Could we learn anything from thoroughbred horse racing, or could they learn anything from us?

Well, breeding has a lot to do with it.

I have no idea how horses are trained. Perhaps a Google search might help.

I know my Uncle was very successful in training horses and he did several workouts he learned from distance coaches...

I am pretty sure that they have researched and attempted every type of training method. A lot of it depends on the horse; same as humans. Also when a million dollars is on the line for multiple races a year, trainers are under a lot of pressure to 'get it right'.

thinking outside the box wrote:

The longest leg of the Triple Crown is the Belmont Stakes, usually won in the 2:25-2:30 range. The Preakness, on the other hand is won in 1:50-1:55. So these are true middle distance runners, akin to our 800 and 1000 meter runners.

How do trainers train their horses? Could we learn anything from them? I'm willing to bet they could learn a thing or two from how humans train themselves.

Anyone have any idea about the training of thorougbreds?

American training is very speed based. A "distance" day for a horse would be 1-1.5 miles or easy jogging. Their "workouts" are generally short, fast efforts (mini-time trials) of 3/8 - 6/8 of a mile. There was a trainer back in the 70's - 80's in NY named oscar barrera who had a great deal of success with claimers (lower level horses) using intervals. However, the practice never really caught on widespread because intervals cover more ground in a workout than traditional horsemen are accustomed to, and thus has been deemed too risky. Tim Ritchey, trainer of Afleet Alex, turned the racing world on its ears when it was discovered that he had AA doing doubles.

In Europe they are much more endurance based, with longer jogs over a mixture of rolling hills. However, most training facilities are set up for that style, whereas most training in the US takes place on a track. Additionally, dirt races (the predominant racing in the US) tend to have a faster early pace, while grass racing (dominant in Europe) is more of a sit and kick style, thus the emphasis on endurance.

If there is anything we can learn from the world of horse training it is that many of the same basic principles apply to our sport, but in the equine world training errors tend to be magnified because horses can't talk and they are more fragile. However, there are also practical differences too, in that if you can get one or two really good years out of a horse at any level you are satisfied. A long term plan in horse racing is no more than two years, so horsemen are going to approach things differently for that reason as well.

In one of his books, Hal Higdon makes reference to one

Ed Benham who was a horse trainer who became a runner later in life.

Mr. Benham set some age-group records before the coming of Ed Whitlock.

Benham's techniques are in the books. Longer easier runs, shortening the runs and picking up speed as the goal event approaches.

Benham said something like

"If it's good enough for the horses, it's good enough for me"

or suchlike.

American horse racing is very diffent to most other countries. Very speed orientated. This comes from racing predominantely on the dirt tracks instead of on turf. Horses resent getting shit thrown up at them so the pattern of racing on dirt is different. In the US it is normal for horses to run incredible early sectionals and then almost walk to the line. In most countries the fastest sectionals are normally the last part of the race.

This is one reason the Triple Crown is so hard to complete. Most th'breds can sustain this pattern of racing for about 2mins, the Belmont at 12furlongs takes 2.24plus. The early pace in the Belmont is usually about the same as for the other 2 legs. Given this pattern of racing more often than not the horses have slowed more than 2secs a furlong over the last 1-2 furlongs and pretty much anything can happen. Often a less talented horse that has been ridden less aggressively will run over the better horses. Of course every now and then a Secretariat arrives on the scene and just keeps going. nb.Secretariat won the triple crown in the 70s he won the Belmont in record time by a taggering 31 lengths.

In most countries the first few furlongs would be a relaxed jostle for positions and the horses would accelerate in the last 3-4 furlongs and sprint the last 1-2 as in middle distance running events. Therefore in most parts of the world horses are trained for this pattern of racing.

In Australia our richest race is the Melbourne Cup over 3200m/16f. usually takes 3.15-20.

The Japenese came out 2years back and finished 1st and 2d.

Their training patterns involved large amounts of slow work with occassional very hard efforts. The volume of slow work was much greater than is normal for Australian trainers. Also I've noted the Europeans/Brits use more slow work and often use hill reps in place of fast track work.

