Thurs. Misc.

Into the office too late again for serious posting. Extended winter continues right along though considerably milder than last year where I recall a 10 degree or so day in late March. And, were back to constant precip since mid-February, though again, in much less volume than a year ago, and thus manageable. I had a wearisome horse workout last night in terms of prep for it, but thoroughly enjoyed the riding once it got going. I keep thinking, I got one horse only and this ought to be a piece of cake in terms of effort, whereas training horses continues to be moving bricks even with just this one. Last night though over wet mushy turf we took our problem spook ball animal over a new more gallopable patch of turf when wet. He handled it well causing renewed enthusiasm in our good rider Mr. Nob that we might train through a few April showers.
Sun 3/27: Off. Rain.
Mon. 3/28: riderless in deep mud. Rod is now chasing the older horse so we get full speed. Nice enthusiasm. 4 x 1-2f and one that went full speed about 4f. Too wet to tack.
Tues. 3/29: riderless full speed bursts with Rod chasing the older horse. Probably 5 x 1f and then one that went about 3f. Declined to fight the weather with tack work
Wed. 3/30: 4 times trot up and down the hill including one long heat up a lot steeper hill. Too wet to gallop.

Sun. Misc.

Next one under construction. Our training:
Thurs. 3/24: 4 times trot-gallop up and down the hill.
Fri. 3/25 riderless after 1/2 inch of rain/cold/wind/horses into it. All out 4 x 1 or 2f and one that went 4f full speed in deep mud. We have the new thing were Rodney is chasing the older horse.
Sat. 3/26 3 inches of predicted snow luckily passed us by. Off.

Injury Prevention And Accuracy

Early 1980s before I ever got into horse racing an old lawyer now deceased moved into the office next to me name Jim Forney. Forney had on his wall a huge win picture of one of his quarter horses that he kept on his farm in Oak Grove, Mo. just east of KC.

Forney said the horse won $15,000 that day, quite a pot in that time, and, needless to say the RR mental computer went into high gear. Looked to me that one could make a lot of money racing a horse, I said. Forney's response I've remembered well. A puzzling statement at the time that interestingly stuck with me although it was still two years before I first went to Ak Sar Ben. Forney responded: "you could, but these horses are so dammed fragile".

Forney is deceased now, but his wisdom describes the sport. To stay in somehow we've got to keep them running.

The best stats on this that I ran into were Bill O'Gorman's stats outlined in the first part of his book. O'Gorman specialized in two year olds and said over several years that about 2/3 of them make it through one year. Could we perhaps improve that to 75% with extreme hands on care? If 3 out of 4 of our horses race year to year survival seems more possible.

And so, this blog has spent probably too much space on injury prevention. I want to make a few comments on the accuracy of the observations made, and then give my thoughts on what has to be done in toto to give each horse a chance.

Training:
Thurs. 3/24: On a raw cold day with Mr. Nob complaining about weather related arthritis and out of condition riding muscles-- 4 times trot-gallop up and down the hill. The horse did well. Nob-- survived.

Thurs. Misc.

Will wrap up injury prevention shortly to the extent I'm able. I've been away from the race track for over 3 years now and so need to give some thought to the overall picture that includes a lot more than fractures and fracture resistance. Thereafter I hope to get to the subject of performance, which is more natural to me as I've been involved with that as coach and athlete most of my life.

Training this week has been pretty much a disaster involving a combo of circumstances of the type we constantly run into with our horses and a personal lacking of the initiative and motivation that it takes to get a TB to the race track. I flat out missed a day over the weekend, and, thereafter as sure as the sun comes up, we miss another day due to weather, are unable to gallop the next day due to the wet, and last night, finally, in perfect galloping conditions I arrive to "what's this" watching the horse limping up to his feed tub.

This is followed by some relief on noticing loss of front shoe and consternation since that shoe was tacked on there about 36 hours ago, the thought being the new skinny #5 race horse nails had failed to hold in the speed work in the mud. But then, again, "what's this" in tacking it back on there's heat all over the place including on the sole of the hoof. Just at the end I noticed an inch long healing laceration about two days old of the type of getting caught in a fence. This is good because-well--he lost the shoe in a fence instead of bad shoeing--and bad because we literally lost a horse that way a year ago. Undoubtedly the two horses were chasing each other again, and Rodney ended in a fence somewhere.

