With unlimited funds what would you do to create your ideal training establishment. This thought just occurred to me as I was reflecting on some of the difficulties associated with form reading. I think, off the top of my head, these would be my priorities; not in any order as I would have the lot Location. It would have to be somewhere where I could simulate all types of going and courses. So not a flat location but with plenty of flat space. It would have to have a river flowing through to facilitate irrigation. There would have to be ample good grazing and have areas ideal to harvest my own hay and straw and food stuff. If possible I would manufacture my own horse feed (or acquire an existing manufacturer). World Class equestrian vet not too far away Security. First class modern security system. No need to detail Horse care. Resident veterinary practice, dentist and farrier and back specialist; daily monitoring of horses' well being. Quality testing of grazing paddocks, hay, straw, hard feeds and water. All stables to have individual fresh water supplies via reservoirs with with intake measured and fed into computer system for monitoring water intake and alerting irregular patterns and sudden changes. Hourly checking of stables for cleanliness and early awareness of potential problems. Solarium. Pool with controllable current Research. Not sure of the scope but would certainly include research into the the ideal stabling facilities (eg flooring, cleaning). Have given this plenty of thought but not managed to come up with the answer. The main requirement would be the horse's comfort and health with thought to how stables can be managed more efficiently. One thought is that, in addition to the grazing paddocks, each horse has its own secure mini paddock that contains a stable which backs onto an indoor stable management area. This would give the horse more freedom to be inside or outside whilst being boxed Performance (horses). Several tracks with all track characteristics (eg a large flat track with off shoots to undulations which could be included or excluded from gallops). Some tracks would be near the river so that soft/heavy going could easily be simulated throughout the year. Others would be higher up with effective draining and underground heating to simulate good going and either side of good. Also there would be all weather tracks. With due care not to expose horses to any risk of damage I would experiment to see which horses performed best on which surfaces and which course characteristics and for each horse would build up separate ratings for each combination of conditions. This would enable me to train the horses continually on their preferred surfaces to ensure that they could be made 100% ready to run when a course fits the bill. Also help me to decide when and when not to run the horses. For those horses seemingly indifferent to the going I would still have their separate ratings in order to assess their true chances on race day. All horse would be monitored during training and ratings would be determined by an actual rating, based on time plus a potential improvement rating based on the effort extended Jockeys. I would have a post training horse riding college for potential future jockeys. Candidates would be hand picked from established riding centres and invited to join the college where they would gain more experience of racing in live-like conditions. They would receive expert tuition (including in house seminars with top jockeys/ex jockeys, videos etc). From these I would select the best horsemen to work ride horses. This includes riding ability, style effectiveness and rapport with the horse(s). Contracts would be offered to those I thought would be an asset to the establishment. This would meet one of my desires which is spotting talent early on and also provide opportunities for young future jockeys to gain immediate salaried employment and further training/ experience and, hopefully acquire exceptional horsemen/women who would have regular contact with the horses and build up a rapport with them Employees. Competitive salaries, good accommodation and regular relevant training sessions (inc annual fun breaks and award ceremonies). Happy employees = low turnover - essential Breeding. I would have a small breeding establishment alongside with a view to breeding and racing my own horses Owners. I would be very selective as regards owners. The last thing I would want is an owner who wants you in their pocket. They would have to be owners who valued my judgement; someone who could sit down and rationally discuss options and respect my advice. Obviously, as owners, they have the final word as regard which races they run in but............for example if I strongly advised that a horse should not run in the conditions and they insisted it ran, I would have no further involvement (with immediate effect) and they would have to find someone else to train the horse. Any contract would ensure that I had the right to withdraw from any association in certain situations Other. I'll probably think of other things but meanwhile is there anything you would have in an ideal training establisment.
How about a whole separate stable alongside for horses who have finished their racing career. This is the place they would be worked with and educated to be a normal horse once again as opposed to a racer. Ideally they would be able to be then passed on to vigorously checked new owners for eventing or just passed back o the owners as rehabilitated hacks or pets if they are able to stable them themselves. Don't forget the flag pole Ron. Sir Henry announced his different class to most with his lovely idea that whenever he won a group one he would raise the flag over Warren Place. Regular open days to involve the local community. Video room in which all concerned with the training and raceday could immediately view a horses race career to better understand what may be the best way to ride and place going forward.
Yep. For AW gallops I really meant the various synthetic courses that I had any intention of racing on. I was being a bit lazy there Cyc, sorry.
Idea from York racecourse. Employ a full time gardener to manage the growing of plants and managing the grounds. Pleasing appearance important
Just don't bother with one of those hyperbaric chambers, especially not after the nasty accident at Godolphin a few years ago.
How about having a 12 Furlong gallop so that you can test your prize 3YOs stamina PRIOR to the Derby, instead of having to explain to punters who have done their hard-earned on your 6-4 FAV that "he didn't stay". Sorry, ****ing winds me up no end this one
Yep. I think I would also have (probably have to invent) a glorified tread mill. It would have computer controlled going and a jockey would actually ride the horse on it. But instead of the horse moving across the ground it would force the "ground" to move. A computer would measure the distance travelled and sectional times. It would constantly monitor and record speed and produce a report of mph at specified intervals. It would also monitor the effort the horse is having to make (not sure quite how) and relay this to the jockey so that the jockey can compare that with the "feel" given by the horse and make sure that the horse is not over exerted. I think this would be very useful way of assessing the optimum distance, going, style of running etc before starting a full training program on the gallops. It would also be educational for the jockey.
Fred Astaire was a racehorse owner of some repute when he was alive, and always made sure all of his horses had air-conditioned boxes to keep off the flies. I would do the same thing for the Summer months.
I wonder what that monitors Cyc. It may have to be on a virtual track so, whilst the horse "thinks" it is galloping along the track, it's actually driving the piece of "ground" underneath (ie the reverse of a treadmill). I want it to be as natural as possible. I think with the treadmill in the video one is forcing the horse to gallop in order to stay on it. Am I correct? Presumably, if the horse can't keep up, or if keeping up is causing to much exertion, it automatically slows down? If that is the case then it's basically measuring the effect on the horse of doing a piece of work that it is forced to do, rather than measuring what it can do with the assistance of a rider. It's certainly better than nothing as an exerciser but, if I wanted to test its acceleration from the gate or at any stage in a gallop, I would like to see the horse responding to a jockey; not by having the s**t scared out of it. In summary, it certainly has a purpose, but in terms of analysing the horse's natural ability I need the horse to drive the machine, not the machine to drive the horse. Thanks for the video Cyc. Would probably have one of those as a keep fit exercise machine (and to assist in bringing a horse back into training gently after recovering from an injury)
I think it's probably controlled by man. The horse just has to do as ordered. It's pretty scary stuff though. Imagine if the animal snapped a leg or slipped.
Here's something by a Dr David Marlin, of the Global Equine Group Ltd., Newmarket on the art of training racehorses, dificult ones anyway. Heck, I have not even started to read it yet but I'm sure it's very informative.... http://flairstrips.com/pdfs/TrainerTrainingUS08_Marlin2.pdf
I can't remember the horse's name but I'm pretty sure William Haggas has said he has a horse who is almost exclusively trained on a treadmill. Swimming can help keep a horse fit for about 3-4 weeks, but it will not get a horse fit if you see what I mean. I was told this by the man that runs the only public equine pool in Newmarket.
