In addition to being inhumane and unethical, soring is a violation of federal law. The Horse Protection Act of 1970 (HPA) made soring illegal, punishable by fines and imprisonment. Do people still sore horses? Soring has been a common and widespread practice in the Tennessee walking horse show industry for Read more…
Ask for an active walk. Mount up, and ask your horse for an active, vigorous walk, but don’t allow him to jump up to a faster gait. If he does, apply a light rein cue to check him, while simultaneously using your seat and leg to keep the forward momentum. Read more…
Soring is the unethical and illegal practice of deliberately inflicting pain to exaggerate the leg motion of gaited horses (such as Tennessee Walking Horses, Spotted Saddle Horses and Racking Horses) to gain an unfair advantage in the show ring. Why do people soring horses? Soring is the unethical and illegal1 Read more…
But for years, trainers have been pushing horses well past genetics to get that eye-catching step called the “big lick.” One banned practice is called “soring.” Trainers make tiny cuts on a horse’s ankles and splash diesel fuel or mustard oil on them. The pain is believed to make the Read more…
All National Hunt races are more than a minimum of 2 miles (3.2 km) compared with the minimum distance of 5 furlongs (1 km) on the flat, and the horses are at least 3 years of age. What’s the youngest age a horse can start racing? Racehorses are allowed to Read more…
They are a minimum of four foot and six inches during the Festival, differing in size as the course goes on. In the Grand National, held at Aintree Racecourse on the outskirts of Liverpool, the lowest fence is four foot six and the tallest is The Chair (pictured above), which Read more…
Last year’s winner Minella Times ridden by Rachael Blackmore fell early in the world’s most famous steeplechase. Noble Yeats was second-last at the first fence but over four and a quarter miles won out by about three lengths. It is the first time a seven-year-old horse has won the race Read more…
Let Kids Bet at the Race Track … Kids can check out the horses in the paddock pre-race and study the racing forms, which has the added bonus of letting them apply principles of probabilities to the real world. Can children go to the horse track? A Day at the Read more…
There is a long list of signs of poisoning in horses. These can include breathing difficulties, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, weight loss, restlessness, a high temperature, depression, unsteadiness, blindness, constipation, lethargy, muscle tremors and loss of appetite. What are the signs of poisoning in a horse? Symptoms of poisoning in horses Read more…
There is no definitive answer to the question of how old a horse can be and still race. In general, horses reach their prime racing age around four or five years old, but some exceptional individuals may continue to compete successfully much longer. What is the youngest age a horse Read more…