Mr. John Osborne:

The Treo Eile model is for connecting horses with opportunities and the opportunities are through a registration process. That is a step in direction of knowing who is taking custody of the animal in its second career. That is falling short of being forever because if there is not onward movement, we could depend upon that. The French system has relied on a similar network being created but the horses that go to so-called next homes have to revert to the central organiser before they can be reallocated to another career if it does not work out in the first port of call. That is one approach that fixes that problem. It is hard to find a system that is viable and robust enough to do what the Senator is asking for, which is that there is full visibility forever. We have looked at lots of international systems and while there is no one model that has absolutely cracked it in any country, we are open to suggestions. We are working with people who are keen to develop this as a career path for people in the retraining business, for example. There are agencies that are specifically targeting horses of a particular type for riders of a specific ability. The danger there was highlighted in the documentary, as the Senator mentioned. Misapplying a horse to an inappropriate position is a disaster for both the rider and, potentially, the horse.

There is no simple solution, but we are looking at lots of different ways. We will crack it bit by bit. It will not be one simple solution, but a lot of little things and a lot of alternative outlets where horses are developed.