywhere he goes. He is a barn favorite at MCL Equestrian and has a leaser, who adores him. His fans from his racing days, those that love New York racing and fans of Bob Dylan, for whom Blindwillie McTell was named, still follow him diligently. As expected, my old friend Willie is still a winner in everything he does and I'm just thrilled to still be a part of it.

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The hard-knocking gelding was a family favorite for Morley, his wife Maggie Wolfendale and their two daughters, Grace and Willow. So, when it came time for him to retire, there was no question that he would remain in the family, becoming Wolfendale's personal riding horse and top toddler babysitter.

“He was very special to both Tom and I because we owned most of him,” Wolfendale said while standing beside the now-9-year-old gelding just after a ride. “When he won his first Louisiana Champions Day Turf S., we were in England. Obviously, it was late there. We all stayed up and watched it, sitting around his dad, who struggled with Parkinson's disease. It was this big eruption of joy when he got up and won. He has truly been our family horse. He is a very special horse to us, so we always knew when it was time to call it quits on his racing career, that he would come home with us.”

The Morleys privately purchased Ninety One Assault in partnership with Paul Braverman after he broke his maiden in his 13th start at Belmont in March of 2017.

“We bought him because he was a Louisiana-bred and we were going down there,” Wolfendale said. “He became this horse that we all loved. He won several stakes at Fair Grounds and most of his other races, except his maiden score, which was at Belmont.”

Ninety One Assault, or Boo as he is affectionately referred to by Wolfendale, quickly became a barn favorite for the Morley team.

When asked if she galloped him in the mornings, Wolfendale said, “If I won the fight to gallop him! He was literally the horse that when you went in and looked at your set list and had him, everyone else went, 'Oh man, you got Ninety today!' Everybody wanted to ride him because he was such a lovely gallop. He was very easy. Everybody got along with him.”

Ninety One Assault thrived on his annual trips home to Louisiana. He won seven times during his five seasons in NOLA, including two editions of the Louisiana Champions Day Turf S. and the 2020 renewal of the Dixie Poker Ace S. The bay made his final start at Pimlico in April of 2021.

“He developed a little bit of a suspensory issue when he was coming back in 2021,” Wolfendale said. “He had already had ankle surgery at that point too. Tom decided that he wasn't going to push on him to get him back as a 9-year-old [in 2022], so that is when we decided to retire him.”

The lifelong horsewoman continued, “It is very expensive to keep horses in Long Island and we didn't live where we do now, which is 10 minutes from the farm. So at first, we sent him to Kentucky with Jamie Hernandez. She turned him out for six months to recover from the suspensory issue. She started him back in early March of this year and did a lot with him. She took him to shows and took him to lessons every week, so he got a nice, well-rounded start and education. I figured I could afford to keep him in Saratoga and, weirdly, have the time there because we had a split schedule with the [NYRA] T.V. [show]. Then we moved to the North Shore and Boo got to come with us.”

Ninety One Assault has been as much of a pleasure to handle in his new career as he was on the racetrack and has transitioned beautifully, according to Wolfendale.

“I've mainly had the war horses throughout my career,” she said. “It is so individual and depends on their personality as to whether the transition will be easy or not. He was an easy racehorse to handle and ride, so the transition was pretty easy for him. The things it sometimes takes a while for racehorses to get used to, like cross ties and mounting blocks, he took to with no problem.”

She continued, “As far as riding him, he is so smart and wants to please. He loves when you tell him he's a good boy. If you show him something once and he messes it up, he is not likely to mess it up again. He's just that kind of horse. Tom and I always joke that he may not come from much pedigree wise, but he is the star athlete, straight A student, prom king-type. Boo has a lot of class to him and he makes all of us happy. The girls can go out and graze him and stuff like that and he is very respectful to them too.”

As for what's next, Wolfendale hopes to take her trusty mount to the show ring, if she can find the time between assisting her husband with his racing stable and working as one of NYRA's on-air analysts.

