New campaign launched by British racing to build public trust around horse welfare
British racing has launched HorsePWR, a new communications campaign designed to share and promote the facts around welfare in horseracing. The campaign’s new platform www.horsepwr.co.uk provides the facts about the sport and the Thoroughbred, to share information about their purpose, the lives they lead, and the high welfare and safety standards that underpin British racing.
Racing’s new digital hub brings together in one place all the most important information on horse welfare – easy to find, easy to read – with facts and data provided and questions answered. HorsePWR also explores the areas that racing has committed to improve, from reducing risk on and off the racecourse to better supporting horses when they leave the sport.
The campaign’s name is centred on a clear need to better connect with people around ‘purpose, welfare, and responsibility’ in British racing, with these core values underpinning the campaign and its PWR acronym. Visually, HorsePWR takes a bold and confident approach, putting the Thoroughbred front and centre of the entire campaign to promote its status as an equine athlete.
Commenting on this bold new approach to welfare communications, Kinross-based Jump trainer Lucinda Russell said:
“This is just what racing needs. We must provide the facts, help educate, and confront the tough questions head on. The facts matter. We understand our responsibility and respect our horses, and we want to make sure the public know this too. It’s good to see us taking a new approach, showing pride in the lives we give our horses, and challenging and correcting inaccurate information which is put into the public domain by those who are opposed to the sport.”
Racing broadcaster Richard Hoiles added:
“Following the welfare debates around last year’s Grand National it was felt the sport lacked a single source for accurate facts about racing, and this campaign fills that vacuum. This is about providing credible data and information, in the right context, so that people can make informed opinions.”
Gabi Whitfield, Head of Welfare Communications, Great British Racing said:
“This is a positive shift for British racing. The public want to know that horses bred for racing are leading good lives, that racing acts responsibly and in the best interests of the horse, and that all efforts are being made to reduce risk wherever possible. That’s why HorsePWR has been created. And it will cover the full spectrum, from helping rebut misinformation through to promoting the many aspects of racehorse welfare that the sport can be rightly proud of.”
Over the past 10 years, consumer research has repeatedly highlighted that concerns about horse welfare are a barrier to following or engaging with the sport. Areas of concern include injuries and fatalities on racecourses, questions about the ethics of racing, and worries about what happens to horses after their career ends. The HorsePWR campaign has been created to tackle these concerns head on, and in a new way.
With plans to grow and develop over time, racing’s more confident and dynamic approach aims to educate, reassure, and inspire racing’s existing fans, and the potential fans of the future.