Does anyone else think the age that horses are raced should be raised to 4 yo?

Question

I've heard people say that horses aren't quite fully grown at age 3. Maybe thats why so many horses injure themselves from being worked to hard at such a fragile age.

Answer 1

I think your onto something there that should be thought about and looked into by racers as well as the federation...

with Barbaro's accident and now eight bellies,,,the thoughts that went through my mind was exactly what yours are...they start them out so young and work them very hard, so if they evened out the paces of the workouts and waited till they were 4 - there might not be so many tragic injuries

Answer 2

Definitely,or else horse racing should be banned altogether.The horse's safety and well - being should come first.

Answer 3

No -- research shows that horses that train earlier have fewer injuries.  This is because training contributes to proper bone formation.  Horses are born to run -- if it isn't on the track, it would be in a field.  What needs to change is what breeders look for in a horse -- currently, the emphasis is on precocious horses that run well at two years, not on horses that may be late bloomers, but have fewer injuries injuries and more stamina.  I don't think it's the age that needs to change, it's the qualities that we look for when breeding race horses.

Answer 4

Most definitely.

Their bones are still growing when they're being forced to run at breakneck speeds (Roughly 1 and half years old, in training). Most other horses don't even begin light training until they're age four or five, possibly older. Race horse's lives are over before other horse's lives even begin.

Answer 5

To prepare for racing at 2yrs old, thoroughbreds are often gotten on and breezed as early as 18-20 months old.  A horse's growth plates are NOT fully closed until 5-7 yrs old!  The knees are the first growth plates to close (after those in the feet and ankles) at 2-2.5 years old.  The growth plates in the hocks (back knees) close at 4-4.5 yrs old.  The large bones in the neck close last at 5-5.5 years old.  Geldings (male horses that have been neutered) mature about 6 months slower than "average", so add 6 months to those statistics for boys who will mature 16 h or larger (TALL horses).  These approximate times are true for all breeds.

It would DEFINITELY be good for horses to wait until 3 or 4 years old before they raced.  We'd see a lot less breakdowns (CNN reported an average of 2 career ending break downs a DAY in the USA alone!) and longer racing careers.  We'd also see less drugs (lasix (sp?) being the most common for track horses).  We would also see less prospect-breeding (breeding tons of foals without enough regard to conformation, soundness, and race record of the mare, in hopes of finding just one or two big time winners).

Answer 6

I think it is something that needs to be thought about.

I don't think it will ever happen though, if you raise the age to 4, all past races with 3 year olds will pretty much be invalid times.

Answer 7

Absolutely not.Two year olds race fine,yearlings would have no problem runing.Horses are born to run its in their nature.

Answer 8

I agree.  The bones aren't closed at that age and injury is much more likely.  I have a standard bred pacer that had the same injury eight belles but only on one ankle.  he now is  15 and retired and not lame. I rescued him from slaughter.

Answer 9

thoroughbreds , being a man made breed have been bred over the years to be fast maturers and can be fully developed by 2.  unlike more native breeds and drafts which take 3-4 years to mature but are still broken at 2-3 years old.

Answer 10

Yes, Jordan- I have long advocated raising the minimum age at which horses can race to 4 for the short or baby races, and 5 for the graded stakes races. However, because of the enormous economic pressures on the producers and owners of such horses, it's highly unlikely this will ever happen, regardless of the ranting and raving from groups like PETA and HSUS. Until we bring the costs of producing such horses under control, and there isn't so much pressure to force these babies to earn their keep, we will keep seeing tragedies like the one on Saturday again and again. That's sad, but it is true.

Right now, it can cost upwards of a million or more dollars before a foal is even born, Jordan. The owners and breeders of such animals have to have a way to recoup some of that money, or they couldn't make a living and stay in business themselves, to say nothing of providing jobs and a living for the people they employ to run and manage the farms. This need is what is behind the tremendous pressure to start these baby horses under saddle and in training as soon as possible- these animals must earn back some of the costs of producing them in the first place, in order for the farms they are born on to stay in business. Those which can't make it on the track, or which never make it to the track at all because of injuries, are either sold on or sent to places like Canada and Europe to be turned into meat or glue. Of the remainder who do go to the track, only the high perfoming horses ever earn the right to come home one day to a comfortable retirement as a stallion or broodmare. The rest of the animals are usually sold on once they can no longer run- and again, some of them inevitably end up on trucks bound for Canada and the meat packing plants there.

