BTRC Consultant Vet Gordon Sidlow BVMS MRCVS has been appointed the Retraining of Racehorses (RoR’s) Head of Veterinary Strategy.
Gordon has been dedicated to Thoroughbred welfare for almost 30 years. Primarily, in his role as the first equestrian vet for the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC). During his time with the HKJC Gordon was responsible for establishing the veterinary standards, and providing veterinary care for the retired racehorse population in Hong Kong, as well as monitoring the welfare of almost 900 retired racehorses donated by HKJC to Mainland China for equestrian use.
Gordon was also responsible for creating a retirement protocol that included establishing a post racing assessment criterion required to determine on retirement whether a horse would be suitable to enter the Club’s rehabilitation and retraining programme in order to have an opportunity of a second career in equestrian.
Since returning to the UK, Gordon runs the equine side of a busy mixed practice in Mid-Devon, West Ridge Equine and has also been an Ambassador and Consultant Vet for the The British Thoroughbred Retraining Centre (BTRC) since 2015. Over the years Gordon has been instrumental in establishing BTRC’s current protocols for retraining. He also visits BTRC at least once a month to assess how all the horses are progressing through their retraining programme, as well as providing veterinary support for all BTRC’s horses that are out on loan. Additionally, Gordon supports the Centre’s education programmes by participating in demonstrations and events that the Charity hosts to promote their work and British Thoroughbred Aftercare.
Gordon, who worked as a treating vet for the 2008 Olympic Games also frequently officiates as an FEI Veterinary Delegate (Level 4OV) at competitions both in the UK and internationally. He regularly oversees the veterinary care for elite equestrian and racing horses as they fly to international competitions and races around the world. Just this week Gordon has returned from flying the horses from Europe that are to compete in this year’s Asian Games in Hangzhou.
We wish Gordon good luck in his new role. We know Gordon is one of the most experienced vets in racehorse aftercare and how much knowledge and skill he brings to the BTRC. We are therefore delighted that he will be able to share this knowledge with other centres and the industry to improve Thoroughbred Aftercare in the UK – but don’t worry, Gordon is not leaving the BTRC, as what would we and our horses do without him!
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