The problem with TB racing is they take horses the equivalent of mayb 10-12 kids, feed them up *bigtime* to develop size and muscle, work them enuf to develop some speed, and them turn them loose on the racing circuit.
Many break down or just fail, and most arent racing after the age of 4.
Given the fact that they dont reach full growth til around 5-6 (when the plates over the knee close is the general term for it) its cruel and inhumane.
The good news is in things like dressage and eventing, the horses are at a proper age, often because they have to mature to build up the proper muscle mass to be able to do something other than run flat out, and also the time it takes to train for something like dressage is years.
Charisma, who is a famous eventing horse here who won gold with Mark Todd at least 2 Olympics, and he retired aged 16 after the second gold
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Date: 2008-05-04 01:12 am (UTC)The problem with TB racing is they take horses the equivalent of mayb 10-12 kids, feed them up *bigtime* to develop size and muscle, work them enuf to develop some speed, and them turn them loose on the racing circuit.
Many break down or just fail, and most arent racing after the age of 4.
Given the fact that they dont reach full growth til around 5-6 (when the plates over the knee close is the general term for it) its cruel and inhumane.
The good news is in things like dressage and eventing, the horses are at a proper age, often because they have to mature to build up the proper muscle mass to be able to do something other than run flat out, and also the time it takes to train for something like dressage is years.
Charisma, who is a famous eventing horse here who won gold with Mark Todd at least 2 Olympics, and he retired aged 16 after the second gold