“I've been taking lessons,” Wolfendale said. “He has been responding so well to that. I think we could get to the point where maybe next spring we could go to shows and be competitive in jumpers or eventing.”

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With two sessions remaining, a total of 2,488 yearlings (through the ring) have sold for $399,940,000, an increase of 14.63% over the same period last year when 2,428 horses sold grossed $348,885,500. Average price of $160,748 is up 11.87% from $143,693, while the median of $85,000 is 13.33% above $75,000 in 2021. RNA rate was down a tick from 20.21% to 19.32%.

Heading yesterday's action, a colt by red-hot young sire Girvin (Hip 3504), who has his first runners this year, topped the second of two Book 5 sessions of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale Thursday when hammering for $290,000. Bred and consigned by Brookdale Sales, he was bought my Mick Wallace, agent for St. Elias Stables.

The Seitz family purchased Hip 3504's dam, SP Into Summer (Into Mischief), for $60,000 at last year's Keeneland January Sale with this colt in utero.

“He has developed really well,” said Brookdale's Joe Seitz. “My brother Freddy [Seitz] bought that mare down at OBS carrying this colt and brought her back home, so that is why he is a Kentucky-bred. He has been really nice all along. Girvin started to take off here with his 2-year-olds, which was nice. It was great watching him develop all summer and fill out just as those horses were running. The sire moved up to Kentucky, which gave the yearling even more profile. When we got up here, he stood out. People on the sales grounds started talking, word spread and everyone came for him.”

The horseman continued, “He was very exciting. He had a whole lot of vetting. He was shown 92 times in one day of showing. In Book 5, that is incredible. He handled it like a champ. He walked really great and covered a lot of ground. He never got tired.”

Keeneland ringman DeJuan Smith, profiled in Thursday's TDN, successfully pinhooked his $23,000 Palace Malice colt for $50,000 (Hip 3452).

For Thursday's session, 308 yearlings summoned $10,335,000 compared to the equivalent 2021 session when 303 youngsters grossed $9,194,000. Average was up from $30,343 to $33,555 and median was up from $23,000 to $25,000. RNA rate was about even at 12.75% compared to 12.17% in 2021.

“It has been non-stop at the barn,” Seitz said. “When I go up to the ring with a horse, all of the people in the back ring are all over me for information. It feels good.”

The two-day Book 6 begins Friday at 10 a.m.

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Echo Again is a fourth generation Winchell homebred. Current stable principal Ron Winchell's father, Verne Winchell, acquired and campaigned the colt's fourth dam Carol's Christmas (Whitesburg) back in the early eighties. The winner's SP dam Teardrop also walked the Asmussen shedrow, as have her older offspring SW & GSP Pneumatic (Uncle Mo) and SP Costa Terra (Gun Runner). Teardrop is a half-sister to GI Forego S. winner and sire Pyro (Pulpit), GSW War Echo (Tapit), SW & G1SP Farrier (Tapit), and MSW & GSP Longview Drive (Pulpit). The 11-year-old mare produced a filly by these connections' Copper Bullet in 2021 and had a Gun Runner colt Apr. 24 of this year. She returned to that dual Eclipse Winner this season.

7th-Saratoga, $105,000, Msw, 8-20, 2yo, 6 1/2f, 1:15.89, ft,
6 3/4 lengths.
ECHO AGAIN, c, 2, by Gun Runner
                1st Dam: Teardrop (SP), by Tapit
                2nd Dam: Wild Vision, by Wild Again
                3rd Dam: Carol's Wonder, by Pass the Tab
Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $57,750. O/B-Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen. *1/2 to Pneumatic (Uncle Mo), SW & GSP, $275,390. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree, or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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“It's our first time upgrading our mares,” Gullo said. “This is the first time we are actually putting them through the sale and running it as a breeding business. We have one in the Select Sale and two in the [Fasig-Tipton] New York-Bred Sale.”