In any event there was too much heat in the hoof to get on the horse and gallop. I've done that once before and the horse stumbled and almost fell from the pain and myself on the ground. Avoid repeat, so for the second day in a row we pass on galloping. Wasted week. Hoping to get it together this evening.

Training

Sun. 3/20: riderless only due to wet. horses chased each other in medium mud all out. probably 4 x 2f.
Mon: 3/21: Horse tacked with intention to gallop. Nob reports when he got to bottom of hill the gallop into the hill was marshy and there was slippery mud all the way the hill. Tack work aborted and horses put in paddock for riderless work. They raced each other again in better ground conditions but less vigorously than the day before. probably got 2 or 3 full speed heats of 2+F

Detraining Finale

A $4200 Keenland Fall Breeding Stock sale reject at left named Hilda's Passion out of Canadian Frontier wins her 4th stake in a row and sets the 7F track record at Gulfstream, trained by Todd Plecher no less. We're all for success by cheap horses. This one though, a bit of a head scratcher. How does a put together weanling as Hilda must have been get no bid at $4200.00? Few buyers, cheap stallion, lost in the shuffle, probably. The speedy Gone West, Seattle Slew, Saddlers Wells, all in that pedigree. They missed the El Prado broodmare sire probably. Congrats to connections.

We digress. Back to the business of detraining. The final Q I'll pose is after we do the speed work what is the detraining effect of avoiding speed work over time?

In terms of muscles and soft tissue I fret and worry about layoffs of any length. If I've breezed 6f on Sunday how ridiculous is it conceptually in terms of muscle tissue, and the physiology of muscle tissue to then do zero speed work for six straight days and ask the horse to do another 6f the following Sunday. What are the chances in that scenario that the horse will pull something, tear something, and yet, this is the sort of pattern or worse that our trainers use. Try for yourself to run all out for a minute 12 today and then trot a couple of minutes a day for 6 days and do it again, and note the effect. It wouldn't be fatal probably, but we pose the questions: is it optimal? Is it smart?

Probably with soft tissue to safely do speed work we need to keep them tight and strong. Based on my experience, some speed work---short spurts will do--every 3 days per Preston Burch does that. I am still unsure I'd do a mile every three days these old timers did with some horses, but will get back to that later.

As to the bones, it's a difference scene altogether. Assuming we have an FR horse to begin with the Q seems to be, how long does the built up structure last through layoffs.

The blog has already advocated that speed work every 7 days is the absolute minimum for getting FR in the first place and maintaining it thereafter. However, what happens to the FR cannon bone subjected to longer layoffs?

My short answer is an unknown in terms of science--we're without any research, but I think it's possible to make a very sound educated guess here.

First note that the danger in layoffs and FR obviously is other than any one miss of a workout in the training cycle or even two or three. Once the FR processes have fully clicked in, the fibrils are aligned, the bone glue proteins filling up all the empty spaces etc.--all those FR processes at the bottom of last post--when they are engaged the FR bone will last a while.

How do we calculate the time frame that FR will last. The answer seems fairly simple to discern. The FR processes as they were developed over the course of the blog mostly involve the bone version of tightening against force. It's a reaction process of bone to concussion much as muscles tighten resisting force exerted on them by tendons and ligaments. The bone tissue girds itself against force and immediately post race commences the process of relaxation to its pre-race condition.

However, bone, unlike muscle, due to the nature of the material is going to uncork or relax at such a slow rate that full relaxation or reversion to non-FR condition is going to take a good long while.

I am supposing there is a mathematically calculatable effect with each missed workout. Such and such a % e.g. of lattice compaction has reduced, or bone glue proteins have withdraw "x" amount of distance from the outer spaces, or the "adherence" materials that causes FR fibrils to stick together has lost a few molecules of this or that.

In deciding the precise amount of time we have within the parameter of "safety" for the bones there seem two possibilities:
1. Something e.g. injury has happened and the horse lays off for e.g. 2 months. Were would the FR bones be at that point, and
2. The horse is fine, but, Todd Plecher style we lay off from the every 7 day processes seemingly (for Plecher) whenever we have an excuse to do so. These are the Kiaren McGlaughlin "
why do more when less will do" type trainers.

