Survey on the training of Standardbred racehorses by a successful trainer

The training of 16 Standardbred racehorses by a very successful trainer in Germany from May to September of a racing season was observed (in total 138 days; 6 2-yr olds, 5 3-yr olds, 5 4-year olds). Three exercise contents were used to train the horses: Speed exercise with two sprint phases separated by about 60 minutes rest in the box, tempo exercise with one sprint phase only and jogging exercise without sprinting. The frequency of the exercise contents during the observation period was established, and speed and duration of exercise as well as heart rate (HR) of the horses in all phases of the exercise sessions were protocolled. Neither the warm-up nor the cool-down phases at the beginning and end of speed exercise differed among age groups (p > 0.05). Before the 1st sprint phase of the speed exercise horses on average were warmed-up over 3,332 m at a mean speed of 6.39 m/s, in the 2nd sprint phase they run 1,794 m at 6.63 m/s. There were no differences among age groups. The cool-down phase after sprinting was on average over 1,582 m after the 1st and 2,289 after the 2nd sprint phase and the 2-yr olds were run slower than the 4-yr olds in both phases (p < 0.05; 5.27 m/s and 5.29 m/s after the 1st and 2nd sprint phase respectively). The 2-yr olds were run slower and over a shorter distance in the sprint phases of the speed exercise than the older horses at the beginning of the observation period (2,143 m in 9.89 m/s and 1,980 m in 11.27 m/s in the 1st and 2nd sprint phase respectively). After June the sprinting speed matched that of the older horses but the distance run remained shorter for the 2-yr olds (p < 0.05). During the 1st and 2nd sprint phases of the speed exercise the mean HR of the 2-yr olds was higher than of the older horses (p < 0,05 for all comparisons; 208 beats/min and 222 beats/min during the 1st and 2nd sprint compared to 201 beats/min and 214 beats/min for the 3-yr olds and 196 beats/min as well as 216 beats/min for the 4-yr olds respectively). Tempo exercise was used almost exclusively to train 2-yr olds: speed was on average 6.25 m/s during warm-up, 10.2 m/s during sprint phase and 5.26 m/s during cool-down (the respective distances were on average 3,248 m, 2,176 m and 1,835 m). The up to five trot phases during jogging exercise were at speeds between 5.58 and 5.69 m/s inducing mean HR between 120 and 129 beats/min respectively, and the up to six walking phases were at speeds between 1.65 and 1.76 m/s with an average HR between 70 and 79 beats/min. Horses were not trained on 41 % of the observed days; most of the days without training horses were kept on posture. The 2-yr olds were jogged on 33 % of the days, the 3-yr olds on 37 % of the days and the 4-yr olds on 38 % of the days. Speed exercise was used to train horses of all age groups equally often: 17 % of days. Tempo exercise was performed on 5 % of the days by the 2-yr olds only. Performance testing occurred on about 1 % of the days during the observation period. The 3-yr old horses raced most frequently (5 % of the days), followed by the 4-yr olds (4 %), whilst 2-yr olds raced the least (1 % of days). This survey provides information on an effective training for Standardbred racehorses. The data is a the basis for examining measures that could improve the training.