Do thoroughbreds breakdown in horse racing more often than quarter horses?

Question

I watch TVG fairly often and I've noticed it seems that throughbreds breakdown a lot more often than quarter horses and the QH's are running faster. Is this right? If so why?

Answer 1

You see more TB's breakdown cause they are televised more and there is more TB races than QH's.  QH's actually have more stress put on them cause they run short distances.  Its easier to keep a horse sound running distance then running short.

Answer 2

Quarter Horses are (or should be) a stronger horse with bigger bone than the thoroughbred and hence be more able to take the pounding without breaking down. Unfortunately, the racing quarter horse is also headed for trouble since people are adding in thoroughbred blood thus reducing bone while keeping the heavy muscling and power.  Done incorrectly, that will make the horses more prone to breakdown.  Still, I used to work on a ranch, and the owners would buy QH's off the track once they retired.  Most of those horses (with some training) became sound, sane ranch horses that could gallop all day in rough terrain and never take a lame step until they retired years down the road.

I've yet to see a QH break down catastrophically on the track.  A trainer I talked to once says that QH's tend to suffer from 'soft tissue' injuries from racing while TB's suffer bone chips and breaks.

Answer 3

i think the quarter horses break down more often, but that most of the races you see on t.v.g. are thoroughbreds.

Answer 4

I agree, I see less breakdowns at Los Alamitos than at the TB tracks.  There was a nasty couple at Belmont this week.  The quarters run into trouble, but I don't see them breaking down quite as much.  I think distance is the main thing, but I have no other evidence than that it makes sense to me.  The shorter the race, the less opportunities to misstep.

Answer 5

Sure you see Quarter horses breaking dow but thoroughbreds do it more because of the distance they run and how long they stay in  tur, most quarter horses race a straight line

Answer 6

Quarter Horses certainly run faster in a short Distance, however they are a much sturdier breed. The breeders now are trying to breed lighter, therefor faster horses in the TB industry. TB's already have a history of fine leg bones which goes way back to the beginning of the breed. So the combination of the previously fine bones, and breeders trying to get lighter horses is making the leg bones super fine and far too easy to break and snap. That is why you will see it more in a thoroughbred. The Qh's are just a bigger boned breed that can handle the beating they take at such high speeds.

Distance has a very small part in this too, the TBs do run further, and so the legs are experiancing and intense pressure for longer, but as we saw with Barbaro it can happen right off the start to.

And I agree with the above that TV has something to do with it, you will see more Tbs hurt because it is on TV more, but you sound like you are watching alot so you could be seeing an equal amount. A QH injury will never be as spectacular as a TB because the TBs are so much more likely to break a bone.

Hope I helped a little :D