Quote:
Originally Posted by cj
I mentioned this on our podcast today...things like this are all the more reason to prefer turf racing to dirt. The horses actually stick around and compete against each other often, many times for years. I never thought I'd be one to like turf racing more than dirt but here I am.
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CJ do you think there is a combination of things that might effect a kinder outcome on soft tissue and bones in racers?
I can't see ever having turf races in AR, it just rains so much here. Every other turf race would be cancelled.
Breeding for longevity, breeding for stamina instead of precocious early speed, not turning all dirt tracks into hard, fast concrete-like speedways on big race days, ending the use of bisphosphonates, better balance of rest and work, and of course, using science to make better blended surfaces.
We know stress for athletes is
cumulative. And of course, multi-factoral.
I know when I was running, I had different kinds of shoes. When I wore the really cushioned ones like 28mm EVA stack, I only did that on restore days, ie no speed work just leisurely stuff to give my legs a rest. Otherwise it put too much strain on my muscles and soft tissues and would have been like trying to be speedy with mattresses on my feet. But when I wanted to do fast days, I wore more supportive firm shoes with just a 21mm stack (could feel the ground beneath feet) but doing that everyday would have led to a lot of bone injuries.
This is why I liked the ideas when some of the foreign horses come over, to find out they sometimes train on woodchips uphill, or in the swimming pool, and are also given some days of what one might describe as "trail rides", ie. just walking around out in nature on a nice trail or at the yard, etc.
Seems like horses *need* this?
It seems like we keep our "dirt" horses on the same surface over and over and over too much?
We can put a man on the moon but we can't blend clay, silt, and sand into a kinder surface for horses with toothpicks for legs to run on and figure out how to properly maintain it for their physiological needs.
