Horse Racing Consultant Dene Stansall has challenged the industry’s popular rhetoric that thoroughbreds are well cared for by owners and trainers.
The Animal Aid campaigner has claimed that ex-racehorses are “nervous wrecks” after the conclusion of their career, and need retraining to avoid serious medical and physical problems.
Two horses have been fatally injured at the Cheltenham festival so far after three days of racing action. The deaths of Hansard and HMS Seahorse bring the death toll at Cheltenham up to 80 since the year 2000.
The Jockey Club expressed their sadness in separate press releases after their deaths. Before the festival, they reiterated that they’d spent £63 million to ensure equine welfare since 2000. They also state that “racehorses in Britain are among the healthiest and best looked after 2% of horses in the country.”
ℹ️ Horse welfare is of the utmost importance to everybody in the racing industry and continues to evolve. To find out more about what we're doing to enhance and protect our horses, please visit https://t.co/1bpohW6wEE.
— British Horseracing Authority (@BHAHorseracing) March 13, 2026
Watch the full film: https://t.co/bH6rvawqqX pic.twitter.com/OJD7PoWVSd
Stansall disputes their claim, arguing that thoroughbreds might not be receiving the thorough care the industry states. “I’ve got an ex-racehorse horse myself. I’ve seen a lot of horses coming out of racing that have been meant to have been well cared for, and some of them are nervous wrecks with physical and mental problems when they leave racing.
“So if they’re so well cared for, then how come these problems are evident? Why do we have to have retraining of race horses to adapt to a new environment for them?”
In over 20 years of campaigning, Stansall has created a unique analogy to explain their lives to the average punter. “It’s a bit like being in the army. You get medical attention if you’re injured. But you can also conscript it to do a job that you probably wouldn’t want to do, and you risk dying in that job. They have no choice.
“So whilst they may be cared for and groomed and have their feet picked out, ferriers attend them and attention when they’re injured, that doesn’t mean to say that they’re being kept acceptably.
Jon Pullin with a Going update ahead of Gold Cup Day 🌱 pic.twitter.com/6JE3esi9m0
— CheltenhamRacecourse (@CheltenhamRaces) March 13, 2026
“And I think that has to come into the argument that horses are well kept and all that, because I personally have seen many that have that are far below the standards that they should be.”
