HORSE Training
Training Challenges
There are many challenges and demands facing today’s racehorse and their trainers. Year-round racing, weather and track conditions, demanding training schedules, the new no-medication rules and the sophisticated urine and blood testing eliminating many pre-race options have greatly compounded the task. These conditions and lack of options are beginning to affect everyone, primarily the horse.
The art of training horses for optimal racing performance, assuming they are sound in both body and mind, depends on refining the factors of speed and stamina and presenting the horse on race day so that one of these factors alone will not limit performance.
Unlike the Thoroughbreds that race at a horse's natural gait, (the gallop) the Standardbred trotter and pacer do not gallop in a race. Therefore, training the Standardbred racehorse, whether it be a trotter or a pacer, is a complex task. The Standardbred trainer must have a vast understanding of not only conditioning but of balance, shoeing, equipment and rigging all while keeping the horse mentally and physically sound.
Trot, pace and gallop
Standardbred Trotter
Standardbred Trotter
Standardbred Trotter
The Standardbred trotter must race at top speed without breaking a trot. The front leg and opposite rear leg move together. (Diagonal Movement)
Standardbred Pacer
Standardbred Trotter
Standardbred Trotter
The Standardbred pacer is asked to race at top speed with all four legs hoppled in a man-made gait. The front and rear legs on the same side move forward and backward together. (Lateral Movement)
Thoroughbred Gallop
Standardbred Trotter
Thoroughbred Gallop
The natural high speed galloping gait.
Speed vs Endurance
Maximum speed is inherent and little can be done to increase a horse’s speed. Stamina, the physical power of endurance, is an important feature a trainer has to focus on. A given level of exercise can be maintained by an individual for a finite length of time before fatigue occurs. Improving stamina implies increasing the ability to maintain that exercise intensity for a longer duration or to be able to perform a higher exercise intensity for the same time. To understand what training and conditioning are doing and to base training regimens correctly, there are certain fundamentals of physiology that must be understood and applied. The most important fundamental of physiology is oxygen, the body’s fuel.
Without oxygen, the horse’s body would slow and quit within a matter of seconds. Scientific testing of thoroughbreds concludes the obvious, that improving the red blood cell count (RBC), hemoglobin levels and oxygen carrying capacity while eliminating lactic acid buildup and muscle fatigue, is the answer to achieving maximum speed and stamina. These are the facts and the reasons why racing commissions around the country should create uniform drug rules that allow the following:
· Four hours before every race the horse should be given a milkshake by their registered veterinarian
( baking soda, confectioners’ sugar and water )
· After the race or the following morning, the horse should be given a steroid and 10cc of Phenylbutazone (bute) and two electrolyte jugs loaded with vitamins and minerals.
Recovery Time After a Race is Important
This simple adjustment in the medication rules allowing a steroid and Bute shot the day after the race will help the racehorse recover more quickly. The milkshake will slow down the buildup of lactic acid allowing maximum performance and well-being. All this can be done with absolutely no side effects and it will also help create a level playing field and help the horse.
Of course we all know this will never happen and the trainers will keep looking for and finding the edge way ahead of the commissions trying to catch them. Larry elaborates on this topic during his podcast “Against All Odds”.
You can contact Larry with your questions about treatment for rigging, shoeing, lameness, bleeding, breathing and confirmation and his opinion about the use of hypoxic training and the hyperbaric chamber.