In #2 above, assuming these types ever achieve FR in the first place, probably what happens is there is a weakening over time. Who knows how much time. Depends on total amount of workouts missed. Here is the way I gage it: if these sorts keep missing workouts over a two month period the FR threshhold will have reduced below race appropriate levels.

And, we see this all the time--trainers prepare their young horses in competent fashion, probably get close to getting FR, and then, just as soon as the racing begins they more or less just quit the speed workouts. The horse lasts two or three months, and then, boom. That is the typical conventional trainer and the explanation for the fracture, I think, is above.

For longer layoffs I am pretty sure over a six months period of layoff the horse will no longer have any FR bones. The Qs--what about 5 month layoff, 4 months, 3. At what point exactly do we start to worry about FR and length of layoff.

My thought process: After a 30 day layoff I'd have some concerns. Probably even the longest lasting process, which would be fibril alignment in optimal directions, would have begun to fray. You may still have full FR bone after a 30 day layoff, but, I'd think it would be well on the way to non FR sometime within 3 months of the last speed work. Will FR last two months from the last speed work. Without writing a book, I'd think the FR threshhold would be around two months--i.e. after a 2 month layoff the horse dips just below the threshold--i.e. if we recommence at that point getting back would be a lot easier.

I suspect after a 2 month layoff the FR quality of bone starts a geometric regression--i.e. the degradation process is slow at first and then accelerates as you get farther and farther from the last speed work. I believe all FR effect from the FR processes would have disappeared in 6 months and probably sooner. Probably around 4 months.

And, let us remember also we have the osteoblast/clast bone resorption and reconstruction going on at the rate of 4% of bone cells a month. By 6 months out 25% of the bone will be completely new bone unaffected by any workout and calcified according to the age of the horse.

Training:
Thurs. 3/17: some short very fast riderless bursts + 3 times trot gallop up and down hill
Fri. 3/18: Off
Sat. 3/19 Off: No excuse for this one. Horrible day weather wise. truth is the trainer bailed out this day.

More Detraining

Human athletes have a pretty good feel for detraining as applied to muscle strength, endurance, stamina, etc. When I lay off from my runs, I know instinctively from a broad expanse of training experience pretty much where I am, how I will feel and what my performance will be. When I was playing basketball, generally the 4th and 5th consecutive days following a two day layoff where my strongest. It took that many days of playing and working out to get back to where I was even before just two days of laying off.

And, how strange it was when I got into horse racing how absolutely clueless these trainers are in this same sense. I quickly learned that those qualified to throw feed are other than necessarily qualified to direct an athlete.

But, I digress. Bones is a different story. Humans have little worry in general about bone structure. With our equines knowing where the bones are is critical

Last post defined bone detraining as what occurs within the micro structure of bone during any gap or change up in training. If we have an FR horse (race appropriate fracture resistance) the question might be--what will occur post speed work on day #1,2,3,4 and so on up to as long as 6 or 7 months if we have to lay off due to injury?

I've come up with two ideas:
1. Normal ongoing osteoblast/clast resorption and rebuilding of bone tissue will at some point have replaced all the FR bone, and
2. The FR processes are temporary processes that reverse themselves at some point of inactivity.

As to the osteoblasts and osteoclasts, somewhere on the blog is that at any point in time approximately 4% of bone is undergoing reconstruction. This is an ongoing process that happens all the time. On top of said 4% we also have the total annilation that every race type speed work will produce on 1% of the cells in the bone structure. After one race we have 4% +1% = 5% cells undergoing repair--after two closely spaced races 6%, we breeze 4 days later 7% and so on.

It was also noted that it takes 2 weeks to 1 month from the time a single cell is destroyed either by exercise or osteoclasts for the osteoblasts to repair and restore the cell. Thus, if a week later we breeze again, or e.g. if we're doing breezework every three days Preston Burch style by the end of a 30 day period 9-14% of the horses bone cells will be in various states of repair instead of being strong working cells.

This natural process of building up and tearing down which in our race horse is enhanced by the exercise, we must calculate in conjunction with the FR processes in deciding on the strength of bone. List the FR processes again, and will conclude this next post:

contraction/compaction (increase density) of the mineral lattice

increase in bone glue proteins that hold everything together

adherence between some fibrils creating a stronger structure

realignment of fibrils/osteons and rearrangement of materials in optimum directions.

speed up of calcification/ossification/cell repair due to heat and dilation of circulatory structures,

Post race--a bounce back effect to pre-race conditions. We want to retard this bounce back with timely subsequent speed work.

