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From: Royal, AR
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Hello All,
I am looking for information on racing Arabs in the US. I know there are some people on the forum that are involved in racing so I'm hoping to get basic information. Questions: bloodlines (especially SEs in US racing); race trainers (recommendations); venues for racing Arabs in the US; age when Arabs usually enter race training and begin racing; racing season for Arabs; any other information that would fill in the knowledge gap here for me...
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From: Two Mountain Ranch, Nampa, Idaho USA
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Racing!! The Sport of Kings!!
Great idea and I hope we can get more that just basic information and a few questions answered.
Some discussion with regard to racing has come up on the "Movement" thread. I think the subject does deserve attention in a thread of it's own.
We know that Poland, Russia, Spain, Egypt, UK, France - are well known for their racing programs and using racing to test and prove their horses. I'm sure there are others. It might be instructive to discuss some history, who is doing what and why, or why not.
As far as the current situation in the US, maybe somebody can point us in a direction for information. AJC, perhaps? I've always been a little concerned over the "red tape", "rules", who can run when and where and how do you qualify and how many organizations, clubs, tracks, trainers, managers are in line to get paid or whatever, before you ever see your horse in the starting gate.
Hansi mentioned that she sent horses to Delaware Park, spent 40 grand waiting around for a race and never did get one??? Why not? Is this common?
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From: Hempstead, Texas
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Hi, Linda and Ray,
I'm happy to try to answer some questions on racing. I've only been doing it for a short time, but am really enjoying it. It is so exciting. I never get this wired up off of showing. I use to stare at a friend who would rave about racing. She had shown to nationals and I would just stare at her. But now, I know the difference. I don't know what it is about beating someone by out running them, but it's a rush that no horse show can do.
Some places to start learning about Arabian racing. I would suggest http://www.texasarabianbreeders.com/ this is a good website with a page devoted to the process, how to get started, bloodlines, etc.
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From: Two Mountain Ranch, Nampa, Idaho USA
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Hi Martha,
Thanks for the links - I like your blog, too. There is a lot of info in those links. Maybe we could cheat a little bit and you could just walk us through your experience. Start with the first day you decided to get involved in racing. What did you do?
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Ha, Ray what a big question. I decided to run Mia. I didn't do anything. I just kicked it around in my head. I lurked around on the TABA website and the AJC. I sent Mia off to get started under saddle at my usual saddle trainer, but the thought kept lurking around my head. I have a good friend who trains tbs. She knew my thoughts and was probably the one who planted the seed and left it to grow. She found me the name of someone who would take an Arab at a reduced price. Racing is expensive, but it works out in the long run.
I had this name and Mia was off at the other trainer. The other trainer and Mia did not get along. She was not happy there for whatever reason. We talked about it and I decided to bring her home. I thought maybe it was too far away from me. I couldn't just pop in and visit. Mia is very attached to me. I kept her home a week and put her in race training locally. The race trainers thought she was wonderful and were riding her the next day. No problems. So we were off and running so to speak. Then it was waiting for her to get trained enough to go on the training track, in condition enough to to go the real track, getting a timed work, a tatoo and a gate card. Waiting on a race. But we do have races here so that helps.
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Hi Martha,
Well, it sounds like the trainer is the key player - at least in the start-up phase - the person who knows the in's-n-out's of the game. Speakin' of trainers - they can ruin a horse. How did you evaluate them?
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The trainer is the key person. Also having someone to talk to who is not the trainer helps a lot. It gives an outside opinion, a fresh view.
Looking for a trainer. Go visit the trainer at his barn. I walk through the barn and look at legs. Are they clean or does every horse there have a bowed tendon. I don't want my horse ruined. I look at how happy the horses look. Are they curious bright eyed? Some horses get aggressive when really fit, but I want to see if they're hiding in the corners or sad looking. What type of weight are they in? Are they poor looking or healthy? They're not going to be butterball fat, but at the sametime, they should not be drawn up and skinny. Are the stalls clean?
I talk to the trainer and ask questions. A million questions. I ask their opinion on drugs, training, turn out, etc. Who pays for supplements? Get them talking, see if you get along with them, agree on views. I want to be able to visit my horse, let them handgraze, stuff cookies, carrots in them. I do not want to call ahead of time. I want to just show up unannounced.
Then you can look at their win record. Compare prices, wins, etc. I prefer my horse not to be a number in the barn. Some trainers have a lot of horses in training. The horse either gets with the program or is out. Other trainers are more flexible. It just depends on what you want.
I chose a small tb trainer. He does not mind educating the owner. He does not use steriods on the horses. I have told him, its okay if they can't run, this is not their last career. I take the pressure off to perform which takes the pressure off the horse.
Typically, a horse takes 4-6 months to get it race ready without problems. It's important to remember that muscles get in condition before bones. We want the bones to get in condition for the work so that breakdowns can be minimized. I also keep a chart of all my horse's offical works. I can see if they are improving, regressing, staying the same. It works much better then my memory.
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They use to have racing in Canada for Arabs and maybe Washington state. I know there is a SE breeder over there who races. But she might running them in Canada. Cal., Tx, Del, Fl, Colo. and Mich have had races for Arabs. It's limited on where they can run. The races in Canada are short, they're longer in Texas. The top horses run regularly in Del and in Cal.
TABA has a newsletter you can sign up for to get it emailed to you. They send out notices about the races on a regular basis. It's a good way to get use to the lingo. There is also a group on yahoo which is good to lurk on to learn. The book the Backyard Race horse does a great job of explaining things in laymen terms. It is well worth the money and time to read.
