21/11/2025

New developments also link the matter to Tuscany and the province of Grosseto, where some “athlete” horses — that is, coming from racing circuits or equestrian sports — allegedly passed through before ending up in the illegal supply chain.

In light of this information, IHP considers it necessary to intervene to reaffirm its position on a phenomenon it has been denouncing for years: the so-called “athlete” horses are among the main victims of clandestine slaughter.

“These episodes — IHP states — are not exceptions: they represent a recurring mechanism. The ‘athletes’ who generated profit while they raced or were used in equestrian sports are discarded as soon as they no longer make money. Illegal slaughter thus becomes the pressure-valve of a system that does not want to take responsibility for the end of the animals’ careers.”

According to IHP, the responsibilities are clear:

The equine registry does not work, does not guarantee traceability, and allows the loss of fundamental information about horses retired from racing.

Inspections are insufficient and leave room for opaque movements and suspicious transfers.

The world of racing and equestrian sports systematically avoids taking responsibility for the “after,” pushing many horses toward unofficial and dangerous channels.

IHP’s demands

A serious reform of the equine registry, finally allowing to know the fate of each horse after its athletic career.

Tight controls on racetracks, stables, riding schools, transfers of ownership and movements of former “athletes”.

A law that obliges those who profit from horses to also take care of their management at the end of their career, ensuring them care, welfare and a dignified old age.

“It is unacceptable that horses which have been exploited in races and equestrian sports are abandoned to such a cruel end,” says IHP’s president, Sonny Richichi. “What has emerged in Calabria, as now in Maremma, is the tip of the iceberg: a supply chain that uses animals as long as they produce, and eliminates them when they become a cost. Until there is intervention on the registry, on controls, and on the economic and moral responsibility of those who exploit them, we will continue to see these cases. It is time the entire sector stops looking the other way.”