A two-woman operation has re-homed more than 60 retired racehorses in the past three years and currently has 40 horses in preparation to be re-homed.
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Recycled Racehorses has taken in horses from across NSW and the ACT including horses in the Shoalhaven, from local trainers including Robert and Luke Price.
Chynna Marston, with the help of her mum Cheryl, run Recycled Racehorses, based in Wallaroo near Canberra.
Chynna herself is well accustomed to the racing industry, she had a short stint as a jockey but a serious accident ended her riding career.
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She is now a commentator for Sky Racing at the Nowra Turf Club and other meets across regional NSW.
"When I was working in the industry I found myself getting really quite attached to the horses and realised they didn't have too much of an opportunity or a future after that," Ms Marston said.
"I couldn't bare not knowing where the horses that had given me such wonderful experiences were heading after their retirement."
Many people were shocked by the horrific footage on 7:30 last night of ex-racehorses being slaughtered.
Speaking after the program, Chynna said enough horses don't get re-homed and believes this is because of the large number bred every year.
She believes only 50-60% of retired racehorses are re-homed.
One barrier to giving old racehorses a new home is misconceptions about the difficulty of owning one.
"For me, I've only ever had wonderful experiences with off the track thoroughbreds," Ms Marston said.
"People only get to see thoroughbreds at the races, so they're very high energy in very high pressure environments.
"However people do forget these horses have had so much handling and exposure throughout their lives.
"By the time they do retire and we get to take them away from the high energy environment and treat them more like a horse they are absolutely wonderful... I probably wouldn't have anything other than an off the track thoroughbred."
Having ex-racehorses has been an incredibly healing experience for Chynna and she said they have been crucial to her well-being.
"I was involved in a quite violent relationship and have post-traumatic stress from that and if it wasn't for those horses I would honestly say I wouldn't be here today," she said.
"They are such wonderful animals when it comes to dealing with stress and trauma.
"We've had our horses involved in rehabilitation for situations where children have been victims of sexual abuse - we've had horses that have helped with quite severe ADHD and non-verbal autism."
"These horses have been not only able to build rapport and relationships with the people but also help their healing."
Recycled Racehorses is funded through donations from individuals and organisations. If you'd like to help out or learn more about their work you can go to recycledracehorses.com.au.