Welfare centre for former racehorses in Malvern to close over a lack of funding

The Racehorse Welfare Centre, which provides a home for retired horses, is set to close its doors due to funding problems.

The charity, which is located near Malvern in Worcestershire, was set up a decade ago by Lee Morse, who was exposed to the plight faced by some retired racehorses after learning about the issue from her son, a British Racing School graduate.

Funded initially out of Morse's own pocket before finding financial support from Retraining of Racehorses and the Sir Peter O'Sullevan Charitable Trust, the centre gained charitable status four years ago and currently homes ten former racehorses.

It had also been home to Kinkeel – the chaser who gained notoriety for running in Grade 1 races when well out of his depth – before his death at the age of 20 this year.

On Sunday, Morse said: "In recent years it's become harder and harder on the fundraising side. We were hoping to be able to afford to have paid staff by now but we haven't been able to do that – we still rely on volunteers.

"It's a lot of work. We've had quite high-dependency horses who have had more problems than we expected and we get no discount from vets or farriers. All that work has to be paid for.

"The trustees and I knew this was coming since the start of the year and looked at various avenues that could have saved us. This hasn't been an easy decision."

On what the future holds for the centre's current residents, Morse added: "Now we are trying to find homes for all the horses. They came to us on the proviso they would be with us until the end of their days. We are hopeful the ones who are rideable will find nice homes and we've been advertising a lot – our youngest is only eight.

"So many former racehorses end up in difficult circumstances, many are given away cheaply and end up with inexperienced handlers. They are a very different breed to other horses."

Kinkeel, the stable's best-known resident, made a British record 113 chase starts for trainer Tony Carroll and the G1 Racing Club and came into Morse's care after she replied to a Facebook advert appealing for a good home for the veteran chaser.

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