Breeding, Training, Punting.
It's time to pass on my knowledge that has been acquired over the years.
My grandfather was a very successful racehorse and greyhound trainer in Ireland. He had winners at Limerick, and all surrounding courses.
He once picked the card at a racecourse just by looking at the parade ring and became notorius for winning a small fortune in those days.
Personally, I have owned Chrome Prince sired by Coal King which won numerous picnic races. Hence the forum username.
I have very firm opinions about breeding and training, horse care and parade ring punting. I don't profess to be an authority, but what
i do share has stood the test of time. In fact it has stood for over 100 years.
Punters, breeders, trainers may gain something from my insights, I'm sure there will be professionals who disagree, but from my work with horses, these methods are so successful, they cannot be ignored.
I'll try and post a continuing series in parts.
The breeding industry is going to implode if prices keep soaring for greatly bred duds. Green Monkey in USA was famously sold for U.S. 16 million and retired a maiden. He earned $10,440 in his career and couldn't win a maiden.
His sire was Forestry and Grand sire was the well hailed Storm Cat by Northern Dancer. Along the dam line was some very impressive black type winners including Secretariat.
All professionals thought this horse would be the next champion and champion sire. It is a fact that this $16 million dollar horse did not possess the heart and lungs of his lineage. He looked super in the parade ring as he inherited great conformation and strong profile resemblances to his heritage.
His stud fee of course crashed to a staggeringly poor $5,000USD.
Breeders and owners are getting totally carried away with sire / dam immediate progeny. This used to be the focus and was certainly the most successful way to go for investment to return. It's obvious that overall this is the most successful method, but now is not the most profitable.
Considering the Green Monkey's breeding and heritage, at $5,000USD stud fee, this was the bargain of the century. Granted he isn't going to pass on any speed directly, and may pass on his poor performance, but breeding horses is far more complicated than looking at the sire and dam.
As an example, Green Monkey has sired Kinz Funky Monkey for $5,000 stud fee. 4 starts for 2 placings and 2 wins including the $73,600 Manhattan Beach Stakes, so this dud now has sired a stakes winner.
Other winners include Chongo Verdi, Your Lovely, and Monkey Wench, including some very good placings from other progeny.
Clearly these horses have inherited a mix of the lineage, not a direct result of the sire. That's the point. As an owner, trainer or breeder, there are some very inexpensive sires that were not so successful on the track and yet have outstanding pedigree. These are value sires.
Training.
Unfortunately these days due to costs, horses are only trained to the extent of breaking in and trackwork. They require far more work than what is put in.
I believe in natural horsemanship, getting the horse to overcome it's natural instinct of fear, rather than breaking it's will.
Notorious barrier rogues consistently become barrier rogues, they apply rogue hoods, twist the horse's ear, use a lunge whip, ropes and brute force from the attendants. This is not the fault of the attendants, they do an amazing job in ensuring horse and jockey safety, it is partly the breaker and partly the trainer.
These "rogues" will always be rogues, because their inherent fear is reinforced each time they are loaded and always eventually end up with the horse "going off" and getting cast in the barriers at one time or another.
This sets off a chain reaction, amongst others who might be nervous but comfortable. This domino effect, time wasted, and risk of injury could easily be overcome by some simple natural horse techniques. Most people think the horse is a rogue or doesn't want to race, nothing could be further from the truth, the plain fact is, the horse is extremely frightened. Overcoming this fear is simply a case of instilling confidence patiently. A little ground work can save a horse from injury, and tardy starts.
You can tell a suited racing pattern when you turnout a group of horses and watch them run. There will always be the same leaders, the same off pacers, the same backmarkers, if they run long enough.
On this topic, it saddens me greatly to see the way horses are treated by trainers these days. They are locked up in stables, feed at intervals, taken out for trackwork and excercise and let out on a Sunday afternoon for a short graze. This might sound idyllic, but it's completely un natural.
This shortcut method of training creates many unhappy horses with digestive problems, and vitamin D defficiency.
Horses are pack and graze animals, they need to run free and graze. They also need to be "naked" in the spring / summer to absord natural vitamin D.
Vitamin D supplements do not do the same job as natural vitamin D.
Feeding horses in a stable at various times of the day with boosted nutrients and not allowing them to graze on juicy green pastures, is completely un natural. The old hay bale does not supply the range of nutrients a horse needs. Horses put on bulk in the pasture and trainers do not want to put in the work to keep the bulk of. They'd rather take short cuts to ensure a fit and trim horse. Stables have a purpose, they provide shelter, warmth and safety. That is all they should be used for, and the horse should be free to come and go.
Horses need to be trained naturally, the more effort put in and basic work will build a stronger and healthier horse. It also builds muscle and bone strength. That is why we have so many break downs, shattered bones, popped knees, bowed tendons etc. The amount of preparation put in to today's thoroughbred prior to fast work and racing, is not sufficient to the horse's physical needs. You cannot fast track a horse, you need to build confidence, strength, maturity and patience.
Horses are never nasty.
Horses are either frightened, injured or asserting leadership.
A horse has to be naturally taught that man is the leader, taught with kindness, but firmness.
Apart from breeding, when selecting a horse to own, breed or race:
One should check firstly for heat around all joints, muscles and tendons.
Reject any horse that has bandages, or lumps, bumps or hard nodules in the bones, joints, tendons.
Horses should have a clear sharp eye (almost sparkling), glossy coat and very straight back. The fetlock should not droop but be at a straight angle, with the hoof planting flat on the ground. The toe and heel should hit the ground almost in unison.
A sprinter should be of stocky build with a short back.
A stayer should be of slender build with a long back.
However, one of the most important factors is stride length combined with speed of course.
You can't have a short stride horse that is a black type winner!
You can have a long stride horse that doesn't have speed.
What becomes a champion is a horse with a long stride, with good conformation and speed.
In the parade ring, look at the horses career records.
Look at the eye, the coat, and the stride.
Muscle development and fetlocks.
Of course with unraced horses in the parade ring, check the odds, but concentrate on the eyes, coat and finally stride.
The list of long striding champions is evident:
Frankel
Octagonal
Makybe Diva
Super Impose
Kingston Town
Phar Lap
Secretariat
and of course Black Caviar.
Just a short list.
Reason being the horse takes less strides per 100m and therefore has more in reserve in the heart, lungs and muscles.
The same applies with Greyhounds, though it is a lot harder to detect without slow motion or digital measurement.
Here is a video on the stride of The Green Monkey, very short and proppy:
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/RN7ZU5AN-0U" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Kinz Funky Monkey has nearly double the stride length.
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