How Horses Train For Big Races

The process of training a racehorse before a big event takes a lot of time, effort, and preparation. Many different aspects come into play, such as duration between races, resting time, feeding before the race, training the right things, and much more.

This is why every horse racing owner hires a professional horse trainer to take care of this incredibly important job. After all, the training is the only way to make sure that the horse uses all of its potentials during a race.

However, training a horse isn’t a simple process and it is very much different from training your dog to sit down. It requires a lot of analysis and precautions since horses are prone to injuries, especially if they are forced to the max right after a long resting period.

With that said, let’s take a look at the process of preparing a horse for big horse racing events.

Breaking a Horse (Pre-Training Phase)

It is important to understand that horses are trained to participate in events from a young age. Taking care of a young horse is all about following strict practices that will show the horse the way to showcasing its potential.

The process of pre-training or breaking begins right after the sale is concluded or if the horse is homebred, it usually starts when the horse is at least a year old, depending on the career path that the owners have chosen.

By now homebred horses and those ones that went through the prep for sale are already used to lunging and track.

Even though the pre-training phase is in the early days of the horse’s career, it is very important and often the most difficult part of the training.

Training

Once the horse is prepared for the track and healthy enough to participate in races, true training comes. This phase is also very important just because here we can see a significant improvement in their abilities on the field if properly trained.

Racehorses are like athletes, which means there isn’t a secret training recipe that works perfectly for every horse. On top of that, each horse comes with its unique attributes, temperament, and abilities which requires designing training for specific needs.

Additionally, every trainer has a unique style of training, which is why some are better than others in getting the most out of the animal.

Depending on the duration between races, the training process can last anywhere from 2 to 14 weeks.

Week 1-3

In the first weeks of the training, the process starts with “slow work” just to build that required muscular strength needed for that exhausting race. This is really important just because it is often the phase where horses suffer from injuries due to tense workouts after a long rest.

Week 4-6

For the next couple of weeks, horses start to speed up and reach “half pace” known as “hand gallop” rated at around 18 seconds each 200m. Throughout the process, the trainer is increasing the speed of the horse until it reaches 14 or 15 seconds per furlong.

Week 7-10

Depending on the horse’s progress, most horses start with their fast work where they reach a speed of 200m for about 12 seconds. This is a high-tense workout that needs to be done with extra precautions.

The process of training a horse before a big event is very delicate and overtraining will tire a horse which will result in a loss in performance, and undertraining a horse might lead to cramps, strains, and even injuries during the big event. These are some of the indicators you should look for, if you often get free horse racing picks from the experts at TwinSpires

During the training process, it is also very important to provide a horse with the right balanced diet. In other words, every racehorse needs to take a good amount of nutrients just because the training exercises are exhausting. 

Last but not least, the rest is also important. Even though training a horse is crucial for getting the most out of its potential, it is also crucial to provide the horse with enough race before every big event.

by Abdullah Sam
I’m a teacher, researcher and writer. I write about study subjects to improve the learning of college and university students. I write top Quality study notes Mostly, Tech, Games, Education, And Solutions/Tips and Tricks. I am a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence or virtue.

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