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.

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Sponsored by The Jockey Club, the four-day RoR National Championships extravaganza is the biggest event in the UK for showcasing the versatility of the thoroughbred and is the pinnacle of the showing calendar for former racehorses.

BTRC rehome retired racehorses to a variety of homes, some enjoying a quieter life of hacking and others more competitive homes. A few of those in competitive homes, attended the 2023 RoR National Championships and had a fantastic time! Read on to hear how they got on:

BTRC Don’t Touch & Lauren

“When I received the email to say we had qualified for the RoR Champs I was over the moon and so proud of Donald. We have worked our socks off this year with it being our first season getting out regularly competing. Aintree has always been a favourite venue of mine and luckily is very local so to be able to ride in the middle of the track was surreal, it was also a very good experience for us both having never ridden a dressage test on grass before and I was beyond pleased with his behaviour and him keeping his cool with a lot going on and being back on racecourse since his race days. However, the proudest moment was being invited to take part in the Always A Star Parade in the evening performance Saturday night as I got to show him off for everyone to see whilst the commentator read out his racing achievements, very proud and hoping to return next year.”

BTRC Ideal Recruit  & Becca

“We had an amazing but exhausting few days at Aintree for the National Champs. We let the occasion get to us in the arena and only managed 60% in our intro test but then upped our game out on the grass and got a really solid 63.4% in the prelim. He then had a bit of a party in the in-hand class but still came 5th. Most importantly we’ve all had a great time, Rio was an absolute saint with the kids and they’ve had so much fun and are already planning next year’s trip!”

BTRC Hailing Park & Rachael

“She won national hunt veteran on Friday and amateur produced national hunt horse (only mare in both classes) and then took overall in hand champion on the Friday. She went through the first round for preliminary judging in the open in hand on the Saturday (class of 42) and finished in the top 10 narrowly missing out on the evening performance. She was the only mare to be placed and every other horse was at least 3 years her junior . She has also qualified for STARS champion of champions in November for the veterans and the ex racehorses. What a horse she is!”

Well done to all of our loaners for their achievements, it is not all about results but having a great trip out and a positive experience.

Enter now for your chance to win 2x Sunday Evening Performance Tickets to Horse of the Year Show worth over £100!

To enter the draw, donate just £5 to our work with vulnerable, retired racehorses. To find out what’s on at HOYs please visit: Horse of the Year Show (hoys.co.uk).  Thank you to Horse of the Year Show for kindly donating the tickets to assist with fundraising for BTRC.

T&C:
The draw will be made week commencing 18th September
Winner will be contacted by telephone and/or email
If not claimed within 48hrs it will be drawn again
To enter you must be over 16 years old
Winner to receive tickets only, any travel and accommodation required is not the responsibility of BTRC or HOYS
If you are a UK tax payer, please select gift aid when purchasing – this allows us to claim 25% on top of your donation at no cost to you.

DRAW NOW CLOSED: WINNER IS SUSAN LANCASTER

ENTER HERE

Saturday 5th August saw many people turn out for the Family Fun Open Day at BTRC. With the wettest July on record, the field was out of bounds for parking and with Storm Antoni heading our way it was due to be a wet day but with all activities and demonstrations being inside we went ahead in true British spirit and what a great day we all had! With all monies donated and received on the day, BTRC were incredibly grateful to have raised over £4,500!

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BTRC are thrilled to announce local company, Lune Valley Pods Ltd have pledged their support to former racehorses by selecting BTRC as one of their chosen charities to receive donations from the sales of their luxury, glamping pods.

Lune Valley Pods, established in 2003 evolved from a timber building manufacturer, based just around the corner from BTRC, to the premier camping pod producer in the UK, who today employ over 30 people at their base in Heysham.

This exciting partnership came about when BTRC began Whinney Hill Farm C.I.C (WHF) as part of their diversification strategy in early 2023. As a new member of the Greener Camping Club, WHF needed sustainable, eco-friendly toilets and showers for their new camp site but at a competitive price.
Gillian and Lauren visited the local company to discuss requirements and from the first visit to delivery of the new facilities; Sam, Carly and the whole team at LVP have been supportive of BTRC’s new venture and provided professional advice and friendly support along the way.

Continue reading “BTRC are Charity of the Year for Lune Valley Pods”

We were thrilled to be a part of the Dalkeith Show on Saturday 8^th July in what was a ‘first ever’ for BTRC. Lisa, a generous supporter, kindly sponsored BTRC to hold our first ever ‘Retrained Racehorse’ classes at the show.

The sun was shining as Gillian, Lauren and Molly made their way up North to the beautiful Dalkeith Country Park for the In Hand Retrained Racehorse Class and the Ridden Retrained Racehorse Class, followed by the Retrained Racehorse Championship.

These classes were open to all registered Thoroughbreds that have a Weatherbys passport and that had been in training for minimum of 6 months. ‘Blemishes’ were ignored as BTRC believes a retrained racehorse should not be marked down for these, it’s all about the retrained horse and many Thoroughbreds are able and proud to continue their new careers with blemishes from racing. Barefoot horses were also welcome along with those only shod up front and those wearing properly fitted hoof boots.

Judging was based not only on the horse but also the partnership between horse and handler/rider and BTRC encouraged grass roots entrants to these classes.

The sun was shining and it was around 25 degrees, with a brief thunderstorm at the beginning of the in-hand class, starting just as quickly as it ended! The sun returned for a wonderful class full of variety and great partnerships. The class had 9 entrants, including 1 BTRC horse, Malingering. The results were as follows:

1^st : Laura Mcleod – Uncovered

2^nd : Jenna Mays – Motamarred

3^rd : Susan Laidlaw – Get Help

4^th : Caroline Pennycook – Maureen’s Lass

The ridden class had 9 entries and again was full of great partnerships, some of whom it was their first ever show! Following an individual show and stripping, BTRC CEO Gillian concluded the class with the following results:

1^st : Karen White – Sudski Star

2^nd : Fiona Perry – Try It You

3^rd : Jeremy Smith – Oski

4^th : Lorna Mcelhaney – Carrickcross Boye

One of the competitors said “I’d like to say a huge thank you to the Judges at Dalkieth Show. It was my first show in 30 odd years and the judge was so kind and nice to us, I felt more at ease despite being so nervous.”

This was a fantastic day out for BTRC and a great opportunity to spread the word about our work and support those with retrained racehorses who put their time and effort into caring for thoroughbreds following their racing careers.

If you would be interested in having BTRC classes at your event/show please get in touch with Lauren on lauren@thetrc.co.uk

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