SeeingThe Gear Change

Last post I speculated increases in concussion as one goes through the fractions of increasing speed based on my own on-board observations that I perceive galloping down a race track. It's unecessary though to be riding the horse since you may also see the increasing concussion and the reasons for it with your own eyes.

I was again watching Mandella's "On The Muscle" last night and observing the horse in the photo Mandella trainee The Tin Man in the 2002 Breeder's Cup Turf. Tom Durkin making the call, The Tin Man spurted out of the gate and Durkin calling a painfully slow first quarter of :25.5 or about :12.8/f.That's almost :13s and at this speed TM was just flicking along, pounding yes, but very little extension of the front legs.

Then they come rounding the final turn with Durkin "here's comes High Chapparal, and (voice crescendoing) With Anticipation...". Along with Durkin's call with the whole field commencing the patented sprint through the stretch you see in long turf races, one can also see a significant change in action from the earlier slower fractions.

If you observe closely you notice at faster speeds (:12s or faster) the front legs both stretching out farther and higher with the body of the horse lenghening as the horse converts fully from a "flicking" action to a "bounding" action. To increase to max speed. it seems, horses have to bound along, literally catapulting themselves across the ground. I was watching this last night and speculating that the faster ones in this bounding action are perhaps a bit stronger in the shoulders and rear end and also possibly are able to "extend" a bit more with their front ends which might have just a bit to do with angle at the shoulder.

Significantly, full bounding action (as opposed to a bounding flicking combo) seems to start at the :12.5 mark becoming more pronounced with increasing speed. In the particular race The Tin Man becomes engulfed by High Chapparal and With Anticipation who are able to fully extend while The Tin Man is tying up and unable and fades to fourth. You can also visually see at the "bound" the front legs of the leaders pounding into the turf with far greater concussion then at the lower speed, but, you can also see the reason why this occurs.

What I saw was that at the faster bounding pace the reaching "up" much more than the reaching "out" with the front legs causes the increase in concussion. Why? Because by moving the front leg "up" there is more distance between the hoof and the ground which creates more time for the horse to bring its leg down at force and hence more concussion. I watched several other races to verify what I saw in the 2002 BC Turf, and indeed where I saw the horses speeding up from slower fractions this sort of action is obvious every single time.

The gear change thus from "bounding/flicking combo" to "full bounding" occurs at about :12.5 speed. You can feel it onboard the horse, and you can see the change in action from the ground. The significance, next post.

Training: Another 2 inches of precip on top of us this weekend along with 2 inches of snow. Horrible weather. Horses off yesterday, but will start up again today.