ANNE O’Connor, who is well-known throughout both the thoroughbred and the sport horse sectors, is on the move and has joined Treo Eile as Executive Officer.

This is a recently established position and O’Connor will be based at the new Equine Innovation Hub offices on the grounds of the Irish National Stud.

The role will involve building on the three main objectives of Treo Eile, which was set up last year to promote the retraining of racehorses, which are to

CONNECT > racehorse owners with retrainers/new owners

SUPPORT > ex-racehorses with a thoroughbred event programme and

PROMOTE > the versatility and successes of the ex-racehorse

Having completed eight years as racing secretary to Michael Halford, with prior roles at Goffs, the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders Association, Owenstown Stud and the Irish School of Farriery, Anne brings a wide range of skills and experience to the role.

She was the recipient of the Administration Award at the 2021 Godolphin Stud & Stable Staff Awards and, with her involvement in sport horse and Pony Club activities, has a wide span of contacts to support this position.

“I’ve watched the efforts of Treo Eile over the last year and been impressed with the progress,” said Kildare native O’Connor who first became involved with retraining many years ago.

“The afterlife of racehorses has always interested me and, on the back of riding out with local trainers in my younger years, I retrained a number of ex-racehorses, so I’m delighted to have joined the organisation.

“I look forward to progressing the work of Treo Eile and assisting all involved in encouraging more racehorses to be retrained.”

Participation

Treo Eile (meaning: another direction) started as a website in March 2021 offering information for people who were interested in retraining a racehorse.

To encourage participation, the organisation’s founders, Caoimhe Doherty and Sarah Sands, began to add cash prizes to a range of equine events, awarding ‘Highest-placed thoroughbred’ prizes at the Eventing Ireland National Championships, Dressage Ireland Finals and on major showing days.

To qualify for the prize money on offer, competing thoroughbreds simply need to hold a Weatherbys passport (or one issued by a similar recognised horse racing authority) and register for free at www.treoeile.com/register. Prize pots in 2021 amounted to around €12,000 but that figure is set to double in 2022.

“This simple structure makes it easy for us to support retrained thoroughbreds without getting too involved in running our own shows,” said Doherty. “It has never been so important for racing to be on the leading leg in terms of aftercare.

“We have a simple plan that incentivises and creates opportunities for ex-racehorses in Ireland, while also supplying key information on horse care, aftercare and end-of life decisions. Anne will help us set up these event structures and pathways along with promoting the amazing successes already out there.

“In our first year, we’ve unearthed an array of retraining triumphs and documenting them is fundamental in promoting the thoroughbred as a credible alternative sports horse.”

Godolphin were first to embrace the Treo Eile model and played a vital role in helping establish the organisation. Since then, other bodies and industry players have backed the endeavours of the small team and continue to support their work which included a Christmas fund-raiser in December.

The Pro-Celebrity show jumping event caught the imagination, attracting both leading jockeys and event riders, and was televised in Ireland and Britain.

Jamie Buckley and Woodland Opera won Balmoral's Racehorse to Riding horse class \ Anne Hughes

Other publicity has ensured promotion of the message that the ex-racehorse can easily become an accomplished athlete and weekly updates in The Irish Field/Irish Horse World are testament to that. Columns outlining the success of horses such as Woodland Opera (Jessica Harrington), Sizing Australia (Henry de Bromhead) and Kessler (Stuart Crawford) are frequent which is engaging and exciting for all connections – both old and new.

Journey

For Diana Cooper, owner of Woodland Opera with her mother Valerie, the retraining journey has been thrilling.

The Coopers have retained ownership of the Robin Des Champs gelding but on his retirement last year, they placed him in the care of producer Jamie Buckley who quickly turned the former Grade 2 winner into a stunning show horse.

Taking some notable scalps at shows through the summer, the pair headed to the famous Balmoral Show in September where they were victorious in the ITBA-sponsored racehorse to riding horse championship.

The now 12-year-old Woodland Opera has since begun a positive transformation to show jumping too which has delighted the Coopers.

“These are important victories to promote,” explained Doherty. “Diana and Valerie have continued their journey with this special horse and Treo Eile has been able to document it across our social media, which stretches to a few thousand people at this stage.”

Jamie Buckley is one of several retrainers to be listed on the Treo Eile website along with established centres such as the Irish Horse Welfare Trust and the Irish Thoroughbred Agency who are actively retraining and reselling former racehorses into the leisure and competition market.

“The demand for horses generally has pushed prices up so a thoroughbred can be an efficient way to buy a really nice horse. We want to see them become more valuable as they are very trainable and this can only help the horses in the long term,” says Doherty.

Treo Eile is soon to launch a safe and secure advertising portal for ex-racehorses which will make it even easier to both offer and source a former racehorse.

TO assist those who are thinking about retraining a racehorse or perhaps have just started the process, Treo Eile will be scheduling training and feeding clinics to support their efforts.

A short survey is about to be launched to gather thoughts and guidance as to preferred formats and they are encouraging everyone to respond. This will be followed by a similar survey for racehorse owners, breeders and trainers to obtain their feedback.

Further afield, Treo Eile is also involved in a pilot scheme with Racing To Relate which is researching practically if former racehorses can be used within therapeutic settings such as Equine Assisted Learning programmes.

This is a growing area and the aim is to see more former racehorses with suitable temperaments being utilised.

So watch this space for more updates or get in touch if you think you can help. More information can be found on www.treoeile.com or by emailing hello@treoeile.com.

EVENTS CARRYING TREO EILE PRIZE-MONEY THIS YEAR

March: Baileys Flexi Eventing, The Meadows

March: Killossery Lodge Arena Eventing

April: Wexford Stepping Stones to Success League

April: Eventing Ireland Western Region Starter Stakes

April 10th: Botanica Show of the East

May 1st: Glandoran Show

June 5th: Carlow Show

June 6th: Dressage in the City, National Horse Sport Arena

June/July: Young Event Horse Series (YES) RDS qualifiers

July 17th: Wicklow Summer Show

July 30th: Nugentstown Show

August 6th: National Horse/Pony Championships

August 7th: Glandoran Show

August 18th: Lambertstown Derby Show

August 27th: Iverk Show

September: Dressage Ireland Finals

Eventing Ireland Thoroughbred League