Stress of Racing Youngsters...

["guest@endurance.net" <guest@endurance.net>]

Stacy stac.y.a.berger@intel.com
There was an interesting article in the magazine, The Horse last month.  There was a study done of horses raced on the track, and how long they remained as sound racing horses over time.  In summary - they found the horses that started racing training at the age of 2 had the highest percentage of horses that were sound and successful over the long term.  That age category also had the highest number of dropouts though.  It was interesting, though - the study shows that the stress of racing introduced early on better prepares the growing body to the activity when they grow up.  Made me think twice about my own thoughts about racing 2 year olds.  Perhaps the best solution for the horses, is to start the training as 2 year olds - but don't actually race them until they are a little older.

You can read the article/study online at www.thehorse.com