Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-ttngx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-06T09:39:04.230Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A cross-sectional survey of training practices of 2-year-old racehorses in the North Island of New Zealand

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2010

CF Bolwell ,
LJ Russell  and
CW Rogers
CF Bolwell*
Affiliation:
Institute of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Sciences, Massey University, Private Bag 11222, Palmerston North, New Zealand
LJ Russell
Affiliation:
Institute of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Sciences, Massey University, Private Bag 11222, Palmerston North, New Zealand
CW Rogers
Affiliation:
Institute of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Sciences, Massey University, Private Bag 11222, Palmerston North, New Zealand
*
*Corresponding author: c.bolwell@massey.ac.nz
Get access

Abstract

To examine the management and training practices of 2-year-old racehorses, cross-sectional survey data were collected from 55 racehorse trainers in the Central Districts (n = 15) and the Northern Districts (n = 40) of New Zealand during summer 2007–08. Trainers in the Northern Districts had a higher proportion of 2-year-olds in work at one time (0.31 vs. 0.22, P = 0.001) than trainers in the Central Districts. Group S (trainers with 10–19 horses in work) had a higher proportion of 2-year-olds in work than both groups M (20–30 horses in work) and L ( ≥ 40 horses in work) (0.38 vs. 0.24 vs. 0.29, respectively, P = 0.001). Most horses were broken prior to the start of the official 2-year-old racing year. Most trainers had a standard pattern of training, and they cited early education as the primary reason for training 2-year-olds; the primary training milestones used to evaluate the horses' training were the first training gallop and the entry in a race trial. Training programmes were geared towards 2-year-olds being ready for trialling and racing earlier in the Northern Districts than in the Central Districts. Training practices were affected more by the trainer's location than by the number of horses trained.