Training: the fat one a day later just out of the paddock where we got several nice short bursts of the horses chasing each other full speed.
Tues. 3/15: 4 x walk trot up and down the hill.
Wed. 3/16 2 miles of mostly slow paddock work (horse refused faster) + 4 x mostly trot up and down hill.
Thurs. short riderless speed work in the paddock + 3 x trot-gallop up and down the hill. Nob aborted after heat 3. First gallop in a while and the horse was playing around on long toes--needing to shoe--making this dangerous. Good choice as Nob almost hit the ground on the way back.

Wed. Misc.

Busy week and next post under construction. A vid of the lazy one today after his paddock work just prior to saddling.

Training:
Mon. 3/14: Snow and rain. Off
Tues. 3/15: 4 times walk-trot up and down the hill. Wet.
Wed. 3/16: Still to f wet on the track to gallop. 4 times up and down mostly trot.

Detraining And FR

Clock forward today. Txs to anonymous comment. After a few more posts to wrap up injury prevention I'm hoping the stars will align correctly and me, my horse and this blog can get onto the subject of "performance".

"Detraining" is a term I've used to describe the physiological processes involved in "layoff", and this could be one day to six months. Unknown whether this is a term used in exercise physiologists, but surely they have some descriptive word describing what occurs within bone tissue, muscles, and also tendons and ligaments from one bout of exercise to the next, however long that may be. For me the word is detraining.

As everything with our horse we need view detraining in terms of injury prevention and performance. For performance the idea is straightforward--how are those measurable performance parameters, speed, stamina, strength, etc. affected by layoffs. This aspect will have to be covered when discussing performance. The question of the moment: how do lay offs affect injury prevention?

Take note that lay off refers to that time from the end of the last exercise to the next. It may also refer to periods within the exercise program between particular types of exercise--e.g. how long between speed work, although we're sending the horse out every day for slow gallops. Or, how long has it been since we breezed for distance instead of short sprints. In everything the horse does we must consider the effect of gaps between particular types of activity!

Needless to say, there must be books written about this, or should be for our horses. There is a lot to consider. For here, I'll limit the discussion to fractures with the understanding that muscle detraining is much easier to fathom, and that ligaments and tendons present their own particularly physiology in this sense--e.g. how careful need we be to avoid a bow when we change up rider weight. Can that alarm bell blow loudly enough?

Continue next.

Training:
Fri. 3/11: Riderless spurts in near dark. Had to tack a shoe on the older and ran out of light.
Sat. 3/12: 10 min walk-trot under tack. Nob reports the horse as considerably less spooky than last fall.

Detraining And Engagement

"Virtue itself scapes not caluminous strokes
The canker galls the infants of the spring
Too oft before their buttons be disclosed..."
Hamlet

Shakespeare's words applied to our horses. This post two unrelated concepts deserving further consideration in deciding whether the "injury prevention" portion of the horse's specific exercise program will produce the necessary bone remodeling in terms of FR.

First consider--in terms of deciding the sufficiency of our program to prevent fractures, i.e. dealing with the variables we will prescribe for speed, distance and frequency, very important, it seems to me, is the concept that of engaging the physiological processes that produce FR. I'd feel better leaving the track on speed days knowing that the exercise has been produced correctly both to engage FR processes and after engagement to carry the specific exercise variable on long enough that indeed, post exercise some bone remodeling will be occurring.

Many trainers, ignorant of specifics, fool themselves into thinking that whatever they seem to conjure up for the horse will do the trick. The typical work for many of our good conventionals provides the flagrant example: the horse barely warms into the planned 4f work in :49, travels primarily in :13 and change for the first furlong, travels in :13 for furlong #2 and then comes flying home to get the speed. Has this horse really done anything in terms of FR? Or, can this trainer leave the track being comfortable with the condition of his horse's bones.

If the Q for this trainer would be "engagement" of the FR processes, possibly the crucial Q might be easier to answer. When I am reexamining my horses's pre-race breezes, or in season breezes, maybe I'd want to mark in the notebook those works that "engaged" FR processes. I'd like to see a lot of "FRs" marked across that page. Hopefully the idea of "engagement" helps in that sort of thinking.

