TBA and More Ivers

I received a comment and email from a TBA member, which I tried to return. It came back quail mail. So, if the person sees this maybe they'll try again.

Ivers continues to influence my training, though the last Ivers training done by this stable was in the early nineties. We're more into P. Burch type training these days, though it's still necessary to refer to Ivers on occasion.

Both in theory and practice, discovering something actually works is the easy part. It is the stuff of the theory that fails to work, or looks wrong, or just somehow seems mistaken, that takes so much more of one's energy.

A prior blog generally stated Ivers pre-race program for the prospective Derby yearling. What happens after the horse starts racing?

For Ivers it goes something like this.
Day 1: Slow gallop 4 miles
Day 2: Slow gallop 4 miles
Day 3: 2 x 5f breeze or race
Day 4: Rest
(Note--Ivers wants speed work every four days. By Ivers, the fourth day is the day of maximum "acquisition" for the animal, and also the day by which the spleen and its stored red blood cells need to be emptied lest they become spiculated and clog up micro vessels in the lungs.--I found the every four day speed work nearly ideal. The rest of the program however, creates problems.)

In practice after racing began and also prior to racing, I modified Ivers gradually and wound up with something this:

Day 1: 2 miles gallop--first mile slow, second at two min. lick.
Day 2: 1.5 miles gallop very easy with or without rider.
Day 3: Race or breeze after warm up. After about 6f slow gallop the breeze generally is conducted in two heats--Heat#1 3f warm up at 15sec/f with 1/2f at speed at the end. Heat #2 anywhere from 4f to mile depending on circumstances usually at speed--faster the better--the horses in this program are sound, do it with enthusiasm and can take it.
Day 4: Rest

This modification of Ivers became RR training of the 90s. One continual problem was how to handle the off days. The length, speed and frequency of slow gallops was a debate, and in my view major problem with the Ivers program. Ivers wanted to use slow galloping to develop ligament and bone. Contrast with our present training using the P. Burch model. Burch essentially moots the slow gallop debate by strictly using speed work to condition the body parts of the horse. Burch uses speed instead of slow gallop to develop bone and tendon, which is one off the attractive traits of his program.

Mon. 12/11/06 Y rests.