Keywords

horseThoroughbredrace trainingmanagement
Type
Research Paper
Information
Comparative Exercise Physiology , Volume 7 , Issue 1 , February 2010 , pp. 37 - 42
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1Anonymous (2007) New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing. Annual Report 2006/072007.Google Scholar
2Perkins, NR, Reid, SW and Morris, RS (2004). Profiling the New Zealand Thoroughbred racing industry. 2. Conditions interfering with training and racing. New Zealand Veterinary Journal 53: 69–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3Perkins, NR, Reid, SW and Morris, RS (2005). Risk factors for injury to the superficial digital flexor tendon and suspensory apparatus in Thoroughbred racehorses in New Zealand. New Zealand Veterinary Journal 53: 184–192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4Perkins, NR, Reid, SW and Morris, RS (2005). Risk factors for musculoskeletal injuries of the lower limbs in Thoroughbred racehorses in New Zealand. New Zealand Veterinary Journal 53: 171–183.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5Perkins, NR, Reid, SWJ and Morris, RS (2004). Profiling the New Zealand Thoroughbred racing industry. 1. Training, racing and general health patterns. New Zealand Veterinary Journal 53: 59–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6Rogers, CW, Firth, EC, McIlwraith, CW, Barneveld, A, Goodship, AE, Kawcak, CE et al. (2008). Evaluation of a new strategy to modulate skeletal development in Thoroughbred performance horses by imposing track-based exercise during growth. Equine Veterinary Journal 40: 111–118.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7Rogers, CW, Firth, EC, McIlwraith, CW, Barneveld, A, Goodship, AE, Kawcak, CE et al. (2008). Evaluation of a new strategy to modulate skeletal development in racehorses by imposing track-based exercise during growth: the effects on 2 and 3 year old racing careers. Equine Veterinary Journal 40: 119–127.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8van Weeren, PR, Firth, EC, Brommer, H, Rogers, CW, DeGroot, J and Brama, PAJ (2008). Early exercise advances the maturation of glycosaminoglycans and collagen in the extracellular matrix in the horse. Equine Veterinary Journal 40: 128–135.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9Dykgraaf, S, Firth, EC, Rogers, CW and Kawcak, CE (2008). Effects of exercise on chondrocyte viability and subchondral bone sclerosis in the distal third metacarpal and metatarsal bones of young horses. The Veterinary Journal 178: 53–61.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10Bailey, CJ, Reid, SWJ, Hodgson, DR and Rose, RJ (1999). Factors associated with time until first race and career duration for Thoroughbred racehorses. American Journal of Veterinary Research 60: 1196–1200.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11Nugent, GE, Law, AW, Wong, EG, Temple, MM, Bae, WC, Chen, AC et al. (2004). Site- and exercise-related variation in structure and function of cartilage from equine distal metacarpal condyle. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage 12: 826–833.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12Moffat, PA, Firth, EC, Rogers, CW, Smith, RKW, Barneveld, A, Goodship, AE et al. (2008). The influence of exercise during growth on ultrasonographic parameters of the superficial digital flexor tendon of young thoroughbred horses. Equine Veterinary Journal 40: 136–140.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13Stanley, RL, Edwards, LJ, Goodship, AE, Firth, EC and Patterson-Kane, JC (2008). Effects of exercise on tenocyte cellularity and tenocyte nuclear morphology in immature and mature equine digital tendons. Equine Veterinary Journal 40: 141–146.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14Perkins, NR, Reid, SWJ and Morris, RS (2004). Effect of training location and time period on racehorse performance in New Zealand. 2. Multivariable analysis. New Zealand Veterinary Journal 52: 243–249.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15Perkins, N, Reid, S and Morris, R (2004). Effect of training location and time period on racehorse performance in New Zealand. 1. Descriptive analysis. New Zealand Veterinary Journal 52: 236–242.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16Coleman, HJ, Rogers, CW and Gee, EK (2006). The use of alternative therapies in racing thoroughbreds. Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production 66: 279–283.Google Scholar
17Williamson, A, Rogers, CW and Firth, EC (2007). A survey of feeding, management and faecal pH of Thoroughbred racehorses in the North Island of New Zealand. New Zealand Veterinary Journal 55: 337–341.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
18Richards, N, Hinch, GN and Rowe, JB (2006). The effect of current grain feeding practices on hindgut starch fermentation and acidosis in the Australian racing Thoroughbred. Australian Veterinary Journal 84: 402–407.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
19Rogers, CW, Rivero, JLL, van Breda, E, Linder, A and Sloet van Oldruitenborgh-Oosterbaan, MM (2007). Describing workload and scientific information on conditioning horses. Equine and Comparative Exercise Physiology 4: 1–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
20Rogers, CW and Firth, EC (2004). Musculoskeletal responses of 2-year-old Thoroughbred horses to early training. 2. Measurement error and effect of training stage on the relationship between objective and subjective criteria of training workload. New Zealand Veterinary Journal 52: 272–279.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
21Anonymous (2007) Licensed Trainers Contact Details. 2007.Google Scholar
22Anonymous (2004) Size and Scope of the New Zealand Racing Industry: Economic Impacts and Community Social Benefit. 2004. Wellington, NZ.Google Scholar
23Anonymous (2008). New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing Fact Book 2008. Wellington, NZ: N.Z.T.R. Inc.Google Scholar
24Boyle, G, Guthrie, GA and Gorton, L (2007). My Kingdom for a Horse: Resolving Conflicts of Interest in Asset Management. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id = 938550 (accessed June 2008): Social Science Electronic Publishing, Inc.Google Scholar
25Firth, EC (2006). The response of bone, articular cartilage and tendon to exercise in the horse. Journal of Anatomy 208: 513–526.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
26Verheyen, KL and Wood, JL (2004). Descriptive epidemiology of fractures occurring in British Thoroughbred racehorses in training. Equine Veterinary Journal 36: 167–173.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
27Cogger, N, Perkins, N, Hodgson, DR, Reid, SWJ and Evans, DL (2006). Risk factors for musculoskeletal injuries in 2-year-old Thoroughbred racehorses. Preventive Veterinary Medicine 74: 36–43.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
28Verheyen, KL, Henley, WE, Price, JS and Wood, JL (2005). Training-related factors associated with dorsometacarpal disease in young Thoroughbred racehorses in the UK. Equine Veterinary Journal 37: 442–448.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
29Verheyen, KL, Newton, JR, Price, JS and Wood, JL (2006). A case–control study of factors associated with pelvic and tibial stress fractures in Thoroughbred racehorses in training in the UK. Preventive Veterinary Medicine 74: 21–35.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
30Estberg, L, Gardner, IA, Stover, SM and Johnson, BJ (1998). A case-crossover study of intensive racing and training schedules and risk of catastrophic musculoskeletal injury and lay-up in California thoroughbred racehorses. Preventive Veterinary Medicine 33: 159–170.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
31Verheyen, K, Price, J, Lanyon, L and Wood, J (2006). Exercise distance and speed affect the risk of fracture in racehorses. Bone 39: 1322–1330.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
32Estberg, L, Stover, SM, Gardner, IA, Johnson, BJ, Case, JT, Ardans, A et al. (1996). Fatal musculoskeletal injuries incurred during racing and training in thoroughbreds. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 208: 92–96.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
33Parkin, TD, Clegg, PD, French, NP, Proudman, CJ, Riggs, CM, Singer, ER et al. (2004). Horse-level risk factors for fatal distal limb fracture in racing Thoroughbreds in the UK. Equine Veterinary Journal 36: 513–519.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
34Cohen, ND, Berry, SM, Peloso, JG, Mundy, GD and Howard, IC (2000). Association of high-speed exercise with racing injury in thoroughbreds. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 216: 1273–1278.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed