Ex-racehorse owners benefit from telephone helpline

Owners of ex-racehorses experiencing training problems can find help through the charity Retraining of Racehorses (RoR).

RoR has launched an “Ask the experts” helpline offering advice via email and phone.

The telephone helpline has been added to the email facility set up last year to deal with queries not answered on the RoR website. They hope it will cater to a wider audience.

Owners of all horses, not just racehorses, can also send in videos of any problems they are having with their horse for expert analysis.

“It’s sometimes hard to explain a problem in writing or over the phone but in a video we can see the issue immediately,” said Rowena Cook from Equine Training and Management, who runs the helpline with her husband Fred.

Lizzie Drury sent a video to the Cooks of her ex-racehorse Murphy’s Law, who was previously in training with Mick Ryan, and ended up sending him to them for training.

“Because I work full-time it was difficult to be able to give him the consistency he needed. He was straight off the track and I didn’t know what to do.

“The training has made a world of difference and we’re now out competing.”

• For help and information, visit www.ror.org.uk or tel: 01780 740773.

This news story was first published in Horse & Hound (19 March, 09)

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