Retired Racehorse Brings Smiles to Care Home Residents

The sun was shining for the residents of Hartland House Care Home as they welcomed retired racehorse, Bomb Proof and Shetland pony Washbear from The British Thoroughbred Retraining Centre (BTRC) on Friday 8th July.  

The residents enjoyed a morning sat outside in the sunshine spending time with the horses, getting to stroke them and learn more about the work of BTRC. Resident Ron said, “We have had a brilliant morning, we are so grateful to BTRC for bringing these horses along to see us, it brings us such joy and makes us so happy.”

The BTRC arrange these visits as part of their Community Engagement work, spreading the word about their work caring for and rehoming retired racehorses. BTRC Communications & Engagement Manager, Lauren Lindsay said “It is so important to reach out to those people in the community who may not otherwise have a chance to spend time with horses and feel the mental and physical benefits of being around them. Our visit was full of smiles and laughter and the residents could not thank us enough for visiting.”

This was the second care home visit for 5-year-old Bomb Proof who raced 9 times during his career on the track trained by Group One trainer James Fanshawe.

Hartland House Care Manager Leanne said “The BTRC visit gave us something special to give to our residents which meant meeting new friends on a glorious day. This is priceless and we want to thank them for giving us this wonderful opportunity of bringing sparkle to the residents at Hartland House.”

The Community Engagement work of BTRC supports the racing industry through recommendation F – Communication, engagement and reputation management (point 15.1) in the Horse Welfare Board ‘A Life Well Lived’ strategy document. To read please click here.

If you would be interested in a visit from BTRC to your community group, please get in touch with Lauren via email: lauren@thetrc.co.uk or call 01524 812649