Horse Racing
Australian Horse Trainer Roystan Carr
Roystan Carr is one of Tasmanias leading thoroughbred race horse trainers. He has recently converted his stables to barefoot and facing an ongoing battle to change the Australian rules of racing. Roystan was fined $700 for breaking the rules of racing with his barefoot horses. This is his story…
Trainer Roystan Carr with star horse Riley Redwing & Jockey Peter Mertens.
What are the rules of Australian racing?
The rules stipulate that horse must be fully shod with plates or tips.
What happened the day of the fine?
I broke the rules of racing trying to run my horses barefoot. A farrier checked the horse in the barrier before the race. I was fined for breach of the rule and for lying that tips were on.
Are you aware that your horse Lego Man is perhaps the first in Australia to win a race as a barefoot horse?
Not really so, as we had to quickly fit him with metal tips to the front hooves before his race. He is trained totally bare and I would like to see him run without even the tips. Following the fine and hearing, I had a discussion with the stewards about my reasons to run them barefoot and why I want to be allowed to do so. A jockey piped up saying he is not keen to ride a barefoot horse. He said he thinks they will slip behind. I pointed out it happens already with horses in shoes and less likely to happen with a barefoot horse.
The other interesting thing about lego man is he had a very unsuccessful stint in Melbourne as a shod horse. So I bought him back and took the shoes off, His form has turned around since he went barefoot, from running last in Melbourne to running first and second here.
Tip to comply with Australian racing standards
What are some of the other performance victories in your stable?
Last weekend the 27thNovember, Plush Rose won her race. She had been diagnosed months early with a bone spur in her knee and her racing career was debatable. Since she has been barefoot she always races a win or place.
Have you found any animosity toward you?
No I just cop a lot of cheek. Told to behave myself. Nothing venomous.
Do you realize you are a pioneer in barefoot racing in Australia?
Sometimes I feel a little evangelistic. I have to curb my enthusiasm for this. I look at shod horses with bad feet, Ali Barber style toes and try not to say anything. I want to be diplomatic, say to others, Just give it a go.
Do you think we are going to see the rules of racing changed?
I dearly hope so. I feel so low at times that I want to hand in my licence and wait til the rules change. But that is a quitters attitude and I am no quitter. I will keep fighting. At some stage I will be given the right to practice my trade as I want to.
The change is going to happen, its inevitable. But while people are still so naďve, closeminded or traditionalist, it will continue to be a battle. At the aust trainers assoc meeting in Tasmania they advised me not to go this alone. That it would be like hitting my head against a brickwall. There are a list of top trainers here in Tasmania who support the motion to allow the horses to race barefoot. All of us feel that running our horses in metal shoes or tips impedes on our ability to train. All we want is the opportunity to run our stables how we want to run them. We will see a change in our lifetime and shoeing will be the odd thing to do.
How long have you been working with horses?
Over 30 years. The love of the horse and my desire to make a living doing what I love got me started in the racing industry. I initially worked on stock stations in the outback and then worked in racing breaking in horses for TJ Smith and Bart Cummings.
What made you decide to train your horses barefoot?
My champion horse and “Race horse of the year 2004” Riley Redwings was scratched on the day of the Hobart Cup with a bowed tendon. The part-owner is friends with Dave MacDonald, inventor of the Old Mac hoof boot and very public barefoot advocate. He explained and showed me the trim. Within 6 months of being diagnosed, he was back on the track racing and finished a strong second in his first start back. Riley is the reason behind the conversion of the whole stable.
What have you noticed with the horses that are barefoot?
I am seeing the horses bloom. Because of the increased circulation and all their internal organs working, their coats are fantastic. Their recovery post sprint is better. We have a forgiving surface here at Brighton Race Track but neighbouring stables with their shod horses are suffering shin splints and soreness training on the same surface. It is common with say a stable of 20 yearlings to have 10 down with shin soreness but we have had no sign of it since with the young ones barefoot.
Even if they pull up the next day a bit scratchy, we back off but keep up the exercise, the blood circulating and they turnaround, sound again. Another example, a young filly who arrived here in shoes and was well overdue for a trim kept stumbling. I couldn’t stand it much longer and against the owners wishes I took the shoes off and trimmed over ˝ inch of foot off. Your could honestly see the relief on her face. And she trotted off and did a great sprint.
Horses that aren’t shod also don’t chop themselves up. You can imagine what that does to them mentally and to their confidence when they really let loose on their first gallop and cut their legs up with the shoes.
And theres the cost saving. Less farrier costs. And the cost savings long term through longevity of the horses racing career. Not only do I want to see this all happening – it is happening.
In my 30 years of training, I have honestly followed suit with other trainers, trained similar to Jo Blow down the road. You don’t often know why something is working. But barefoot makes sense – I have learnt something. A lot of people are still skeptics. I;m openminded which is why I have given this a go. It is working. Its incredible. Imagine how good the true racing champions could be without shoes and they would be racing until they are 10 or 12 years old.
Is what they say about thoroughbred feet being weak got any truth to it?
No way, it is such a fallacy that t/breds have weak feet.
There has been so many good thoroughbreds broken down and a lot of their problems can be attributed to shoeing. Some to overtraining. But the majority of issues like bowed tendons, ligament problems, navicular, laminitis could be prevented with bare hooves.
A thoroughbred is an equine athlete. When we tack on shoes, we reduce its ability to run. We increase concussion, we restrict blood flow and cause shrinkage of the digital cushion. There is so many negatives to using shoes. It is no wonder there feet are considered weak. The shoes cause it.
In Australia what is the conventional lifestyle for a race horse?
Well its pretty un-natural. They are confined to a stable nearly 24 hours except for their brief exercise run. They usually cant see the other horses. They are on high protein feeds.
Do you follow this…
Circumstances at present dictate this. But the horses are not in solitary confinement. All the stables open out to face each other so the horses can see one another. My longterm goal is to train on a farm and keep it as natural as possible. I want to see them paddocked, running as a herd. Content and happy and of course, no shoes.