A Racing Legend -- The Thoroughbred Horse

The Thoroughbred horse is a breed of equine commonly used for racing. Some people mistakenly refer to a purebred horse by this name. In fact, this breed is in a class all its own. This breed was cultivated in the 17th century when English breeders crossed their mares with Arabian stallions. All Thoroughbreds can be traced back to their Arabian stallion sires. This breed of horse is beautiful and stately. It is not an overly large horse and it is not too small either.

This breed stands between 15 and 17 hands. Coat colors seen include chestnut, bay, black or gray. White is very rare. You may come across Pinto or Palomino Thoroughbreds. Pinto is a splotched coloration pattern commonly in brown and white. Palomino is a golden coat color with a white main and tail. Pinto and Palomino colorations can be seen in a variety of different horse breeds. This breed is considered a hot blooded horse, which means it is bred for racing purposes.

One of the most distinctive things about this horse is that it cannot be formally registered unless conceived under what is called live cover. This means the mating between a registered stallion and mare must be observed. Although artificial insemination can be used with other breeds, it is not allowed with this breed. The average horse gestation period between breeding and birth of the foal is eleven months. Most foals are born in January because the breeder likely wants the foal to have an advantage against the competition in age group competitions.

There are some controversies related to this breed of horse. The rate of injury in racing is one such controversy. Some horses start racing around the age of 2 when their bones are not completely formed. This leads to accidents, although older horses can have accidents on the racetrack as well. Another controversy is that of selective breeding. Selective breeding is used to produce racetrack winners which may have a detrimental effect on the skeletal structure of the animal.

There are approximately 35,000 foals registered in the United States alone each and every year. The Thoroughbred horse is commonly bred in states like California, Kentucky and Florida. The business of breeding these horses is a big one and supports many employees including workers, jockeys, veterinarians and businesspeople to name a few. While these horses are primarily used as racehorses, they also excel at other equestrian pursuits like dressage and show jumping.



Horse Breeding News:
$2m colt dons black (Stuff)
Don Ha was chuffed even before Sun Ruler set foot on the track. The once penniless Vietnamese refugee, who built a real estate empire in South Auckland and came out of nowhere to pay $2 million for the richly-bred colt, took one look at his jockey and smiled...

Bird's breeding grounds protected in Ozarks (Park Hills Daily Journal)
ST. LOUIS (AP) EUR” Floaters and hikers of the Current and Jacks Fork rivers in the Ozarks of southeast Missouri may be lucky enough to see a small, sky-blue bird called the cerulean warbler. It has the dubious distinction of being the fastest disappearing member of the warbler family...


Racing: Resilient horse inspires at age 2 (The Des Moines Register)
Odds, injury fail to stall Iowa equine Treasure..


Plain sailing for Indian Ocean (Merimbula News Weekly)
GLOBAL racing and breeding giant Coolmore and trainer Tim Martin have the Golden Slipper in mind for unbeaten filly Indian Ocean after her all-the-way win in yesterday's Rosehill Gardens Events Handicap...


Free to a good home -- the horse of your choice (Contra Costa Times)
Horse market hits new lows; more animals than ever shipped out of U.S. for slaughter..


The flow of history :Feng shui found in houses of charismatic leaders, expert contends. (South Bend Tribune)
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Monica Hess thinks she knows why Mount Vernon and Monticello gave us charismatic leaders, why Calumet Farm, Lexington, Ky.'s historic horse breeding stable, went into decline, why the sun didn't always shine bright on My Old Kentucky Home: feng shui...


Louisiana Tracks Benefit from Casinos (BloodHorse)
If there's a sure winner from casino gambling in Louisiana, it's the horse racing industry that once warned of its imminent demise from slot machines and table games...


Muck lives again as compost (Lexington Herald-Leader)
GEORGETOWN Tucked away on four acres at one of the world's most well-known Thoroughbred breeding farms is a site rarely noticed by the thousands of guests who visit Midway each year to gawk at top stallions and Kentucky Derby winners. Centrally located, but still out of sight, the four acres are one of two places at Three Chimneys Farm where two men work year-round to turn horse muck, a ...


If you go down to the woods. (Times Online)
You are on safari amid lynx, bears and elk. The wetlands around you are dominated by small lakes created by beaver dams. In the distance a wolf howls...


Reason for optimism (Trinidad Express)
CHEERS FOR 'CHIEF': Guardian Holdings Limited chairman Arthur Lok Jack, left, presents the GHL Gold Cup to owner Neil Poon Tip, centre, with Arima Race Club president Kama Maharaj looking on in the winner's enclosure at Santa Rosa Park, Arima on Friday...




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