Training Articles

Keeping it in the family - can a horse's family traits be used to a trainer's advantage?

 It’s the same story at every dinner party. A stranger will invariably ask, “What do you do?”, as if the response will somehow explain the very essence of one’s being. Similarly, the first question we have for the owner or trainer who tells us he has a nice yearling on the farm is, “What’s it by?”

Uncovering the value of front wraps

 If front wraps are on, all bets are off. So says conventional wisdom among many handicappers who suspect trouble when they see a horse running in “fronts.”

Arctic Winter Conditions - how to train racehorses in the snow

In some parts of the world the Thoroughbred is required to run in hostile conditions during the winter months.

Aiken Training Track - a center of excellence for training racehorses

Set in a small southern town in South Carolina, the Aiken Training Track has developed into one of the world’s best training facilities.

Training with More Precision - how technology can help train a racehorse

To view the graphs, please click on the link at the end of the article.

Am I galloping enough? Or too much? When is my filly ready to breeze 5/8s safely? Does my colt race better when breezed 3/8s a week prior to the start? How quickly does each horse in my stable recover from the last race?
 

Why do racehorses have an optimum trip?

Irrespective of where in the world Thoroughbreds are raced, individual horses are usually campaigned over a narrow range of distance and are often categorized as sprinters (5-6f/1000-1200m)), middle distance performers (7-10f/1400-2000m) or stayers (>10f/>2000m).

Raiders from the Southern Hemisphere

Nearly 73 years before future Horse of the Year Invasor arrived in Florida in December 2005, the great Australian champion Phar Lap captured North America’s richest race, the Agua Caliente Handicap, in track record time.

Test of the Champion - a history of the Belmont Stakes

It takes a special horse and a special trainer to crack the Test of the Champion. In 1978 Affirmed beat Alydar by a head in the Belmont Stakes to become the 11th Triple Crown winner. The feat has not been achieved since.

Training the untrainable - how to improve the respiratory system

Most body systems of the horse have some capacity to respond to physical training of the type used to improve fitness and performance in Thoroughbred racehorses. The art of training is of course assessing what each horse needs, when to start, when to back off and when to accept that you have reached a suitable level of fitness which should result in a horse being able to get close to achieving a performance consistent with its genetic potential. However, the one body system that training cannot impove on is the respiratory system and this article will highlight some of the implicatons of this.

First time on turf - how to prepare a horse

Preparing a horse for his first start on turf is trickier than most people realize. Most tracks ban maidens from their grass courses, and many allow only grass stakes-nominated horses who have not made their last start against maidens or claimers to work on the turf course.

From Synthetic a prep race to the Kentucky Derby dirt

Street Sense’s dramatic, decisive victory in last year’s Kentucky Derby restructured a lot of perceptions about winning the Run for the Roses. Not only could a Breeders'Cup Juvenile winner return the following spring to capture the first leg of the Triple Crown, but he could make his final prep for Churchill Downs' dirt track on a synthetic one.

Resistance Training - can it be applied to racehorses?

The term alone, "resistance training," invites at the very least skepticism, and in some cases, even a trace of joviality. As Hall of Fame conditioner Dick Mandella remarked when asked about it, "I'm very familiar with resistance training. For many years, I've had owners who resisted my training. I've had a few horses who resisted, too."

Derby Starters - where do they go from there?

Led by Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense, the three-year-old crop of 2007 rearranged a lot of people’s thinking on what it takes to succeed on the first Saturday of May and beyond.

Breaking In - laying the groundwork with the racehorses of the future

While the Thoroughbred racehorse has evolved through methods of breeding, raising, feeding, vaccinating and training, one thing that has remained fairly constant is that they must be broken in with great care and patience if they stand any chance of doing what they were born to do.

Workouts for first-time 2-year-olds

Perhaps Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas described a two-year-old maiden race full of first-time starters at Saratoga best: “You come up here with a horse you really like, and you look up at the toteboard and he’s 15-1.”

Long Layoffs - training a horse to win after months of not running

With Thoroughbreds racing fresher and less frequently these days, training a horse to win off a month layoff is commonplace. But when a trainer stretches his Thoroughbred’s layoff to six months or longer, and he wins that first start back, that’s special. Doing it consistently stamps a trainer as one of the best in the business.

REINVENTING THE WHEEL - the Kurt Equine Training System

The combined forces of Italian trainer Daniele Camuffo and the enigmatic Turkish businessman Mehmet Kurt have brought to fruition a project first dreamt up by Kurt himself more than a decade ago. 

Should Horsewalkers be Round or Oval?

Horsewalkers (electro-mechanical devices that allow multiple horses to be exercised simultaneously in a controlled fashion) are used extensively in the management and training of horses. They permit controlled exercise of horses at walk and trot. They are less labour intensive than most other forms of controlled exercise, such as walking in-hand, lunging, riding, swimming or running horses on treadmills.

Nasal Strips - increasing performance, reducing EIPH

Nasal strips’ future in Thoroughbred racing seemed limitless in the fall of 1999. Just two weeks after longshot Burrito won a race at Keeneland wearing one, 29 of the 101 horses competing in the 1999 Breeders’ Cup at Gulfstream Park November 6th had the 4-by-6-inch strip affixed 1.5 inches above their nostrils.

Is no matter more pressing than international rules on medication?

There is a need for several changes and improvements in international racing. None can be more pressing that the issue on international regulations on the use of medication. Both on and off the tracks.

Jockey School - we spends a day at the North American Racing Academy

Standing in the classroom of the North American Racing Academy (NARA) at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky is a sensory thrill. The smell of leather, the sharp crack of reins slapping against outstretched necks as seven jockeys scrub hard on their mounts. If you close your eyes and listen to the strained breathing of the riders you can almost hear the cadence of the hooves. The only thing that isn’t real are the horses, but with names like John Henry, Alysheba and Sunday Silence, they are all but real.

The benefits of long reining - enhancing a horse's physical and emotional well-being

Lunging and long reining may seem like old fashioned, basic disciplines for working horses. However by the end of this article, I hope to remind you that these disciplines, when incorporated into your horse’s work routine, can really enhance their physical and emotional state. 

Does artificial lighting benefit the conditioning of a horse?

The claims of manufacturers of light therapy equipment for equines vary from the scientifically proven, through the scientifically dodgy to the downright bizarre. Trainers need to be able to sift through the advice and make financially viable judgements and weigh up the various proposed benefits against costs.