The second concept is one that I've avoided for fear of having to write another book, but it's necessary to note that if we fail to understand detraining we know nothing about the condition and soundness of our animal. Detraining of course refers to the reversal of the training process including all the physiological processes when we lay off the horse from exercise. The layoff can be as short as one day on up to infinity. At some point after the last appropriate exercise detraining begins. Continue with that next post.
Training:
Thurs. 3/10: In raw still very wet conditions with standing water here and there we were foiled in an attempted pasture romp. I wanted to duplicate the racing from 3 days ago, but the older horse, normally a kamikaze was having none of it. Refused to run beyond much a trot, and I myself lacked the air to chase down the horses going in different directions. Finally gave up. Later in the evening the older horse colicked and I understood the problem. Try again tomorrow. All ended well.

Onto Some Final Thoughts On FR

The formula again:

4f in :12.5 sec/f every 7 days theorized as minimums for race appropriate fracture resistance (FR) up to 1.25 miles.

The aim is providing a control sequence to the horse's exercise schematic. Theorize: consistently less with any of the three variables distance, speed and frequency may jeopardize the horse.

This formula comes with all sorts of caveats involving things as common sense, etc. Avoid detailing for the present for it should be enough that this formula is expressed in bare minimums where the careful, intelligent trainer would obviously be doing more, and probably a lot more.

Do the three prongs of the formula have our equal confidence?

The :12.5 speed speed, and 7 day frequency are true FR dividing points imo-- as analyzed on the blog. Going slower than :12.5 sec/f even at longer distances such as 7 or 8f fails to engage FR processes due to insufficient concussion at that rate of speed. The obvious question: if you hit the cannon bone often enough at :13 sec/f would FR processes engage? The question should be would the race appropriate FR processes engage? My answer, for what it's worth, is in the negative. If we extend :13s even further, 1.5 miles e.g. would FR processes engage? For race appropriateness--imo--more distance than 1.5 miles in :13s might be required. I would feel unsafe if my horse's work were limited to :13s.

7 days as a frequency dividing line has a little more concern since the blog has identified slight FR processes working into the 8th day out from the speed work. Yet, I think there's enough evidence with trainer injury stats and consideration of the physiology to say with a degree of confidence--speed work every 7 days and your horse likely will survive in terms of bone soundness, and that more than 8 days increases injury odds geometrically.

The 4f distance has less certainty to it since the FR engagement process at distance will vary with speed and to some extent with frequency. There will be a stronger FR effect doing 4f in :12s as compared to :12.5, and who knows exactly what the difference is in final effect if we do 5f in 1:00 compared to 4f in :12.5. e.g. I'd think that if the trainer does limit the horse to 4f that a :48 would be significantly safer than a :50. Remember that at the slightly faster speed the gallops in and out will be longer, and that concussion increases geometrically also as the speed goes faster than :12.5. You can feel this if you're on board. Additionally, I believe the 2f in :12s will fail to engage FR processes, and that distance before engagement requires at least 2.5f. Less distance than that there are an insufficient number of hoof strikes. The horse fails to increase FR effect if it goes faster than :11.5 imo because the time of hoof to ground contact starts to reduce at the blazing speed--i.e. there's actually less total concussion.
Some final thoughts, next post.

Training:
Since 1/10/11 we're back to perpetual wet in KC, but the clocks go back this weekend, thank baby Jesus!
Sun. 3/6: short pasture romp produced some speed for the conditions.
Mon: 3/7: good pasture romp conditions this day and horses get at least 4 x 2f racing each other. RR impressive. We decline pasture work as the track portion is too soft yet.
Tues. 3/8: Rain. Off.
Wed. 3/9: Off. arrive with intention to work, but unable without creating hoof depressions in the pasture that we want to avoid.

Uncle Mo As Guinea Pig

Uncle Mo(outside) seems to show more of his sire Indian Charlie than his broodmare sire Arch. The closeness of the breeding pattern to my own aspiring prospect, currently very busy grazing in our pasture ,causes some attention by us nevertheless. Certainly Uncle Mo is longer in several ways and has significantly more scope in the photos than our Rollin' Rodney. Interestingly, the slightly climbing stride seems somewhat similar.

