NEWC is delighted to welcome Racing to Relate as a new member this week! Founded in 2019, Racing To Relate (R2R) is a racing charity established to focus on post-racing careers for Thoroughbreds in Equine Assisted Services (EAS) for the benefit of people with mental and physical disabilities.

R2R hope to create a global standard for off-track Thoroughbreds within the Equine Assisted Services and focuses specifically on researching, facilitating and disseminating international industry-level support for Thoroughbreds within EAS.  Their methodologies include the study of animal behaviour and welfare research, specially commissioned international pilot schemes, as well as analysis and strong evidence-based storytelling about the use of off-track Thoroughbreds within the wider EAS context.

R2R's strategic aims include:

• providing leadership, based on evidence, on how best to use former racehorses
• improving access to EAS post-racing careers
• optimising equine welfare outcomes within this increasingly popular and diverse field.

One of R2R's priorities is to gain a better understanding of the diverse ways in which horses are already incorporated into programmes to assist people, and how former racehorses might fit more into this picture in the future so that evidence-based guidelines can be developed on selection and retraining for EAS in collaboration with the Racing, Retraining and EAS sector.  

To find out more about their work, visit: racingtorelate.org