Horse Racing Tips

The Important Role of a Bloodstock Agent in Your Team

The horse racing industry is a fast paced world, and for serious owners to prosper they need the best staff available to them. From trainers to stable assistants, all play an important role. When it comes to the buying of new horses or finding the right stallion for breeding purposes, bloodstock agents are the people to turn to. Most racing stables have a bloodstock agent who is retained by the stables, not only to purchase and sell horses, but to provide information in regard to changes within the racing industry.

Conformation of a Racehorse

Prospective horse owners need to look at characteristics and conformation so as to determine if a horse has the potential to become a spectacular athlete. Differences between individual racehorses can be very subtle, as most thoroughbred horses are bred for running. Thus, it takes an experienced eye to notice the small details that could make huge impacts on the racecourse.

Heart Monitors Assist Training

As with human athletes, horses need to build up fitness and strength over a period of time before running in any racing events. Once a satisfactory fitness level has been achieved, it is crucial for trainers to maintain the horses in that condition and to ensure that they remain free of injury or illness. As technology has improved, so have the methods of assisting trainers and horse owners to keep their horses conditioned. Heart monitors have become an invaluable device for everyone in the horse racing industry, and a friend to the health and well-being of horses.

African Horse Sickness Prevention

African Horse Sickness, or AHS, is a phrase that every horse owner, trainer and exporter fears the most in South Africa and other African countries. It is a fatal disease that affects all breeds of horses, donkeys and mules, and has a very low recovery rate. The disease is not contagious and cannot be spread directly from one horse to another, but is spread by midges that carry the infection after biting an infected horse. Steps to prevent the spread of the disease have been put in place, and infected animals are isolated so as to save others from running the risk of getting African Horse Sickness.

Buying and Owning a Standardbred

Most Standardbred horses, as with Thoroughbreds, are bred for one purpose - racing. Their specific conformation and characteristics are suited to their sporting requirements, thus Standardbreds are perfect for harness racing. Even though these two breeds look similar, there are a few physical aspects that set them apart. And whereas the public seems eager to ride Thoroughbreds for pleasure after their racing careers are over, it seems that Standardbreds are sadly misunderstood.