Report Release: Tony Gollan Op-Ed
I’ve always been passionate about equine welfare, even before I started training racehorses for a living.
When one of our horses leaves the stable, we always want to ensure they go on to lead a happy, healthy life somewhere else. My father, Darryl, was very much the same when he was a trainer. I grew up in an animal-loving family so wanting the best welfare outcomes for all animals, and especially horses, is something that was instilled in me from an early age.
Like everyone else I know in the industry, I was shocked and disturbed by the scenes of horses being mistreated on the ABC’s 7.30 show. It probably pulled a lot of people’s hands out of the sand, and it showed that something needed to be done. I think the racing industry as a whole has made great strides in its approach to equine welfare in recent years, but there’s still much more we can do.
We’re a national industry, so we need to take a national – rather than state-by-state – approach to horse welfare. We have to tackle it head on, and there’s clearly a need to set up a national body to deal with the issue and try to establish a clear vision and pathway moving forward. What happens to retired racehorses in Queensland affects people’s perceptions of the industry in Victoria or New South Wales, and vice versa, so we need to get out of the mindset of each racing jurisdiction doing their own thing. If we don’t understand this is a national issue that could potentially affect the future of our sport, then we’re kidding ourselves.
I’m fortunate that my wife, Jane, has a passion for equestrianism and eventing, so she plays a huge role in helping to transition our racehorses to second careers in other disciplines. She set up her own not-for-profit organisation and she spends countless hours a week running it, so it’s a real labour of love for her.
It’s not that easy to rehome horses, whether it’s due to their temperament or the cost and time you need to dedicate to retrain them, so I’m very lucky that I have Jane to look after that side of things. It gives me peace of mind to know that our horses will be given the best possible opportunity of having a great life after racing.
We’ve got a great system in place but not many trainers are that fortunate, so there’s definitely a gap there that needs to be filled. Some trainers simply don’t know how to go about rehoming their retired racehorses. I want us to get to a point where no trainer or owner needs to ask what the next step for their horse is once they have finished their career on the racetracks. There needs to be a ready answer to that question. They should have easy access to all the contacts, resources and information they need to assist with that transition.
So I welcome the findings in today’s report, A Framework for Thoroughbred Welfare. We need to set world-best standards, so that every thoroughbred in Australia can be considered lucky to have been born here, because they are going to lead a great life from day one.
I think the racing industry is ready to embrace change, we maybe just needed a nudge in the right direction. There was a bygone era mentality which has been phased out, where racehorses used to viewed more as commodities than animals to be nurtured and cared for. I’ve seen that change happening from when I started training 22 years ago to where we are now. The improvements made to the welfare of racehorses in that time has been drastic, but as I’ve said before there’s still plenty more we can do – and this report is a timely reminder of that. We need to fix this problem now, not in ten years’ time. Because if we don’t realise the seriousness of it, we may not have an industry in ten years’ time.
I feel privileged to work with these beautiful, intelligent creatures every day, and they deserve to lead a full life which is worthy of the magnificent animals they are.
This article appeared in the Courier Mail, Monday 29th November 2021.