Alan F. Balch - Those pesky rules

In California, throughout the United States, and worldwide, if there’s one gigantic bone of contention we can all see, it’s the starkly divided attitudes of populations toward the need for rules.

An anti-regulatory fever seems to be reaching everywhere, often couched in terms of a grand contest between freedom and tyranny. Within racing’s microscopic corner of the governmental universe, we sense it every day. After all, racing is probably the world’s most regulated sport. Over a century of experience, with its glory and equally alluring temptations, taught governments what was needed to ensure its integrity in the public interest. And perhaps to save it from itself.

There’s another reason, of course. And that’s always been our reliance on the noblest of animals, whose welfare must always be our paramount concern. We can’t just mouth those words. We have to live with them. And be entirely intolerant of any in our midst who don’t.  

That intolerance of unacceptable behavior requires robust rules. Sadly, human and racing history teach that the worst angels of our nature tend to thrive in a vacuum of rational regulation, or if its enforcement is ineffective.

It is in this context that California Thoroughbred Trainers is leading a task force of all the interdependent organizational and other stakeholders in our state’s racing to determine what additional steps, beyond those already enforced over the last three years, might be taken to protect the welfare of our horses still further. Over the last decade, and nationwide, all objective statistical evidence points to impressive progress in making our sport safer and safer for its essential athletes, human and equine. 

This effort is important, I believe, but not because of those who loudly oppose the very existence of racing. The most vocal and extreme of those factions cannot ever be satisfied with any enhancement of our welfare practices; they believe fundamentally that an animal is required to provide its “informed consent” in order to participate in any activity. Such activities include sport, of course, but also confinement in any way, or control by humans. Therefore, for them, no pets, nor zoos, nor conservation, nor breeding, nor human consumption of animals, obviously.

No, our effort is important because we ourselves should be the professionals who elevate standards of horsemanship and care, in our own self-interest and that of our equine partners. It is difficult for me to conceive of a logical rule proposed to enhance equine welfare that wouldn’t be welcomed by the best horsemen among us, however much the reason or need for it might be lamented. 

In my comments to the California Horse Racing Board in January, I called attention to two specific areas of particular concern, to begin with, in our statistical safety figures: incidents of unexplained sudden death in racehorses and shoulder fractures. The first is a particular problem for humans as well as equines; and answers will only come from sustained, expensive, targeted research, some of which is already underway via the Grayson-Jockey Club Foundation. That foundation, and others like it, have for decades proved racing’s commitment to improving equine welfare, doing by far the most important work in the world for horses in every activity, not just racing.

The risk of shoulder fractures among horses returning from layoffs needs to be dramatically reduced or even eliminated by improved horsemanship. Serious continuing education as to best practices is the key here, since equine respiration and musculature fitness improve more rapidly following a layoff than does bone strength. Owners and trainers may therefore be led to believe that increasing training stress is indicated before it should be.  

A suggestion I made about potentially compulsory education for trainers on this matter brought me the accusation that I was “anti-trainer.” Far from it. The opposite, in fact.  

Nobody except a trainer has a greater appreciation for and respect of what horse trainers do than I.  

So, who better to elevate the professional standards of trainers than trainers themselves? That is precisely why we as an organization accepted the responsibility of leading the California task force, when the suggestion was made that a rule should be advanced to penalize trainers for catastrophic breakdowns. Instead, let’s consider every conceivable idea, from any source, that could lead to continuing improvement in our welfare practices.

When arguments about the tyranny of regulation and freedom swirl around me, whether in racing, or about public health or anything else, I just stop to think. Public order—even productive public debate —depends on a common understanding of the rules. And a consensus definition of the common good.

What would happen to public safety (what is happening to public safety) if speed limits were removed (or not enforced), if traffic lights disappeared, or driver’s licenses weren’t required? And what would happen to air and train travelers and homeowners if rigorous regulation for transportation and housing safety weren’t in place? 

The need for robust regulation of racing has been demonstrated time and time again . . . despite the fact that so few trainers are ever accused of serious rule violations. That alone is a sufficient reason that trainers themselves should study and recommend rules and practices for improving the sport’s safety.

We and all of racing’s other stakeholders continue to welcome serious suggestions from any quarter.