The Stories We Inherit About Risk in Racing | Jessie McCarthy on Welfare and Social Licence

"It's in their constitution to be injured.""We've bred them to be like this."Both of these came up in the same conversation — and the paradox sitting between them is one of the patterns Jessie McCarthy's research surfaces about how racing talks to itself about risk.In this week's episode, Karen and Meta sit down with Jessie McCarthy, a final-year veterinary student at the University of Surrey, with a Master's in Animal Welfare, Ethics and Law from the University of Glasgow. Her recently published paper, co-authored with Euan Bennett and Heather Cameron-Whytock, takes a less common approach to social licence in racing: rather than starting from outside the sport, she interviewed twelve insiders about how they perceive the risks horses face, and the language they reach for when things go wrong.What emerges is a quietly revealing portrait of a sport in conversation with itself. Risk often gets reframed as a communication problem rather than a welfare one.Responsibility gets dispersed across the sport — until, as Jessie's research shows, it often quietly settles on the horses themselves. Their fragility. Their nature. Their breeding.But of course — we bred them.In this conversation, we explore:Why the words we reach for ("accident," "incident," "adverse event") shape what we believe is possibleHow tradition and identity in the horse world can act as a brake on reformPin firing, generational change, and what the next generation of equine vets is choosing differentlyWhy a horse's welfare may be shaped less by race day than by the other 360 daysThe question of equine consent — and why only one of twelve stakeholders raised itAnd, offered any wish in the world, Jessie's is gloriously simple: more turnout, more friends, more forageA thoughtful, generous conversation with a young vet whose research invites the horse world — insiders and outsiders alike — to reflect on the stories we've inherited.🎧 Subscribe and share with someone who loves horses. 🌐 changingrein.com.au 📧 [email protected]#ChangingRein #EquineWelfare #SocialLicence #Racing