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Martha- I have to add one thing about showing up to grazeyour horse or giving carrots! I made a VERY big mistake this year, I gave a horse a carrot before a race- major no no, come to find out, there are occasionally some chemicals on grass and on carrots that can show up in the drug tests!!! So don't give you kids treats b4 the race, wait till after!!!!
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From: Two Mountain Ranch, Nampa, Idaho USA
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QUOTE (deby @ Nov 21 2008, 12:00 AM)
I want to thank everyone who kept track of our boys and for all of the well wishes!! I have not posted for a while for a few reasons, one, I watched many mistakes happen with our horses, mainly them being put in races over thier heads and having to watch them loose- now the reason I waited to post was because I wanted to see these issuses resolved before I spoke about them. Everything with our boys has been resolved and we are looking forward to a much more sucessful season next year, as instead of us trying to train the horses, we will be working for 2 wonderful trainers who will be making all of the descions on them while we learn more. secondly, I have found out the truth about the race industry and how truely dirty of a business it is. Let me give you a quick example- steriods are illegal, doesn't mean trainers don't use them, they train on them, them take them off so that they don't show up in tests. In reality the steriod laws do nothing except not let the horses race on them. Sadly it is a joke. Thats only something illegal, the things that are legal are just out of this world. We were only able to win one race- with my love Balance- which does not sound like a huge accomplishment but believe me it is, he was the ONLY horse in the race not on Lasics or Bute- 2 very legal things that give the other horses huge advantages- bute, lets them not feel the aches and strains and lasics if nothing else can make a horse 25-30 lbs lights!!!! Balance not only won his race, but won it 10000% clean. There is talk about making the rules more like Europe, where nothing is allowed and everything is tested for, and I pray that happens. It would change the face of racing in America, and even more to our benefit with the SEs, it would change the face of breeding. If there is anyway that anyone knows of topush thislaw change then we need to! People would stop breeding these TB look alike arabians that sprint really fast but break as easily as TBs and go back to breeding the basics, a strong arabian horse that does not bleed and blow tendons left and right. If any one has any questions about these things feel free to ask me and if I do not know then I will contact one of our trainers (btw the reason we work with them is that they do not medicate for a one up and and some amazing horse people)
Deby
PS- I will try to scan our win picture asap!!
Hi Deby,
I hope you will not mind that I quoted your post here from the "First Time For Israel" thread. I think it's very important to have things out in the open and discussed. Not everything that glitters is gold.
You have mentioned drugs, but I know trainers/managers do other things as well, trying to get a horse ready to run who is not really ready. Like blistering? I'm not sure what condition they are trying to remedy and when and how they do this. I've only heard about it second-hand. But it's only when we uncover the "dark side" of any equine activity can we help to correct it.
Maybe you and Martha and Hansi can tell us of things like this to be aware of?
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Ray- Of course I do not mind!!! Blistering is actually not something I see as bad when used the right way which it seems to always be (remember I am pretty spoiled, I was able to follow and learn from a woman who would never do something to comprimise a horse) We ended up using a water blister on one of our boys, what happened was, the surface in Delaware park is almost like a clay, but deeper, so if you rush you can end up with tendon problems. What the blister did was bring all of the extra circulation to this area and allowed it to heal even stronger then before. Luckily, we only noticed a small amount of heat and there was no serious problem, so with time off, and the blister he is totally sound. I feel like the blister has a bad rep because of how it makes the leg look, the hair and dead skin peels off the the same way it does when you have a blister. If you don't mess with it while the blister is there, then the horse does not feel any pain (and I tested it, I even poked and prodded it because I wasnt sure) and after the blister drains, you keep it lubricated (preperation H) and wrapped, and the skin comes off in its own time. We were told very clearly not to pull at the skin and to give him as much time as he needs to naturally heal. It really was a totally painless and not stressful process for the horse at all!!! Deby
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Wow, as I posted that I realized how naive I can be- we may have done it the right way, but I am sure there are people out there doing this to 2 yr olds and speeding up the process so that they can have a little bit of stronger legs..... there are also other kinds of blisters that can use much harsher chemicals. I do not remember the name of what we used, but when we bought it we were told it is the least severe of the blisters, and I know for fact that this "water blister" did not cause any pain.... So maybe the way we did it wasnt bad, but I am sure there are people out there who abuse this method of strengthing problem legs. deby
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From: Hempstead, Texas
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Well, Ray, the betters like Arabs that race more so then the SE crowds. So they do get a decent handle for our purses.
Deby, I am so sorry you found the steriods to be everywhere. I don't use them on mine and don't want drugs in them. I know trainers down here who don't use them. It takes a long time to get them out of their system. Alas, racing is not any cleaner then showing as steriods are legal in the showring.
The lasixs are not as big a deal to me. I'm in Houston where we often have 100% humidity, it can be hard for people to breathe. I've had one horse bleed and never want to see that happen to one of mine. I don't want lung damage to them. But it's a personal preference. Mine are hydrated up to lasixs and afterwards.
Oh I've had the fear of God beat into me about feeding them anything at the track or before a race. One trainer won't let anyone in her stalls if she thinks they might have drugs in their systems. She does not want some human peeing her stall and screwing up a drug test. All of her horses run clean, but some are on lasixs and some are not. Carrots are okay after the race as are cookies or peppermints.
Arabs In Us Racing, Looking for information
Nov 19 2008, 04:25 PM
