When it comes to race horses in Saratoga, health and wellness is very important to New York State, and will be a bigger focus in 2017.

According to News 10 ABC, starting in February, the gaming commission will make it a requirement for race horse owners to take the horses' after-care more seriously.

Horse owners will be required to watch this video about the lives of horses after retirement from racing.

A race horse's career is actually quite short. After racing is over, they spend the majority of their lives in retirement. It's important that they spend time being comfortable and being treated humanely.

There will also be public access to all horses bred in New York State since 2012.

Do I believe in horse racing? To be honest, I'm pretty impartial. Not being from the Capital Region, I don't have much of a connection to the pastime. It seems the horses could be treated better as there were several deaths reported last season.

Any measures taken to protect the well-being of the horses is a step in the right direction.

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