The Thoroughbred horse: A sleek, powerful running machine, the ultimate equine athlete. Thousands of people worldwide enjoy watching these horses run at tracks around the globe, but very few realized the blood, sweat, and tears that goes into the training and conditioning of a winning racehorse.
Unlike other breeds, Thoroughbred horses ages are determined by the year of birth rather than the month. All Thoroughbreds have a birth-date of January 1st of their birth year, and as yearlings and two years olds, this can mean the difference between an immature baby or a sturdy horse ready to win. A horse born in February will be much more physically mature than another born in December of the same year. Regardless, these horses receive the same training at the same ages, so most breeders try to come as close to a January foal as possible to avoid a late foal who might never make it to the track after an injury due to the stress of training on immature joints and bones. Even the foals born right around January first are at risk for injuries to their legs, as their growth plates are still in the process of closing and they are not fully mature yet. This does not bode as well for those foals born much later in the year.
Very few Thoroughbreds actually receive any training prior to becoming yearlings. A yearling is a horse who is one year old, based on his foal date of January 1st of the previous year. Foals are weaned from their dams at between four and six months of age, at which time they are considered weanlings. Weanlings are generally turned out to pasture with others of their age group until they turn one. At one year of age, the horses are brought into the training barn and started on high protein feed and alfalfa hay. The idea is to condition them by adding weight as needed, grooming for a neat appearance, and finally exercised to build muscle tone. Many stables use a mechanical hot-walker that leads each horse in a large circle, usually through sand. This slowly builds muscle and increases stamina.
During this time, they are also introduced to bathing. The horses are bathed after every workout, regardless of how strenuous. Thoroughbreds are hotblooded by nature, and sweat heavily during even light training. Wash racks made of metal piping have gates that make them like big, open air stalls. The horses are taught to accept the hose by slowly spraying from the hooves, up the legs, and finally to the body. The head and neck are the last places to get wet, and most facilities sponge horses faces to avoid getting water into their ears. They are then soaped, scrubbed, rinsed, and the water scraped off with a tool called a sweat scraper. A groom will then lead the horse around the barn area until he is dry, then return him to his stall. This process teaches patience, and ground manners. The horse learns to lift his hooves for cleaning, to stand quietly, and to allow handling of all his body parts. Good ground manners makes for a happier horse, and happier barn staff, and the importance of this part of training is not to be underestimated.
At about a year and a half, the young horses begin lunging or round pen work. Lunging is the process of attaching a long nylon or cotton line to the halter and asking the horse to move in a circle with the handler standing in the center. Racehorses are not normally trained to voice command as a show or riding horse might be. They will not need to know the trot or canter command on the track, and the act of lunging is more to work the horse at a faster pace than the hotwalker allows, not to teach gait commands. Lunging also acts as the safest way to introduce a rider for the first time and to control the horse should he panic.
At two years of age, Thoroughbreds begin their next stage of training. They are saddled and bridled, and usually a rider will do this in the stall at first. The smaller space and familiar setting allow for a safer introduction to what can be an upsetting process. Many horses will buck and kick when saddled for the first time, but very little time is spent cajoling and encouraging. In this industry, speed and efficiency is key, and so things are handled very matter-of-factly. The saddle is put on with a little fuss, but the trainer expects the horse to accept it and they nearly always do. The bridle and bit are introduced in one or two sessions, and usually consist of the horse being asked to turn his head and yield to rein pressure to each side. The most important aspect of the bridle training is in the "brakes." Racehorses aren't taught a lot of precision steering, simply because it's not necessary on the track. If you watch a race, you'll notice you very rarely see a lot of direction from the jockey.
After the initial mounting by a rider, the horses are moved out to the round pen for lunging with a rider on their backs. Emphasis is placed on teaching the horse to halt and to have a basic understanding of direct reining via rider cues, but it's not really fine tuned at this point.
Once the two year olds have become accustomed to a rider and respond well to basic cues, they begin to work on a training track. these are usually much smaller than an actual track, but size depends upon the facility. The first few weeks of track work does not include the use of the starting gate. Instead, the horse's stamina is slowly built on, and speed increased a little each time they run. Often horses will work in groups of two or three, with one rider purposely holding back to give the others a feel of competition and to encourage them. It is very important at this stage that the horses not be pushed past their limits, an injury as a two year old could be the difference between a horse with a career and a horse at the auction.
The amount of time spent working on the practice track is determined by the trainer. He takes into account the horse's condition, the owner's wishes, and availability at the racetrack the horse will be headed off to when it begins it's career as a racehorse. Most trainers stick to the training track until the horse shows sufficient progress and improvement in lap time. Only when it has been determined the horse is ready to begin it's new job, is that horse introduced to the starting gate. Most training facilities have small gates that hold two to five horses, but some do have full sized starting gates as well. Horses are led inside for the first time, led through, and eventually led in and the doors shut from in front and behind. When the horse can tolerate this without panic, a rider repeats the process from atop his mount.
At this point, a two year old is considered fully trained and heads off to begin his new life as a racehorse. Only time will tell if a horse will succeed, and any shortcuts in training will become apparent. With the right foundation, each young Thoroughbred is off to a promising start, with the potential to become the next Triple Crown Winner. Next time you're at the track, marveling at the speed, power, and beauty of the Thoroughbred horse, take a moment to truly appreciate the time and effort put into each and every horse out there on the field.