How to Breed a Thoroughbred
Let us first have a look at what does this term Thoroughbred actually means. The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word "thoroughbred" is often used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, but technically it only refers to the Thoroughbred breed.
The Thoroughbreds were first developed in 17th and 18th century in England, when native mares were crossbred with imported Arabian stallions. All modern Thoroughbreds can have their pedigrees linked to three stallions originally imported into England at that time. During the early 18th century, thoroughbred breed spread throughout the world. They were imported into North America, Australia, Europe, Japan and South America. And millions of Thoroughbreds exist worldwide today.
To create new breeds or to improve the existing ones, they are also commonly cross-bred with other breeds. This proved right when in past the creation of many important breeds, such as the Quarter Horse, the Standardbred, the Anglo-Arabian took place. Thoroughbreds are most often crossed with different Warmblood breeds because of their great performance and capabilities. There are two common crosses with the Thoroughbred which includes crossbreeding with Arabian bloodlines to produce the Anglo-Arabian and with the Irish Draught to produce the Irish Sport Horse.
We will now discuss few of the characteristics of this Breed. They are known for their agility, quickness, deftness, speed and spirit. The typical Thoroughbred ranges between 15.2 to 17.0 hands (62 to 68 inches, 157 to 173 cm) high, averaging 16 hands (64 inches, 163 cm). The colors in which they are mostly seen are bay, seal brown, chestnut, black, or gray. Less common colors, recognized in the United States include roan and palomino. White is very rare, but is also a recognized color separate from gray. Good quality Thoroughbreds have a fine chiseled head on a long neck, high withers, a deep chest, a short back, good depth of hindquarters, a lean body, and long legs. Thoroughbreds are normally classified among the "hot-blooded" breeds.
Thoroughbred horses are primarily bred for racing at the gallop. They are usually known for being either distance runners or sprinters. Sprinters have usually great muscles, while distance runners tend to be smaller and slimmer.
For the buyer or trainer, the size of the horse matters a lot. If we have a look at the winning Thoroughbred horses, we will see that the best racehorses are generally of average size. During the past few years, research has showed that thoroughbreds have steadily increased in size. For example, the average height of a Thoroughbred in 1700 was about 13.3 hands high. But by the year 1876 this had increased to 15.3.
Other than Horse racing, Thoroughbreds are also bred for other riding disciplines, such as show jumping, combined training and dressage at international levels like in Olympics. Few other areas where the thoroughbreds are used are polo, barrel racing, western riding and fox hunting.
One good thing about Thoroughbred racehorses is that they perform with maximum exertion and perceptible effort. This is the reason why they are hardly defeated by other breeds on the tracks. But on the other hand, this extra strength that they use has resulted in high rates of accidents and other health problems. After many incidents it has been proved that horse racing has a higher fatality rate than all other legal human and animal sports. This had been an alarming signal for the last few years, for all the people linked to the Horse Racing world. Also, Thoroughbreds are inclined towards some other health issues and complications, including bleeding from the lungs, low fertility, abnormally small hearts and a small hoof as compare to the body. But the thoroughbreds have medical security because the level of treatment given to injured Thoroughbreds is often more intensive and thourough than given to the horses of lesser financial value. There are several theories for the reasons behind the accidents and health problems in the Thoroughbred breed. And research continues into how to reduce the accident rate and treat those animals that are injured.
Thoroughbred horses finished with a racing career that are not suitable for breeding purposes anymore, are often pushed into other equine sports. A number of agencies and organizations exist to help make the transition from the racetrack to another career, or to help find retirement homes for ex-racehorses.
Tags: