Racehorses..are they ridden & raced too young?

They wouldn't be too worried about the result to publish it. Love the conspiracy theories though.

To the poster that said, " don't get me started on American horses. " Do tell. Thing about it is, there's good and bad in both places. No the track is not ideal for a horse to live as no turnout. But in all fairness I'America out of the stable more than I see most SJ's out in big yards and equal for small racehorse trainers. Or having finished racing they get chucked out in a field to "rough off" until owners pick them up. Gotten a few of those back and was mortified. Never saw a horse leave the track where I was looking like that. In some small yards here I'm shocked at what passes for level of care and I mean shocked. The Irish governing body doesn't give a crap.

So what is it that freaks you out? The drugs? Don't kid yourself it's completely drug free here. The slaughter issue? Also another thing that amazes me in racing here, forage? I never saw a horse back in America without a full haynet in front of them. Ever. Here I here it makes horse's fat. Also never failed to see a horse that doesn't back off their haylage the more fit they get but apparently that's lost here. And feeding isn't also one size fits all. Most people recognise the difference in what babies need versus older horses. Been to any dual purpose yards here and see the feeding? Very few recognise that babies need different things than the NH horse. As long as it says racehorse cubes on the bag, who cares.

Like I said good and bad in both places. I highlighted some of the good of American racing since it seems it was bashed. All training on the track means total scrutiny the whole time. Just remember that. Drive into the track over there with syringes and needles in your car or pocket and see what happens.

Terri
 
It is nice to have some of the good things to hear from the USA, because I find American trainers/riders can tell the Brits a thing or two about riding and training generally (although we still can't understand why it is OK to show a 2 year old in a driving class and 3 year olds in double bridles in ridden classes .........). But this is about racehorses.

Not every TB racehorse is going to make it to an old age, but you can say that about any horse (and I don't mean pony). At least young TBs are only ridden by lightweight riders - look at the adverts for stable staff - and they are mostly galloping in straight lines, really doing what comes naturally. There was a physio in H & H who said she finds more issues with dressage horses than racing horses.

The original racers, Eclipse et al, were racing over miles as well as doing heats, and the authorities realised that level of work would kill a younger horse. Being completely brutal, the breeders of racehorses don't breed for a long and hard working life. Most horses have lost their speed by 12 at the latest even if they are NH horses.

Breeders and owners want horses out and racing as soon as possible to see if the stallion is going to pass on his genes or not. After all, as an owner of a racehorse there is some chance of actually making some money out of the horse, which is very different from other horse sports.

The best thing a racehorse trainer can do for the welfare of the retired racehorse is to make sure it is broken in correctly and well schooled so that is has a chance of a good life later on if it fails as a racehorse, and some trainers do take care to do this. That is why there are many TBs going on for years doing other jobs.
 
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