The horseman continued, “Anthony is a great guy, great to work for. He has the same vision as I have, just trying to be first class with everything. It takes time to do. It is a process. It's not going to happen overnight. We are trying to buy top quality mares in foals to nice stallions. We have them at WinStar Farm. Now we are looking to sell some of the babies to offset some cost and keep it running like a business. We might start to keep a few down the road, but our goal is to breed top-quality horses.”

The GMP team will offer Hip 151, a Curlin filly out of MGISP Cassies Dreamer (Flatter), during the second session of Fasig's Select Sale Tuesday. Consigned by Taylor Made, the bay is the first foal out of Cassies Dreamer, who completed the trifecta in both the GI Frizette S. and GI Spinaway S. GMP Stable purchased the now 6-year-old mare for $435,000 with this filly in utero at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton November Sale.

“It is exciting,” Melfi said of selling a horse in the Saratoga Select Sale. “We can't wait to see how it goes and what she brings. She is a beautiful filly by Curlin. We just love her.”

Just six days later, GMP Stable has a pair of More Than Ready yearlings bred in partnership with Dutchess Views Farm and Robert Valeri set to sell during the second session of Fasig's New York-Bred Sale Aug. 15.

The first to go through the ring will be Hip 523, a filly out of Cinderella Time (Stephen Got Even). A $245,000 acquisition at the 2019 KEENOV sale in foal to Twirling Candy, the 11-year-old mare is already the dam of MGSW & MGISP Horologist (Gemologist).

Their other NY-bred offering is Hip 574, a More Than Ready colt out of Giant Blossom (Giant's Causeway). Picked up for $100,000 in foal to Frosted at the same KEENOV renewal, Giant Blossom is a half-sister to GISW Cotton Blossom (Broken Vow).

“We feel good about our New York-breds as well,” Gullo said. “We are getting our feet wet. We are relying on Fasig-Tipton, WinStar and Taylor Made. We are with the right people.”

Breeding and selling is just one area that GMP Stable dabbles in. They also have 25 horses in training across the country with conditioners such as Todd Pletcher, Linda Rice, Gary Sciacca, Robertino Diodoro and Doug O'Neill. The racing stable is a mix of homebreds, 2-year-old purchases and horses claimed at Churchill with an eye on the Del Mar meet.

“We would like to expand eventually,” Gullo said. “We bought some 2-year-olds and will buy more next year. We will also buy another three of four mares in November. Right now we are claiming horses for some action for us, but we are focusing on the higher quality over quantity.”

Gullo and Melfi's main focus at the moment is their farm, which is geared towards racehorse rehabilitation. Previously the Stone Bridge Farm training center, the Schuylerville, New York facility is an equine oasis with a training track, saltwater spas, Theraplates, magnawave and much more.

“We have a beautiful farm that is set up like a rehab, like Fair Hill,” Gullo said. “We are bringing in a hyperbaric chamber. We have saltwater spas, the vibrating plates, lasers, magnawave, thermal imaging. We have a seven-eighths Tapeta track. We redid the base and put a new cushion on it. We had the guy from Keeneland come and redo it all. We are going to have 50 stalls. We have horses here for Linda [Rice], [Todd] Pletcher and Bill Mott. Wesley Ward came out and loved it.”

The GMP farm also houses a spa for humans, offering a wide variety of services. Additionally, Melfi owns two bed and breakfasts on Union Ave. in Saratoga and plans to tie all of the facilities together.

“The spa is called Sacred Spa and Wellness,” said Melfi, who operated an environmental contracting company, which he sold in 2019. “We offer massage, facials, infrared saunas, chiropractic, acupuncture, body sculpting and basically anything you'd find at a high-end spa or wellness center.”

He added, “I also own Union Gables and the Brunswick. We are in the process of incorporating all the properties together to make it more of a destination.”

Between what they already have in the works and their future plans, Gullo and Melfi have a lot to look forward to with their new operation.

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“I'd rather be a big fish in a little pond,” said Lopez, who co-owns Chub Wagon with George Chestnut. “We've made a lot of money ($593,600) with her and, by taking it easy with her, she's going to last longer.”

