A Life Well Lived: British Racing’s Independent Welfare Board and Its 26-Project Vision

The Horse Welfare Board, established in 2019 as an independently-chaired body reporting to British racing’s tripartite Members’ Committee, represents a structural commitment to welfare that goes beyond regulatory compliance. Its five-year strategy “A Life Well Lived,” published in February 2020, identified 26 specific projects across three pillars: quality of life, collective lifetime responsibility, and best possible safety.

The Independent Structure

In July 2025, Baroness Minette Batters was appointed as Independent Chair alongside three new independent members: Fred Barrelet, Dr Neil Hudson MP, and Jessica Stark. This leadership structure, combining industry representatives with independent voices bringing external expertise, ensures the Board operates with both practical knowledge and critical distance from commercial pressures.

Barry Johnson, the Board’s founding independent chair and former Chairman of World Horse Welfare and President of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, established the Board’s philosophical foundation: “The horse is at the core of the Horse Welfare Board’s philosophy.” That principle has guided all 26 projects.

The Three Pillars

**Best Possible Quality of Life**: Projects under this pillar address day-to-day welfare standards in training yards, racecourse facilities, transport, and veterinary care. This includes initiatives like the Thoroughbred Health Network, which translates veterinary research into practical guidance for trainers, and the EquiBioSafe app, which improves disease prevention awareness.

**Collective Lifetime Responsibility**: British racing’s ambition is complete traceability of all horses bred for the sport from birth through retirement. The BHA is developing an all-encompassing database combining registration, ownership, racing career, and post-retirement pathways. The goal is to eliminate the “lost horses” problem, foals that never make it to racing and whose welfare British racing cannot currently guarantee.

**Best Possible Safety**: This pillar encompasses the Racing Risk Models project, padded hurdle rollout, ongoing fence modification programmes, and the continuous analysis of risk factors contributing to injuries and fatalities. The principle is simple: any injury or fatality that could reasonably have been prevented represents a welfare failure.

The £5.5 Million Investment

In 2022, the Racing Foundation committed £5.5 million to fund welfare projects, with ongoing support from the Horserace Betting Levy Board. As of February 2026, 21 of the 26 projects are live. This funding model, independent charitable support plus levy funding, insulates welfare investment from the commercial volatility that affects other areas of racing operations.

The Retraining of Racehorses (RoR)

British racing’s official charity, launched in April 2000, is responsible for developing sustainable solutions for horses post-racing career. RoR generates demand for ex-racehorses across equestrian disciplines, showing, eventing, dressage, polo, show jumping, and leisure riding. The charity operates as part of the lifetime responsibility commitment, ensuring horses bred for racing have viable second careers.

The Whip Consultation

One of the Board’s most visible recommendations involved the use of the whip in racing. The Board recommended a public consultation on allowable use and penalties for misuse, balancing safety requirements (jockeys need control of half-ton animals) with public perception and animal welfare concerns. The Board’s position was clear: “This is a matter of public trust.”

Measuring Success

The Board’s strategy is designed to evolve over its five-year lifespan as data emerges and projects deliver results. Success metrics include reduction in preventable injuries and fatalities; increased traceability percentages for horses bred for racing; improved welfare standards in training yards verified through inspection; and enhanced public trust in racing’s welfare commitments.

The strategy is not static. As Barry Johnson noted at launch: “The strategy is just the beginning of a journey, and it will evolve and develop over its five-year lifespan.” The Board’s commitment is to continuous improvement informed by evidence, not to a fixed set of interventions that might become outdated.

The Accountability Structure

The Horse Welfare Board reports to the Members’ Committee, where the BHA, racecourses, and participants share responsibility for industry strategy. This structure creates accountability: welfare recommendations come from an independent Board, but implementation responsibility sits with the tripartite governance structure representing all of racing’s stakeholders.

The model provides independence without isolation. The Board can make difficult recommendations knowing it has structural authority. But it must also work collaboratively with industry stakeholders who control implementation resources.

That balance, independence with collaboration, is what makes the Horse Welfare Board model effective. It is not a regulator imposing rules from outside. It is an independent body embedded within racing’s governance, driving change through evidence, persuasion, and strategic investment.