treo eile
Another
direction Aisling Crowe chats with Sarah Sands and Caoimhe Doherty about the establishment of Treo Eile, Ireland’s new racehorse rehoming assistance programme 58
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RELAND’S REPUTATION as a nation of horse lovers has taken a little bit of a bruising in recent months with a number of high-profile stories provoking some much-needed soul searching and reflection on the welfare of the horses on which we depend for a living and also provide us with unparalleled joy. The fate of former racehorses is one that the industry in Ireland is beginning to grapple with, and in that sense the timing couldn’t have been better for the launch of an organisation dedicated to enhancing the opportunities for retired racehorses to enjoy fruitful and successful second careers. Treo Eile is the Irish language phrase for “another direction” and it is the ideal name for the not-forprofit organisation established last year by Caoimhe Doherty and Sarah Sands that offers assistance to owners and trainers who wish to do the right thing by their horse and responsibly rehome them. Sands explains the catalyst for Treo Eile, which came about in the spring of 2020. “The sport was under pressure from that aspect, how it looks after its participants, and it’s inevitable that something has to be done to improve that,” she explains. “Ireland needed to go in that direction. The other major racing nations are further down the
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road than we are so we need to do as much as we can to catch up.” Treo Eile operates in a number of different ways, to help support racehorses and owners at various stages of the retraining process. On its website it will shortly offer a listings service where racehorse owners and trainers can advertise their retiring horses looking for a new home and a second career. Education is one of the key aspects of Treo Eile’s mission, as Doherty says: “When we initially started I always felt that we needed to exclude the excuse that people didn’t know what to do with their horses, people couldn’t have an excuse not to do the right thing by them. “We wanted to give people the information, we wanted to make those connections and have that one-stop shop.” That is exactly what the Treo Eile website, which went live this spring, offers. There are sections dedicated to rehoming, retraining and education, which offer knowledge and expertise in the various disciplines in which former racehorses excel. There is also a database of coaches, who are skilled in training thoroughbreds and their riders, along with resources that help in every aspect of owning and retraining a former racehorse. “Treo Eile is where you go to get your
