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Expanding Owner Benefits By Changing Use

Introduction

The significant majority of Jamaican thoroughbred horses tend to have a rather short

revenue creating life span, for the owners of these horses, on average eight years or less.,while the natural life span of the horse over twenty rears. This relatively short life span in

racing creates burdens for the owners of these horses, having faced with the task of taking

care of a horse which is no longer earning money. Owners tend as a rule to try to reducethe twelve or more years of burden, by giving away the animal, in some cases sending the

horse to take part in other activities in the tourism sector, in polo or in show jumping (a

minority of cases), destroying the animal or where the horse in question is a mare with

breeding potential, it might be sent to a stud farm for breeding. Experience has also

shown that post-rase care of the animal is directly related to the earning potential of

the animal, a reality which is a fundamental concern of the Jamaica Racing

Commission.

The reason for the difficulty faced by owners in extending the economic life of their post-

race horses is closely tied in to the absence of a market for the utilization of the averagepost race horse.

This absence of a market for these animals are in itself tied in to the lack of any formal

structures at the policy level , linking the horse racing industry to the other sectors of theeconomy. For example, while horse traction could be used as a source for supplying

green electricity which could be of market benefit of the tourism sector if even a

fraction of their energy demands where met from green sources the lack of cross

industry linkages between the agency responsible for the development of the tourismproduct and the Jamaica Racing Commission, retards the development of this green

power generation market, even where the possibility of obtaining developmentalfunding from agencies such as the USAID or the German Organisationfor TechnicalCooperation, among other such international aid granting bodies. Below is a crude

calculation of the amount of electricity generatable using four horses:-

Calculating the power generating capacity of a team of four horses;

GivenThe average carrying capacity of an average horse is 30% of its weight

Radius of turning wheel is 4 meters

Average velocity of horses pulling wheel is 6 meters per second.

And formula :-

If average horse weighs in at :- 455 kgThen weight of team of four horses = 1818 kg

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Comfortable pulling capacity= 546 kg

546(36/4)4914 Newton per second

Average efficiency of generator = 45%

Therefore expected power out put from plant using team of four horses=2.211 kilowatts

per second or 7960.7 kilowatts per hour. In short capable of powering fourteen fridges/households. A set up of this type would require roughly three groups of four horses

working for twelve hours and at most two human attendants. The question here are what

type of incentives are given by JPS to micro generating units of this type and would the

JPS be willing to buy the energy generated. A facility of this type requires no more thanone hectare of land.

Jamaica spends millions of US dollars each year, importing breast milk substitutes for

nursing babies, yet it is a known fact that mares milk , be it from a mare or a jenny , isthe closest natural substitutes to milk from human sources (mothers). The barriers to the

creation of a market for mare or jennys milk is not only cultural (a challenge which ismarketing and packaging related in solution), but also the result of a lack of

communication between the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce

and the Jamaica Racing Commission.

The efficiency of the racing industry, cannot be measured only by the performance of

Caymanas Park, any measure of industry efficiency must take into account the efficiency

in the utilization of the basis capital input of the sector-the horse. A capital input which isexploited for less than half of its potential life span and whose revenue earning potential

realized at or below 30% must be a cause of concern for all involved.

Indeed a part of the failure to achieve greater industry efficiency rest with the local

authorizes, and not just at the level of Central Government, the failure of the country to

develop a vibrant composting market is a failure of the local Parish Councils. In spite ofthe fact that local authorizes are faced with significant challenges in the disposal of

market and household waste (urban waste), no attempt has been made to identify lands

which could be least to prospective compost producers. Owners of race horses and track

operators cannot be reasonably expected to set up composting facilities a venture whichis in itself outside of their spheres of interests. A functioning compost market, would

have led to the commodization of stable and pasture waste.