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Media Guide to Equine SportThe Media Guide to Equine Sport is written under the direction of equine veterinarians from the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) for writers and broadcasters covering equine athletic events. Its content attempts to familiarize the media with many aspects of veterinary medicine as it relates to the athletic horse.
The horse is a phenomenal athlete with a competitive spirit that has thrilled humans for hundreds of years. The purpose of this guide is to provide journalists with technical references in uncomplicated terms that can be easily communicated to listeners, viewers and readers.
An Introduction to the Equine Athlete
The equine athlete, like its human counterpart, achieves speed, strength and grace through physical exercise.
Horses, like humans, excel at different sports based on physical and mental attributes. Racing Thoroughbreds are ideally suited to middle-distance racing over distances of three-quarters of a mile to 1½ miles. In contrast, Quarter Horse and other horse breeds are much more heavily muscled and short coupled. They are unequaled in racing distances from 220 to 660 yards and are ideally suited for aggressive athletic events such as cutting, roping and reining-sports that require tremendous strength and agility. Arabians and their crosses excel in long-distance races in which the horse covers 25-100 miles in one day. At competitions such as those found at the Olympic games, warmbloods are popular for dressage and show jumping because of their strength, agility and temperament, whereas Thoroughbreds are more popular for the three-day event. A warmblood is a generic term used to describe a number of distinct breeds that are usually named according to the geographic region in which the breed was developed (e.g. Dutch Warmbloods from The Netherlands). Warmbloods are generally large, well-muscled horses with calm temperaments, which makes them suitable for dressage and show jumping. When crossed with Thoroughbreds, the offspring are more refined, with the attributes of speed and stamina. For dressage and show jumping, warmbloods excel due to their strength, power and temperament, though many Thoroughbreds have also been highly successful. In eventing, the most influential phase of the competition is the speed and endurance phase in which the ability to perform high-intensity exercise without overheating is a prime requirement. The best combinations tend to be Thoroughbreds or crossbreds with a predominance of Thoroughbred blood. These horses have the necessary combination of speed and stamina with a body type that is less likely to overheat than the more muscular warmbloods. The average Thoroughbred or warmblood that competes in dressage, show jumping or eventing weighs between 1,000 to 1,400 pounds, and stands 15.2-17.0 hands high (62 to 68 inches) at the withers (top of the shoulder). Based on physical and mental attributes, these are the breeds best suited for international competition. |
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American Association of Equine Practitioners |
