11/11/2025
I couldn’t agree more with the sentiments in this piece. Our horses give us everything, their strength, their heart, their trust and we owe it to them to always put their welfare first.
Having worked with off-the-track racehorses one change I’d love to see is that no horse is backed until they’re at least five years old, when they’re both skeletally and emotionally mature enough to cope. Before then, they should simply be allowed to be horses,
to play, grow, and develop naturally.
And not just in racing across all disciplines. Dressage, eventing, show jumping… these are incredibly athletic demands on a horse’s body and mind. That kind of strength, balance and coordination takes time to develop. We need to give them that time.
I’ve had to wave off a couple of young foals at just two years old, heading into training, and it broke my heart. They were still babies.
If we truly honour the horse, their welfare should always come first. For now we can raise awareness and keep sharing stories of where we are failing them. ❤️🐴
Yesterday, the world watched history made.
Jamie Melham became only the second female jockey ever to win the Melbourne Cup — a powerful moment that deserves celebration. Skill, courage and partnership carried Half Yours to victory, and for that, admiration is due.
But amid the cheers, many viewers noticed something else — the horse standing quietly, blood visible around his mouth during the winner’s interview. Later reports confirmed a “minor laceration inside the cheek.”
A small injury, perhaps. Yet it spoke volumes.
Because it asked us — all of us who love horses — to pause.
Not to condemn, but to consider.
Not to shame, but to listen.
In every discipline, whether racing, dressage, showing or leisure riding, horses give us everything. Their strength. Their heart. Their trust. And moments like this remind us that behind the glory and tradition lies a living, feeling being who cannot choose the terms of participation.
If we truly honour the horse, then victory should never outshine welfare.
We can celebrate the rider’s achievement and still ask the difficult, compassionate questions:
How do we make sure horses’ welfare is never secondary to spectacle?
What does real partnership look like when pressure is at its highest?
Are we ready to let the horse’s voice guide the future of our sports?
The Melbourne Cup is part of a long and proud story of humans and horses together. Perhaps now is the time to write the next chapter — one where our admiration extends beyond the finish line, to the wellbeing of every horse, in every arena, everywhere.
I am in the middle of writing such chapters and hope to publish early next year a book for anyone who wants to see Horse differently.