That's pretty much been the play book for Chub Wagon since she debuted with a win on Nov. 16, 2020 at Parx. After two more wins, both in allowance company, Lopez and trainer Guadalupe Preciado got a bit ambitious and sent Chub Wagon to Aqueduct, where she won an April 2, 2021 allowance race by 4 3/4 lengths. She was four-for-four at that point and looked to have more than enough ability to successfully take the next step and compete in a graded race. Instead, she went back to Parx and beat state-breds in the Unique Bella S.

“The name of the game is to win,” said Lopez, a former trainer, who also owns Chub Wagon's sire, Hey Chub.

There were a couple of major races for 3-year-old fillies on the calendar that would have been a good fit, including the GII Eight Belles S. or even the GI Acorn, but the connections didn't waver. There were plenty of races out there worth good money and where Chub Wagon would be going against overmatched rivals. Starting on May 15, Chub Wagon ran three times during a 46-day period and won all three, the Skipat S., the Shine Again S. and the Dashing Beauty S.

The winning streak ended at eight when she caught a sloppy track and finished second in the Dr. Teresa Garofalo Memorial S. at Parx. She went back to work two weeks later and won the Roamin Rachel S. and, in her lone career try around two turns, the Plum Pretty S. for Pennsylvania-breds.

Lopez and Preciado had hoped to bring their filly back some time in early or mid-spring, but they had a problem establishing a regular work pattern.

“The weather was a big problem,” Lopez said. “Every two or three days it would rain. She would work and then she would walk, jog, gallop and then it would be raining again. That went on forever. So I had to be patient. After a while everything cleared up with the weather”

Chub Wagon returned on Monday in the Power by Far S., a five-furlong race at Parx for Pennsylvania-breds that came off the turf. Winning by three-quarters of a length, she didn't dominate, but it was a game performance in which she showed there was no rust.

What's next? More of the same. It will be the $100,000 Alma North S. at Laurel July 16. The Alma North is part of the Match Series.

“Right now, I'm just thinking about her next race, which will be at Laurel on July 16,” Lopez said. “That gives her 19 days between starts. After that, I'll go from there. After that, it's all open.”

While Lopez understands that people want to see Chub Wagon take on tougher rivals, he said it makes more sense from a bottom-line standpoint to keep doing what he's been doing.

“I'm going to let her tell me, which is the way I have always played it out with her,” Lopez said. “That's why I was able to run all those races together toward the end of last year. She overshadows those horses she's been running against. So instead of running for $300,000 once every six weeks she ran for $100,00 every two or three weeks and wound up making the same amount of money. There is no goal. It's just one race at a time. After her race at Laurel there are all these races at Parx for Pennsylvania-breds. I can come back this year in the Plum Pretty, and that's a $200,000 race for Pennsylvania-breds and we don't have to go anywhere to run. What more could you ask for?”

While Lopez has not yet decided whether or not Chub Wagon will run next year, it's all but certain that once she stops running she will be sold at auction as a broodmare prospect.

“Do I want a broodmare that might not produce anything? No. You see some of these great race mares don't make it as a broodmare,” he said. “Do I want to be stuck with horses that can't run?”

But wouldn't a graded win enhance her value as a broodmare? We may never find out.

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Entering its eighth year at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, the Thoroughbred Makeover features competition in ten disciplines for recently-retired Thoroughbreds in their first year of retraining for a career after racing. Horses and their trainers may compete in one or two disciplines of their choice, including Barrel Racing, Competitive Trail, Dressage, Eventing, Field Hunter, Polo, Ranch Work, Show Hunter, Show Jumper, and Freestyle (a freeform discipline showcasing skills of the trainer's choosing).

Horses and trainers will compete for more than $100,000 in total prize money, plus the coveted title of Thoroughbred Makeover Champion at the Kentucky Horse Park on October 12-15, 2022. The Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium includes not only the competition, but educational seminars, a vendor fair, the Makeover Marketplace horse sale, and the Makeover Master Class, featuring demonstrations and insight from leading trainers. The Thoroughbred Makeover Finale features the top five horses in each discipline based on preliminary competition and will be live-streamed for viewers at home.

