For the Love of Off-the-Track Racehorses

After a two-month recruitment process, Churchill Fellow Annie Knox with a team have assembled a national board - Off-The-Track Alliance (OTTA) of eleven members and are currently recruiting an Equine Advisory Council with seven state and territory representatives.

From Annie, here is what she says about how this Council has come together;
"The Churchill Fellowship, along with the subsequent AgriFutures sponsorship, has given me the confidence and skills to lead this work. These are capacities I would never have had otherwise.

The Fellowship didn’t just allow me to travel and explore international models for racehorse aftercare. It also showed me how powerful community-led innovation can be. Overseas, some of the most impactful initiatives have grown from individual vision and grassroots collaboration.

In Australia, we often wait for change to trickle down from the racing industry. But there is no reason why it cannot begin with the off-the-track community itself, in a spirit of shared responsibility and reform."

For more information on joining this work, please contact Annie via her Fellow contact form here: https://www.churchilltrust.com.au/fellow/annie-knox-nsw-2023/

Congratulations Annie on the amazing work you are doing with your Fellowship!

https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/15/14/2046

Annie Knox travelled to the UK and North America to explore innovative pathways toward improved welfare for Australia’s off-the-track racehorses with the aim of improving aftercare beyond post-racing placement, developing concepts for grassroots initiatives and improving datasets to support future research. The issue of racehorse aftercare welfare is vast and complicated but recommendations in this report highlight the importance of future health and soundness of horses, education and community partnerships and shared infrastructure, and promotion and incentives. Read her report here: https://www.churchilltrust.com.au/fellow/annie-knox-nsw-2023/ #ChurchillFellow #LearnGlobally #InspireLocally #Offthetrackhorse #exracehorse #retiredracehorse #racehorsewelfare #racehorseaftercare #racingequinewelfare #racehorseretraining #racehorserehoming #thoroughbred #standardbred

My Churchill Fellowship report is now online!

You can read the flipbook at:
https://ottracehorse.com/news
or download the PDF at:
https://www.churchilltrust.com.au/fellow/annie-knox-nsw-2023/

I am deeply grateful to the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust for this Fellowship, which has made it possible to turn my ideas into reality.

I thank my mentors, Dr Kate Fenner, PhD, and Dr Andrew Byrne, BVSc, along with every individual and organisation that gave so generously of their time to share their insights and experiences for this project.

Winston Churchill Trust - AU

Thank you to Canadian Thoroughbred for writing about my research project! The article can be found here: https://canadianthoroughbred.com/magazine/equine-ownership/off-track-thoroughbred-behaviour-studied/

My article in todays’s Guardian:

Horseracing’s social licence depends on finding new homes for retired runners. These steps could help Ex-racehorses make wonderful riding horses, but training and rehabilitating them takes work and education – and more industry support

As if getting to spend time with Joy from Retired Racehorse Radio wasn’t delightful enough … her horse husband Zack belongs to Achatz Handmade Pie Co. and they flew down from Michigan with this splendid specimen for me on the (correct) hunch that I might be a massive fan of baked goods.