Horse Welfare Board

British racing is proud of its record on horse welfare and the improvements it has made over many years to the safety of horses and jockeys. Nothing is more important than the safety of our participants.

In order to ensure that we do all we can to improve welfare standards, British racing has established an independently-chaired Horse Welfare Board to produce a strategy that unites the whole industry and drives continuous improvement.

Membership and structure

The Horse Welfare Board includes representatives from the sport’s tripartite structure of the BHA, racecourses and horsemen. Its independent chair, Barry Johnson, is a former President of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. Former Sports Minister, Tracey Crouch, is our other independent member.

Membership of the Horse Welfare Board and the strategy implementation team are currently as follows:

“A life well-lived” – British racing’s Horse Welfare Strategy

In February 2020, the Welfare Board published its five-year strategic plan for the welfare of horses bred for racing.

The strategy focuses on the ambition that every horse bred to race should lead – and be seen to lead – “a life well-lived”. The strategy includes traceability for horses bred for the sport, a strong focus on safety and wellbeing, a more confident and proactive approach to communications and the industry’s biggest ever data project.

The announcement can be seen here.

Download the document here:

20 recommendations and 26 specific projects were put before the Members Committee, which comprises horsemen, racecourses and the BHA.

The strategy focuses on four key outcomes:

  1. Best possible QUALITY OF LIFE, relating to the encouragement and furthering of best practice in all aspects of health, care, husbandry and disease control.
  2. Collective LIFETIME RESPONSIBILITY, incorporating, for example, traceability across the lifetimes of horses bred for racing, and initiatives fostering greater understanding, encouragement and effective enforcement of responsibility
  3. Best possible SAFETY, the understanding and analysis of multiple risk factors and the continuing reduction of reasonably avoidable injuries and fatalities.
  4. Growth and maintenance of public TRUST

The strategy also identifies the value of data in informing veterinary care and the prevention of injury and illness. It articulates the ethical case for horses’ participation in sport and leisure and the need for better use of high-impact communications to tell racing’s story. It also commits to develop a Code of Ethics to provide a transparent framework for decision-making around all aspects of a racehorse’s care and wellbeing.

Progress on Implementation

The implementation team are working alongside the industry to implement the 26 projects outlined in the Welfare Strategy. Below is a high level snapshot summary of the progress made to date:

 – 2 projects complete, with 22 projects live and in progress

– Operational implementation team in place to work with the industry to deliver the strategy

– Funding awarded from the HBLB since 2019 and the Racing Foundation to support the implementation of projects, including a recent multi-year funding award to the sum of £3 million from the Racing Foundation

To find out the latest status of each of the projects please click here – please note due to the sensitivity of many of the projects, this document only provides a high level status summary. If you would like to discuss any of the projects in further detail please contact the HWB implementation team on: [email protected].

Read the latest from the Horse Welfare Board Newsletter:

June 2023

November 2022 

June 2022

Key documents

Horse Welfare Board Strategy

Strategy summary document

Recommendations and projects

Euthanasia guidelines

Euthanasia decision tree

Aftercare Funding Review

Aftercare Funding Recommendations

Contact the Horse Welfare Board

External bodies and participants with a clear interest in improving the welfare of racehorses are welcome to contact the Horse Welfare Board via their dedicated email address: [email protected]

If you have concerns about the integrity of British racing or the wellbeing of the sport’s participants, human or equine, you can anonymously report this through the RACEWISE service by phoning the free phoneline on: 08000 852 580 or use the online form here