The Thoroughbred Makeover is open to professionals, amateurs, juniors (ages 12 and over), and teams. Applicants are required to provide information about their riding and competition background as well as references, including one from a veterinarian, and video that showcases their riding ability. Competitors do not need to have acquired their horse at the time of application, though they must register their horse no later than July 29, 2022.

Accepted trainers may acquire eligible Thoroughbreds through whatever source they choose, or can ride under contract from an owner. Eligible horses must have raced or had a published work on or after July 1, 2020 and must not have started retraining for a second career prior to December 1, 2021 other than a maximum of 15 allowable rides, intended to allow for trial rides.

2021 Thoroughbred Makeover Fast Facts:

• The 2021 Thoroughbred Makeover was a unique “Mega-Makeover” format, with two separate competition years running side-by-side to accommodate horses from the postponed 2020 competition as well as the regular 2021 class. The week of competition culminated in two separate Finales crowning their own champions
• 400 horses competed between the two competition years
• Over $29 million has been invested into the future of horses participating in the Makeover since its inception in 2013, including health care, training, and more
• A total of 4,048 trainers have been accepted since 2013, representing 46 states and four Canadian provinces
• A total of 3,641 horses have been directly impacted since 2013
• High-profile contenders from 2021 included Breeders' Cup participants Imperative and Ashleyluvssugar, as well as MGSW Page McKenney

Read more here.

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Born on May 4, 1983, “Rush” is already well past the typical lifespan of a Thoroughbred, which is between 25 to 29 years old. Owned by Bridget Eukers, Rush lives at Windsor Hunt Stables in Connecticut. He is very healthy, Eukers reports, only dealing with seasonal allergies and sensitivity to mold.

Euker's parents bought the gelding for her when he was 9. In his younger years, Rush competed in hunter and equitation competition before retiring from a tendon injury. He and Eukers then trail rode and practiced dressage until he was 35.

Now, Eukers walks Rush and down hills to maintain his strength and flexibility. He can still get up and down easily, she says. Most of Eukers' life has been dedicated to Rush, who now needs a special diet with feedings four times a day. Though his dark bay coat is now graying, Rush is still full of life: he enjoys the occasional walk about when gates are left open, as well as playing with his pasture mate, a spry 25-year-old.

Read more at Blood-Horse.

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Acting on the recommendations of an industry-wide committee set up to assess options for the future, HBLB has concluded an agreement from August 2021 with Rossdales Ltd to provide the diagnostic microbiology testing capacity, arrangements that will work in conjunction with the epidemiological surveillance and monitoring unit that will now be based at the University of Cambridge Veterinary School.

Since the closure of the AHT, the surveillance services have been provided by the former AHT team headed by Dr. Richard Newton on a temporary basis under contract to the British Horseracing Authority (BHA). This team will be employed by Cambridge University under the new agreement and will continue to respond to disease outbreak incidents and to produce daily updates on infectious disease reports worldwide for the benefit of the health of all horses, Thoroughbred and non-Thoroughbred.

Over the past year, diagnostics have been available to Dr. Newton's team on an ad hoc basis from Rossdales Ltd, and funded by HBLB. Full coverage has therefore been maintained, meaning that the team was able to respond promptly and effectively to any incidents of disease.

The new arrangements will span an interim period of at least two years while options for the longer term are considered and developed.

Funding will be provided, as previously, by HBLB, racehorse owners and the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association (TBA). Discussions are also being held with the sport and leisure horse interests regarding potential contributions in the future.

In addition, HBLB has formed a representative oversight committee, with HBLB Government Appointed Member Anne Lambert as its chair. The membership will include representatives from HBLB's Veterinary Advisory Committee, the TBA, the Racehorse Owners Association, the BHA and the non-Thoroughbred sport and leisure sectors. This committee will have responsibility for monitoring the service in its initial phase and for designing plans for future, with the paramount objective of safeguarding the national herd. Full engagement between the Thoroughbred and non-Thoroughbred sectors in respect of infectious disease management will underpin the work which includes the development of an epidemic risk management plan.

