Eventing

The last topic of thoroughbreds will be eventing. I would say it is the second most popular sport for thoroughbreds; racing being the first. I have the most experience in the sport and have shown eventing for several years now. It is a triathlon composed of, dressage, cross country, and stadium jumping. The three competitions all relate to one another. Cross country get the horse really fit so dressage show a really fit horse can still come together and be calm and supple. In cross country there is a lot of open room before the next fence, but in stadium the horse has to have as much power, but not necessarily the same speed.
Dressage is on the first day and is held in a small arena which is 20x40. It is all about the horse listening to the rider and the rider being able to communicate to the horse what is desired. There is a certain pattern of movements that must be done in a specific way. It is judged by one or more judges and they look for balance, suppleness, and rhythm. Some example of movements done in a dressage test are half-pass, shoulder-in, flying lead changes, counter canter, and piaffe. Each specific movement is judged on a zero to ten scale. Ten is a perfect where as 0 was not performing at all. There is not a set scale on total points because it depends on how many movements there are in a specific test. It is nice to be done this way because if one movement is really bad there is still a good chance it can be made up. To start the test there is a bell that will ring and then you know you have sixty seconds to inter the ring. If you do not enter on time it will result in elimination. It is also possible to get eliminated, if horse leaves the arena, if the horse resists more than twenty seconds during the test, and if there three errors on course.
The second phase is cross country preformed on the second day. The first thing this tests is fitness. The horse has to be in shape to make it to the finish line on time and for safety reasons. There is a time limit where points are taken off for being too fast or too slow. It is also really dangerous to run a horse cross country that is not fit enough. The fences are solid and therefore if the horse slips up and hits a fence it is likely they will flip over. The rider also has to be just as in shape to direct the horse safely over the fences. There are twelve to twenty fences at the lower levels and the upper levels consist of twenty to thirty jumps. Cross country is set in an open setting involving ponds, drop banks, hills, several jumps in a row. The penalties are more severe in cross country. This is because courage, endurance, and athleticism are very important and want to be enforced. There have been a lot of rule changes because of many major injuries at Red Hills and Rolex in 2008. If you fall off the horse at any time in the cores (even not approaching a fence) you are automatically eliminated. There is also a new rule where a two hundred and fifty dollar fine will be charged to any rider not wearing a medical arm ban.
Show jumping is on the final day. It is placed after cross country for a reason; to test the stamina of the horse and rider. It also tests the suppleness, obedience, fitness and athleticism of the horse and rider. The main difference from cross country is that it is in a small space and the fences can easily be knocked down. It consists of twelve to twenty fences and are set up in a ring. The fences are brightly colored and a few distractions are placed around such as flowers. There are four panatelas taken for knocking down one jump, and the first refusal. Elimination occurs for the second disobedience, first fall of rider, jumping a fence in the wrong direction, and an error of course not rectified. The winner is determined by whoever has the least amount of penalties.
There are a lot of rules and requirements for Eventing and it is very challenging. I have been competing for a long time now and am still discovering new ways and new rules that I did not know about. I love the challenging triathlon and cannot imagine competing in anything else.

Racing

Contouring on the topic of the thoroughbred I would like to go into what they are really good at. Racing is a big part of this breed. Horse racing has traditionally been a sport for the rich man. Today is still a sport that requires a lot of money, but there are ways around that. Partnerships are often used. This is when one horse is owned by multiple people. The 2003 Kentucky Derby winner is a good example of this. The winner was Funny Cide and was owned by a group of ten people. They were all organized from Sackatog Stable. It is critical for the partnerships to be involved with the same barn. This way there is less conflict on who rides the horse, how the horse is taken care of excreta. The winner of the Kentucky Derby in 2008 was Big Brown. He was owned by a stable itself, the IEAH horse racing hedgefund organization.
However even in a partnership it is still not cheap. A dry rate is normally played per month by the owner or owners. This is normally paid to the trainer and includes the cost of the farrier, use of facility, and veterinarian bills. There is also another fee that has to be paid; the cost for food and for the Jockey himself. In the United States is typical to spend around 15,000 dollars on training alone in one year. There are also regulations and control from the government. It is imposable to buy a thoroughbred and race it. There has to be one or more than one licensed owners. The trainer and other people that are involved with the horse have to be licenses as well. There are set racing dates and certain types of drugs that cannot be in the horse when racing. Horse racing is a huge industry and continues to grow every year.
If you do not own a horse or are not familiar with the horse industry this might be new information to you. I have been around the horse industry for a long time now and specifically dealing with the thoroughbreds in all aspects. I think the racing industry has a bad reputation for being cruel to the horse. I don’t necessarily agree with this.
First of all some people thing that racing the horse itself is bad and that it is hard on the horses and makes them aggressive. These people have obviously never owned a thoroughbred. Thoroughbreds live to run it is in their nature. They love doing it wither they are a specifically a race horse or not. If you ride your thoroughbred at a quiet trot every day and keep him in a small pasture he will go crazy I have seen it firsthand. The best rides I have with my horse are always the days after I take her out for a good gallop. When talking about making the horses aggressive, well that’s just part of the thoroughbred. They have always been a breed to be naturally competitive.
The second main aspect of racing that people assumes is that a lot of the horses are abused. I don’t really see how this can be stereotyped into racing. This is a problem in every industry and can involve any type of anima. It’s a horrible thing, but happens everywhere. The horses at the big facility in Kentucky for example live like kings and Queens.
At the end of the racing season there are a lot of horses for sale and for really cheap. The horses are auctioned off for very cheap. The buyer does not have much contact if any with the horse before it is purchased. I think this is where many people get the assumption that racing is bad. A lot of the horses for sale are questionable. It is a risk to buy one of these horses. The horses can be lame, or bad natured, and even untrainable. If people thought this trough then maybe they wouldn’t look at the racers so bad. This is really the only big industry that does this. If other horse sports had an auction at the end of their show season I believe that the same thing would be found; horses that are hard to manage. My horse was bought from a racing action and she is the sweetest horse not one thing wrong with here so good horses can be found.
I know that bad things can happen in any industry, but I don’t think racing should have a bad reputation in the horse world.

