Fallen racehorse retrainer Jessica Schneider handed 10-year ban on owning horses over charges of animal cruelty

Photos have revealed the cruel treatment of horses that led to a fallen trainer’s 10-year ban amid a call for stronger protections.

Jessica Schneider at Geelong Magistrates Court.

Exclusive: A former poster girl for Racing Victoria’s official racehorse retraining program has been banned from owning horses for 10 years after being convicted of aggravated animal cruelty and failing to provide reasonable treatment to a sick animal.

Jessica Schneider, 35, received possibly hundreds of former racehorses through the Off The Track [OTT] program as an acknowledged retrainer and has disputed claims of animal cruelty.

The conviction relates to a former racehorse that was once trained by star trainer Ciaron Maher, whose gelding Gringotts won the $3 million Big Dance at Royal Randwick Racecourse earlier this month.

Schneider, who became an acknowledged retrainer in 2013, has disputed the claims of animal cruelty, saying she has devoted most of her life to the welfare of former racehorses.

The News Corp investigation has prompted animal welfare advocates to call for stronger protections for racehorses that would track the animals for the entirety of their lives as well as increase financial support for retrainers.

Jessica Schneider, 35, has been banned from owning horses for 10 years after being convicted of aggravated animal cruelty and failing to provide reasonable treatment to a sick animal.

Schneider was part of Racing Victoria’s Off The Track program for about nine years, which was introduced to ensure the welfare of racehorses when they finished their racing careers and is funded by a portion of a two per cent cut of prize money.

In 2019 Schneider was a finalist for the Racing Victoria Acknowledged Retrainer of the Year Award and was interviewed by industry magazine Horse Deals about her flourishing business.

And during an interview with Racing. Com in 2016, Schneider gushed about helping racehorses when they finished their racing careers.

But five years later in October 2021, Racing Victoria removed Ms Schneider as an acknowledged retrainer due to animal welfare concerns. A spokesperson said she declined the racing authority’s offer of help to rehome the horses under her care.

Schneider’s fall from grace appears to have started during the pandemic as business shut across the state, with the horse retrainer attempting to fundraise online to support the care of 39 horses.

“Sadly from the multi-billion dollar industry we work so hard for we have not received a cent in funding to assist what we do, and believe me times have been tough before!,” she said in 2020.

Jessica Schneider.

Racing Victoria currently gives Off The Track acknowledged retrainers $150 a month for each horse they report. The care of a horse including feeding and veterinary care costs hundreds of dollars a week. Retrained racehorses can be sold for thousands of dollars as equestrian horses or as personal riders.

Separate to her current legal problems, Schneider says her business was effectively destroyed in July 2022 when A Current Affair aired a report that claimed she sold a lame horse to a legally blind woman. Ms Schneider vehemently denies the claim.

“I have dedicated my entire life, since I was 12, to re-educating and saving the lives of racehorses,” she told News Corp.

“I have one of the most prominent businesses in re-education and basically saving retired racehorses from either death in a knackery or neglect or being shot after the races.”

The RSPCA raided the site of Schneider’s former business Vengeance Performance Horses in Lovely Banks, near Geelong, in June 2022, and seized five starving horses, including one so emaciated the animal had suffered muscle wastage.

RSPCA seized former racehorse Sutcliffe. The horse suffering a painful injury while on Jessica Schneider's property but she has denied owning the horse to News Corp.

Photographs obtained by News Corp show borderline underweight horses with slightly prominent bones. In one photo a horse stands in front of a pile of rubbish.

The RSPCA would later seize another horse called Sutcliffe suffering a painful injury. The animal was later euthanised at the direction of the animal welfare agency without the permission of Schneider.

On June 23 this year Schneider was fined $2500 but escaped conviction at Geelong Magistrates Court over charges of animal cruelty over the five underweight horses found on her property.

A week later on June 30 at Geelong Magistrates Court, Schneider was convicted of aggravated animal cruelty and the unreasonable failure to provide treatment to a sick animal. She was fined $5000 and disqualified from owning a horse for 10 years.

The conviction relates to the former racehorse Sutcliffe who Schneider has denied owning to News Corp and the RSPCA.

Jessica Schneider.

In correspondence obtained by News Corp, Schneider told the RSPCA that the racehorse was abandoned at her property by an owner who claimed to be seeking a short term agistment before they abruptly disappeared.

“He’s [Sutcliffe] just tagged along with the others out there and not been a hassle so never had to worry about him until now,” Schneider said in an email sent on November 27 in 2023.

The RSPCA, which had issued Schneider with a notice of compliance requiring her to seek veterinary assistance for Sutcliffe, explained she was considered the owner of the horse.

“Obviously if you surrendered the horse to us we would get a veterinary evaluation done immediately and then provide treatment and see where that took us,” said the RSPCA officer.

“There is no shame in surrendering him if that is what you need to do both for financial reasons as well as your time and being able to provide ongoing care.

“My main concern is that this horse receives what he needs in a timely fashion, I am aware it has been going on for several days longer than we wanted, and I just want to make sure he is comfortable.”

RSPCA seized Sutcliffe, who suffering a painful injury while on Jessica Schneider's property. The horse was later euthanised at the direction of the animal welfare agency without the permission of Schneider.

Sutcliffe had been trained by Ciaron Maher and Vincent Malady and appears to have only raced a couple of times before entering the Off The Track program.

Mr Malady said Sutcliffe was a lovely natured horse who retired with a local woman who was not Schneider in about 2019.

“I’m disappointed to find out what happened to Sutcliffe because I was sure with his nature he would have ended up as a good horse to someone,” he said.

Mr Malady said he did not know how Sutcliffe ended up at Ms Schneider’s property. Sutcliffe is registered in the Off The Track database.

Schneider told News Corp she missed most of the court appearances due to battling symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder and issues related to domestic and family violence.

She said the RSPCA seized the horses after she told them she did not have enough money to take the horses to the vet, as stipulated in the notice to comply, due to a temporary shortage of funds.

“The night before them [RSPCA] doing the seizure and coming to my property I explained everything was going to be rectified and everything was going to be back to normal,” she said.

“I would have the funds and everything back again after having no access to a cent for like three to four weeks.”

Jessica Schneider.

Victoria Animal Justice Party MP Georgie Purcell said racehorse retrainers were struggling to keep afloat amid a lack of support and funding and said the Off The Track program was “basically a PR exercise for the industry to look like they’re rehoming horses”.

“I think it’s an absolute joke of the industry to wipe their hand of this case and say it’s not their responsibility,” she said.

“It’s always been my long held view that the industry is responsible for bringing these horses into the world for the purpose of racing and they have an obligation to care for them for the entirety of their lives, not just while they’re profitable.”

A RSPCA Victoria spokesperson said Schneider was charged under animal cruelty prevention legislation after horses in her care were found with insufficient food, water, and veterinary care.

“Ms Schneider was found guilty of multiple offences and received a conviction, fines, and was disqualified from horse ownership for a period of 10 years,” said the spokesperson.

News Corp approached Racing Victoria and Ciaron Maher for comment.

Originally published as Fallen racehorse retrainer Jessica Schneider handed 10-year ban on owning horses over charges of animal cruelty