Raising the mininum racing age to 4 would help to stop some of this waste and carnage, but it can't be the only step we take, for obvious reasons. We also need to take steps to limit the amount of money which owners can charge as stud fees, for mare care, for vet care, and the like, and make the breeding business more affordable. This in turn would reduce the owners' incentives to breed so many horses at a time, which in turn would take the pressure off the market for the babies. That would result in fewer babies being started in training too young, which ultimately would mean fewer accidents and a reduction in the tragedies we keep seeing. Another thing that needs to happen is that the incentives for selling horses at the age of a year needs to be reduced or eliminated, to give the babies time to grow up some before they are judged as racing prospects.

One of the contributing factors to Eight Belles' breakdown and death was probably the fact that she was overfed as a yearling to get her ready for the sales ring- and as a result she grew much too quickly. In essence, she outgrew her own bones by the time she reached her 3rd birthday last January. By the time she ran in the Derby on Saturday, she was WAY TOO TALL for her age and gender. Most fillies RARELY go beyond about 16 hands- but Eight Belles was a giant 17 hands tall, and had a superfine bone structure which was prone to breakage under stress. I watched the race on Saturday, and I heard a lot of talk prior to it about how unusually tall Eight Belles was. She was too big, really. Had she not been overfed during her babyhood, she might have managed to make it through one more race without a major breakdown- but such was not the case. Poor genetics was another probable reason for that filly's breakdown and death- I believe she came from a line or family which was notorious for producing horses which can only race for a limited number of times prior to breaking down. There are several of these in the Thoroughbred breed, and the people who work in the breeding business are only too aware of this, though efforts have been made continuously to try to disguise the problem. All racehorses are inbred, at least to some degree, and many of them are overbred as well. We are only just starting to see the consequences of decades of poor breeding decisions, and what's worse is that the gene pool is shrinking and preventable defects are on the rise in that breed. You can only spin the genetic wheel so many times, and slice the pie so many ways, before there are going to be serious problems. That's the situation which the breeding industry is in right now- and the sport is paying dearly for it, as are the young horses themselves.

Good question !!

Answer 11

Well yea 2 yrs old is young

late 3 yr old I think better But many older horse's that never ran at 2 break down..

I had one,, he was sound perfect he was a big baby so I waited till his knees closed But he still went,,, his hind left small pastern, very  rare in deed , he was going into the turn and switched his lead and bam , the Jockey could not pull him up at the wire he got the fastest time of the day

and still beat the others he was working with Not in a race but morning work outs ..

It happens when they are not racing just galloping along they do it ..

Always wait till their knees close at least



I love the race horse world, I have been in it for over 35 yrs

  Its the ediot trainers I don't like, the ones I wonder how they got a license in the first place?



some good ones some bad ones



YES,, I think there would be less, if they waited until late 3yrold to run .But even then it's going to happen,,But many older horses break down also

    But some owners want their money back too soon on their one million dollar investment ,,

Thats me in the picture on a 2yr old (avatar) at SANTA ANITA

Answer 12

Maybe.

Vets examine horses before they race to see if their bones are fully developed though.

And to tell the truth, the horses seem as if they aren't pushed too much. Just in the Kentucky Derby, Big Brown was still energetic after racing over a mile.

Answer 13

That's something that needs serious consideration. I can't claim to be deeply knowledgeable about racing, though I know a bit about horses. I'd like to see what comes out of the debate the Eight Belles tragedy has stirred-up. Certainly, I'd be interested in the outcome of the age debate. As it stands, I'm very unclear on why three year-olds are being run in the major races now. What advantage does a three year-old bring to the track that a four year-old doesn't also possess? What would be lost if the minimum race age were raised across the board?