Trade Zone - Conditioning and confidence make a tough athlete

Thoroughbreds must be taught directional cues; this is typically done at a farm that specializes in breaking and training
Photo by: Barbara D. Livingston

Let the Training Begin
September 10, 2005

By Bettina Cohen

More goes into training a young Thoroughbred racehorse than a prescribed course of diet and exercise for building a strong body. Along with physical conditioning that develops speed, strength, and stamina, another component must be built into the young competitor--confidence.

It is taken for granted that a horse will appear in the saddling paddock before a race ready for tack to be put on and a jockey to be tossed aboard, and then stroll calmly into the starting gate. While it is true Thoroughbreds have a halter put on them at a couple of days of age, are halter broken to lead by a couple of months of age, and are handled daily by professional caretakers throughout the first year of their lives, it remains that the racehorse must be patiently taught the ABCs.

CLASS IS NOW IN SESSION

From about mid-September through early November, Thoroughbreds are introduced to a rider and taught to obey basic directional cues. This typically is done at a farm that specializes in breaking and training.

The range of months when the first lessons begin is due to factors such as the actual birth month of the individual, its physical maturity, and--in the case of commercial sale yearlings--the month a horse is to be sold at auction and shipped from the sale to the training farm. Whether the current owner plans to race the horse or sell it in a 2-year-olds in training sale also can influence when training begins. The juvenile sale season begins in early February and runs through the end of June. Finally, many farms that provide breaking and training services handle upward of 100 head of yearlings in a single season. To keep class size manageable for the riders and farm staff, farms will divide large classes into smaller groups of yearlings and stagger the classes from September to November.

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