Nailing Things Down

Calf cannons at left. This is other than new as countless studies have shown the effect of exercise on bone density and bone formation, and also that changing the geometry of the bone changes its resistance.

We also know that lack of exercise causes remodeling the other way in that at some point after exercise is reduced or eliminated bone resorption in the way of decrease in bone mineral density and actual loss of bone laticework proceeds. Exercise we know produces rounder denser bone. The intensive calf study I've just referred to concludes that with the 50 meter a day sprints given the young calves the exercise changed the quantity but not the quality of the bone, and the authors speculate had the intense exercise been of greater volume and been carried on over a longer period whether they might also have seen differences in bone quality.

Another study I bumped into out of New Zealand, Massey University, conducted a well known study with 14 two year old fillies dividing them into two control groups with 7 confined to paddocks and the other 7 galloped with steadily increasing speed and intensity through the 13 weeks of the study. Though there was fast work twice a week only in the last month, in just three months the exercised group had achieved 37% more cannon bone mass than the sedentary group. Another study in 2005 "scanning technology has shown that horses with greater cross-sectional area of cannon bone combined with more bone in the dorsal cortex are better able to withstand the forces of impact and loading".

For race training of course, the question remains, how do we get there, and once there how do we keep what we've got.

A couple of posts ago I noted the softer training of Neil Drysdale in terms of speed and frequency compared to Bobby Frankel, and my observation that Drysdales horses generally are around short times instead of lengthy stays. Overall we may observe that the TYPE of exercise chosen for the race horse is going to have an impact on soundness.

Here is one interesting tidbit I found at the Google:

"Collagen is a tissue component that demands both time and adequate stimulus in order to strengthen. It is a very specific tissue responding almost precisely in kind to the demands put upon it. As far as the collagen in bone and tendons is concerned a 2:30 mile is not the same stressor as a :24 quarter, and all the 2:30 miles in the world will not properly prepare a bone for a :24 quarter."

So, the questions, will a :26 quarter prepare the bone for a :24 quarter? Will a :48 once a week prepare for a 1:49 mile and an eight? Will a 1:46 mile every 9 days per Drysdale prepare for a 1:34 mile on Saturday afternoon? We have the answers to these questions only in our breakdown statistics.

Training:
The farm is a pool of water and snow over frozen ground. The place was a total mess even before the additional 3 inches of precip on Tuesday. But, the Astride Paddock retained just enough consistency that last night over crispy snow we got exactly the sort of w/o we needed. The horses had been prepped nutritionally for speed, and they were into it, breezing themselves riderless about 2f at a time at about 85% speed and a little faster when they passed me throwing my soccer balls. We did five or six of these, and with the coming melt that will put the whole farm out of commission for several days, last night was the sort of fast twitch work we had to have. Very encouraging. Rollin' Rodney the 2 yr. old looks especially fast. Passed on the tack work due to the crunch conditions.