| The racehorse is the sole reason for the development of the thoroughbred. For those who wish to learn more about this thrilling sport, there are various ways to get involved. You can join a partnership or syndicate or even start your own. For the younger, more energetic, you can get a job working at a racing yard. For those that have never even sat on a horse before, there is the Racing School in Newmarket or the Northern Racing College in Doncaster, England. It's all hard work and dedication but can be very rewarding. The money is not very good in racing yards and the hours can be long, but the more experienced you become the better the money gets. So you have to be totally dedicated to get your rewards. Working with thoroughbreds can be rewarding in it's self. They can be such characters, often trying to outwit their riders, they can get bored easily and try to liven things up a bit by messing about. I remember an incident one day when I was riding out with a string of about 12 horses, in pairs on country lanes in Somerset, when a horse at the rear started jumping about being silly, which then, like an electric current went through to my horse near the lead, who cheakily took me to the side on a grass verge, threw his head down, gave a slight buck, I rolled down his neck onto the ground, and he took off! |
| You do not need to be well off to enjoy racehorse ownership, there are plenty of horses to lease or buy a small share in. . The thoroughbred is a relatively young breed, only about 300 years. Races in those days were held in heats and many early horses ran in match races. Competition was mostly between the weathly land owners. It was these people and royalty who were responsible for importing the Eastern horses such as the Arabs, Barbs a Turkoman horses to Britain to improve the racehorses of that era. The early racehorses were considerably smaller than todays horses. Usually stood between 14hh and 15hh and would not have matched our faster TBs for speed today, but they had incredible stamina and courage. Today we have racing on the flat and over the jumps which is called National Hunt racing. Both types of races are run under different rules. In NH racing the horses race over longer distances, from about 2 miles upwards and race over either hurdles or fences, which are called steeple chases and are higher than the hurdles. The most notable steeple chase being the Grand National over some 4 and a half miles. Other types or racing include Point-to-point and hunter chasing, these are amateur races. All flat race horses have to be 100% registered TB whilst the NH horses must be sired by a registered TB stallion, the dam does not need to be TB at all but has to be registered with Weathebys non-TB registery. Those these days it would be rare to see a non-TB racing. Thoroughbred racing is world wide, the best TBs are generally bred in the UK, France, Ireland, Dubai and the USA. Though countries like Australia, Japan, South Africa and Germany are producing many good horses now. The majority of people involved with horseracing love their horses and would never want anything to happen to the horses they own, train or ride in races. Many trainers and jockeys have had a lifetime around these horses and wouldn't dream of doing anything else. For anyone who has experienced the loss of a horse for any reason can be devastating. I've been there I know. Racing, unlike most other equestrian sports is very much in the public domain, injuries and fatal injuries happen in all equestrian events, including hunting. Most racehorses love to run, some give their all and some are lazy, and would not run unless they enjoyed it. You can't make a horse race. The majority of owners never make any money with their horses, they spend more on fees and vet bills. Only the small top percentage make any kind of profit, but they often have to spend a lot to get anything back. From personal experience, I started out in the pony club as a child, went into racing, polo, showjumping, dressage, riding schools and livery yards, including some teaching. Eventually owning my own horses, all from youngsters, breaking and schooling to racehorse ownership, through co-running a partnership. I've have seen everyside of the horse industry and have heard just about every argument for and against horseracing over the years. No one wants to see any horse get hurt and all is being done to help minimise accidents on the racetrack, but like with all athletes injuries are inevitable. There is plenty of research being done to help understand more about the thoroughbred as a breed, it's weaknesses and strengths, what works and what to avoid. We are all still learning. Racing is a sporting way of improving a breed, like nature improves a species. |
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| Without racing there would be no thoroughbred... |
| www.thejockeyclub.co.uk/safety/welfare.html www.the-aps.org/press/aps/06/derby.htm www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/sports/horse_racing/14737138.html www.vetmed.ufl.edu/pr/news_ext/fall_01FV/HORSE.HTM |
| Listed below are a few Veterinary reports on the problems and breakthroughs in racehorse welfare |