Alan Delmonte, Chief Executive of HBLB, said: “This is an important milestone in putting in place successor arrangements to the services that had been carried out by the Animal Health Trust for a long time. A full evaluation of the current situation and the equine sector's requirements took place including through a tender process that was announced by BHA in 2020. Substantial work has been done by Stephen Atkin, who was retained to act as project manager of this complex area that has taken many months to consider. As well as now engaging the widely recognized expertise of Rossdales, it will be welcomed that it has been possible to retain the previous AHT team headed by Dr. Richard Newton. All in the equine sector are grateful to them for continuing to provide disease monitoring coverage and reaction to outbreaks given the challenging circumstances of the past year.”

Dr. Alastair Foote, director of Rossdales Laboratories, added: “We are delighted to have been awarded the tender, and to be able to provide continuity of the former AHT services that were critical to the equine industry, maintaining essential diagnostic testing and surveillance work. Our recent major investment in new laboratory facilities at our Newmarket site has meant we have been able to rapidly accommodate the required testing requirements, with new tissue culture and virus isolation facilities, and we look forward to working alongside the surveillance and research team at Cambridge.”

Read more here.

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Thoroughbreds are recognized for their sensitivity and this project will provide a research-based approach to retraining them for therapy work. EAT careers could include work with a diverse group of people, from veterans and disabled children to those struggling with mental health issues. The research, which is funded by the John Pearce Foundation, is the first of its kind to study EAT across many countries and will look at practices in the UK, USA, France and Ireland, to understand the impact of EAT on the horses.

Claire Neveux, Bristol Vet School PhD student for the project, said: “I have worked with Thoroughbreds for about 20 years, mainly with broodmares and young horses, and I have always been amazed by their high reactivity and sensitivity. I'm also fascinated by the human-horse relationship. I had a few opportunities to participate in Equine Assisted Therapy programs as an intern during my graduate studies. That's why, when I met Jennifer Twomey from Racing to Relate, I took the opportunity to be part of this pioneering and collaborative project, and I'm thrilled to contribute to this research. I'm convinced that a better understanding of the thoroughbred personality traits and suitability of horses for EAT is essential for equine and human welfare.”

The main aim of the research is to create a create a global standard for selection and training, to help the racing industry to improve welfare support for off-track racehorses going into a career in EAT. The research will help industry and stakeholders to improve Thoroughbred welfare through a successful transition to their new career in EAT.

Little research has been carried out on the welfare of horses within EAT programs, and especially on the impact it may have on their wellbeing. In particular, this research will analyze the educational process for all horses within the EAT sector, to gain a clearer picture of why and how horses are selected for particular roles. The aim is to fully understand the current selection and training methods within the sector and identify specific characteristics of the thoroughbred, which are suited to a career in EAT. The study will also explore details of the life and routine of equines within EAT, examining existing perceptions and considerations of horse welfare.

Dr. Mathilde Valenchon, Research Fellow at the Bristol Vet School and co-supervisor of the PhD project, added: “I am delighted we successfully developed this research project to understand and facilitate the involvement of ex-racehorses in EAT activities. I have been studying equine behavior, cognition and welfare for the past 12 years. I have always been impressed by the thoroughbred's sensitivity and adaptability. I am thrilled to contribute to a better knowledge of their suitability for EAT and the development of standards, as this will significantly and positively impact the horses' welfare, as well as people's. I am especially proud that our research includes the horse's perspective.”

Dr. Siobhan Mullan, Senior Research Fellow at Bristol Vet School and co-supervisor of the PhD project, said: “Thoroughbred horses involved in EAT programs are performing a really special and valuable role in society, and yet little formal research has been done to understand how to optimize their welfare throughout their transition from racehorse to therapy horse and in the course of their new career. I'm heartened by the interest around the world in using the results of our research to develop standards which will have a long-lasting impact on horse welfare.”

Read more at the University of Bristol.

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