My Thoroughbred

I can relate to all of this factual information because of my 8 year old Thoroughbred mare; Rhapsody. She is one of the calmest thoroughbreds that I know of, but don’t be fooled this dose not mean she was a “calm” horse. There have been many times where one second we will be quietly trotting along and the next I’m riding a bucking bronco. She is calm for being a thoroughbred they are very alert animals. However this is one of the many reasons why I love them so much, it’s never boring. Horses that puts around and don’t really react to much don’t interest me, way to boring. However; they can be good for beginners and I suppose that’s what a lot of people like. Rhapsody specialized in eventing or at least that was until she pulled a suspensory. Her bad conformation was one of the main reasons for this accident and is why she can never jump again. She has long pasterns witch cause a lot of stress on her legs. She is still physically capable of jumping, but it will break her down quite rapidly. This however was not the worst thing that could happen. She is still rideable and now a beautiful dressage horse. Rhapsody will never be a million dollar horse, but I have worked with horses worth a lot of money. Those horses are taken better care of then most people around, including very high insurance coverage. There are good things and bad things about every breed. I love thoroughbreds and can’t imagine myself ever owning a different breed.

Throughbreds

The thoroughbreds that are around today came about from England in the 17th and 18th centuries. The native mares were crossed with Arabian Stallions produce the thoroughbreds as we know them today. Arabs are originally from really hot regions of the world. This is why thoroughbreds are thinned skinned and typically need a blanket in the cold of winter. Thoroughbreds are know for being hot headed, high spirited, and athletic. They typically stand any where from 15.2 hands to 17 hands high. These horses pretty much come in all colors including chestnut, bay, gray, and black. They are mainly used for racing, but are also good at polo, stadium jumping, combined training, eventing, and dressage. The prices of thoroughbreds depend greatly on pedigree, conformation and skill. The Keeneland Sales in 2007 sold 9,124 horses at an auction with a total value of 814,401,000. This gives an average of 89,250 dollars. The Jockey Club indicates that for a weanling sold it is about 44,407 dollars. Horses that are sold for this much have amazing pedigrees and skills or potential skills. Thoroughbreds have a very high accident rate along with health problems. Two horses every day suffer from career breaking injuries. It is estimated that one tenth of all thoroughbreds suffer from fractures or orthopedic problems. The health concerns are just as high. They are prone to have problems with bleeding from the lungs from exercise induced pulmonary hemorrhage. These breeds have an average of 10% low fertility, and 5% with abnormally small hears. When compared to there body mass they have relatively small hooves. The soles are thing and the walls lack cartilage mass this results in a sore foot.

People say that dogs are man’s best friends, but are they? Would we even be here if it weren’t for horses? Most people reading this are probably thinking “well dugh of course we would be.”
Horses were the first mode of transportation and without them many people may not have survived due to not being able to travel to find food an. Not only have used horses to help us travel to find food, but they have helped us produce food.
So would we have survived with out these magnificent creatures? The way I see it when this great country was being formed wherever there was a hoof print there was a foot print right beside it.
Today it is out job to give back to the horses. We not longer need them to survive so we use them for pleasure. Each horse and specific breed has something they are great at. For example Thoroughbreds are known for there fast athletic abilities so we typically see them in racing or evening. I personally am in love with Thoroughbreds and have owned. This will be the first breed I discuss and I will then go into more detail about what they are good at.

What’s the first thing that pops into your head when someone brings up a horse? Probably a pretty animal eating grass in a big field.In this blog I will discuss how the horse industry has grown and what horses are used for today. The disciplines today push horses to do things we never imagined possible. I have had the privilege of taking care of and riding an Olympic level horse “Tumble Dry.” Tumble Dry ran clear around Rolex twice. For those of you who do not know Rolex is an event that is the highest level or Olympic level. He is not a very tall horse just above 15 hands, but he has no trouble clearing over four foot jumps. A horse at such advanced levels requires a lot of maintenance and a lot of trips to the vet. Veterinary technology is just as advanced as our medical world today. My horse broke her leg this fall so I have seen first had what vets can do for horses. It took nine months to get her completely healed, but she is currently just as sound as she was before the accident. I am writing about this simply because I love horses. I love all the breeds and am interested in different disciplines. As I have already described I am very experienced with horses and know first hand what it is like to go to the barn every morning, afternoon, and evening to tend to them. I have done a lot of research and can provide a lot of helpful information.