Steeplechase a well known horse race type popular all over the world
Even though there are several types of horse races conducted each year, but among them are few which are very famous around the world.
Steeplechase is a type of horse race, scheduled not only in United Kingdom and United States of America, but also in Canada, Australia Ireland and France.
The race was named Steeplechase in early times, in accordance to the ditches and obstacles which are placed after every small distance.
Now in United Kingdom, this race is known by the name of National Hunt racing,
One of the notable events of this race type is Grand National. In the beginning it was held at the Aintree Racecourse, which is situated in Liverpool.
The steeplechase was invented in the 18th century and at that time the race started from the church steeple till the church steeple hence, which is why it is named as steeplechase.
The first steeplechase was held in 1752, between Cornelius O'Callaghan and Edmund Blake. They raced from the Buttevant Church to the St. Leger Church in Ireland, and the total distance covered was 6 kilometers.
The races were held cross country instead of the race track.
In 1810, the very first steeplechase was held at Bedford, which was properly organised with fences and hurdles.
United Kingdom and mainly Ireland schedules most of the steeplechase races, carding around 4800 races over fence and hurdles in 2008.
In United Kingdom, there are two types of steeplechase races, one of them is the hurdle race which is usually scheduled over the National Fence. The fence is approximately 52 inches tall, made of good quality plastic or steel.
These hurdles can also be of live hedges and of packed pine, the 52 inches' tall fence is made out of a synthetic brush, which is now being used in many other countries.
In hurdle races, the horses are trained in a special manner, as they are taught by their trainers how to jump and there are many other factors, which are made known to the horse because it is not an ordinary race since while jumping above the hurdles the
jockey has to force the horse to slow down his speed.
The other race type which is scheduled in United States of America is the timber race.
In this race, the obstacles are made out of wood. The wooden obstacle are immovable and their length may reach upto 5 feet.
The hurdle race covers 2 to 3 miles, where as timber races cover a distance of 3 to 4 miles, which makes 6 kilometers.
The horses who participate in timber races are trained by their trainers to jump with an arc, due to the high length of the obstacles. The horse has to land in such a way that he maintains his speed in a proper manner
There are few notable timber races that are held in United States, including Maryland Hunt Cup in Glyndon and Virginia Gold Cup in The Plains.
Now in preset time, this race is becoming popular among many countries as every year there are numerous events that takes place all around the world.
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