The great Aussie m/distance horse Northerly was trained off much more slow/steady pace training than is typical. He would do lap after lap of steady work on the heavy sand.

He was renowned for his fighting finishes and toughness.

The great jumps trainer Jim Houlahan used to give his horses huge volumes of slow xc work as a base for the long hurdle/steeplchase races. This is now much the norm for the Australian jumps trainers. Of course they add in faster gallops, hill work, jumps schooling and usually a shorter flat race or two in their build up.

One difference between man and horse is that the horse comes to peak fitness much more quickly so requires much less time and volume than we do.

I suppose you could make the argument that they we are in the same Phylum ....but i assume horse training need NOT resemble human training...

Anyway...i AM quite sure that huge sums of money , and years of trial and error....have made horsetraining about as effective as its going to be...

Anyway go ahead and buy a horse ...then you can have it do plyos, pushup and what not.

You have to think of modern thoroughbreds as the domestic equivalent of a Cheetah or an Antelope. It is basically either in them or it's not.

Training just highlights what they are born with.

Roger Laurin(the son of Secretariat's trainer) said it best when he said "no matter how much you tune up a Mack truck, it'll never beat a Corvette."

Ravenmaniac and mopak have given good explanations of the training of thoroughbreds. It's interesting to note that in the world of horse racing, 6 furlongs (3/4 mile, or what we would call 1200 meters) is about the shortest distance (with the exception of 5 to 5 1/2 furlongs for two-year olds) and is considered a sprint; while a mile and a half (the length of the Belmont) is about the longest horses normally go, and is considered a test of endurance. Seems like their range is much narrower than ours. Perhaps the reason horses don't race 5-10K or more is that it would be boring to bettors.

Horse trainers are very good at coming up with ways to bend or break the rules, so we are learning things from them al the time. Just google "milkshaking" or combine the terms sodium nitrate or sodium bicarbonate and horseracing and see what comes up. If you think cyclists are creative in the ways they find to beat drug tests, you are in for an eyeopening experience when you get into the world of horseracing.

thinking outside the box wrote:

The longest leg of the Triple Crown is the Belmont Stakes, usually won in the 2:25-2:30 range. The Preakness, on the other hand is won in 1:50-1:55. So these are true middle distance runners, akin to our 800 and 1000 meter runners.

How do trainers train their horses? Could we learn anything from them? I'm willing to bet they could learn a thing or two from how humans train themselves.

Anyone have any idea about the training of thorougbreds?

Horse trainers could actually learn a lot more from human science than vice versa.

The best author out there (by far) regarding taking human endurance training and applying it to horses is Tom Ivers. If you are interested start with The Fit Racehorse II.

Also check out

www.equineracing.com

.

But none of those horses actually run faster than a conventionally trained horse.

Breeding has everything do with it. Breed a race horse with a mule and the racing would go right out of him no matter how hard you trained the beast.

Also, keep in mind 2:00 is a sprint not a middle distance race. Horses have Vo2max's around 150 and run on four legs. When a horse runs its spleen contracts and shoots out more red blood cells.

ALL thoroughbreds can be traced back to the same 30 ancestors.

During exercise a thoroughbred's blood can 65% red blood cells.

In less than 3 weeks mint julips will fly and drunken coeds in the infield won't even see a horse at the Kentucky Derby.

Alan

I have never seen a race horse stretch.

A 10 furlong/2000m race can be run in about 2.00 (for stakes class horses)or 12 secs per furlong.These same horses may run a sub 11sec furlong at some point in the race and can run sub 10secs for a single furlong on the fly. The top sprinters can run around 55-56seds for 5f/1000m,11secs a furlong So in a middle distance horse race the horses are running more than 20% below their top sprinting speed and about 10% slower than they can run for half the distance. So such races are not all out sprints but sustained high speed events. Racehorses can sustain a higher % of their top speed for longer than humans in the races up to 4000m or so.