And now there is also the phenomenon of Uncle Mo's training pattern and how it fits in with the minimum injury prevention of this blog. Check out the formula:

4f in :12.5f/sec once a week.

The assertion has been made on this blog that adherence to this formula for about 3 months will produce fracture resistance (FR) for up to 1.25 mile distances. And, interestingly Uncle Mo becomes a guinea pig for this of sorts because Uncle Mo. has been primarily since mid-January doing once a week 4fs in slightly slower than :48s. Thus the Q, as Bill Pressey speculated in an earlier post, can Uncle Mo make it through?

First the caveat that it continues to be unknown what Plecher does with his horses other than published workouts. Given their flacid appearance and condition you'd have to say "not much", meaning the slow days are the normal 1.5 miles in :18s and :19s with an occasional spurt. But, in terms of certainty, unknown.

Presumably Uncle Mo will be on a similar pattern through May 1 and then the 1.25 mile Derby very possibly, considering the weather, in the slop again. Will he last past that Derby?

Observe again that the blog formula is a minimum. Do less at the horse's peril! At best Plecher, imo, is skating on the bare edge with Uncle Mo, and typical Plecher two(or more) weeks off from speed work following Derby preps would put Uncle Mo under the minimum. So the possibilities with Mo:

1. Plecher gives too much post Derby prep off from speed work--the horse is under the formula--the horse fractures, OR
2. Plecher achieves the minimum average in terms of frequency.

In the latter case will Uncle Mo make it through without fracture? If #2 above is achieved, and Uncle Mo fractures that would put the formula in question. Either way, since the horse's training closely fits the training pattern, it will be interesting!

Again, soft tissue injury--I believe the chances of that type of injury for Uncle Mo, given the w/o schedule, are high.

The blogger will be distracted with office work till Friday.
Training.
Sun. 3/6--Pasture romp was all conditions allowed. They went as fast as they could on slippery wet ground. No point to tack work on this.

Fri. Misc.

In the category "if you can keep 'em running" this one caught my eye today seeing a horse named Twice Over in Dubai winning the 2011 Al Maktoum Challenge in impressive fashion and now a 2011 World Cup contender with trainer Henri Cecil.
http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/61712/twice-over-sails-to-victory-in-world-cup-prep
Twice Over reappears today after I picked the horse to win the 2009 B.C. Classic over Z and Gio Ponti after viewing this impressive Grade I performance:
http://ratherrapid.blogspot.com/2009/11/winner-of-2009-bc-classic-is.html
Training:
This week has been marked by "the melt" and bad ground conditions and work that kept me away from the farm for two days. Training resumed this morning with 4 or 5 riderless 2f sprints in the mud. The horses looked good.

Distance And Injury/Finale

The minimum injury prevention formula proposed on this blog is:

4f x 12.5 sec/f every 7 days

The idea is that to stay in the game we need to keep the horse running.

The in season performance workout looked at last post was?

Tues: 3f in :35.5
Sun. 8f in :13.5
Wed. 3f in 35.5
Sun: Race 1 1/16 mile

Will this produce fracture resistance? Will it produce FR if the horse races only once a month, or every 3 weeks?

My opinion is yes, although its a way less than comfortable yes for a number of reason. This is an in season w/o and we presume, of course, that we have an FR horse going in. The Q becomes then, will this routine maintain FR?

I think that it would for a good long while, even were the horse to race only once a month, and certainly if it races once every two weeks. Yet, I am uncomfortable with this routine, although noting that while I've considered it, done it for short periods, I have yet to try something like this over a longer period for reasons that follow.

Note that the mile in :13.5s is way short of being an FR workout by my definitions. Without writing another book, that work, while certainly it will benefit tendon/ligament strength, cardiovascular endurance and several other parameters of exercise physiology, it simply fails to engage the FR processes by my definitions. Thus this routine is left with one 3f FR w/o week. That's on the barest edge, imo, even if we factor in the racing. Myself, I'd prefer to formulate an FR routine I consider completely safe. I'd be uncomfortable with this one, and particularly so if I were riding the horse.

The routine also skirts on the borders of being too much by my definitions. Those :35.5s are almost 5f works and then with more warm up and warm down. For reasons previously elaborated I believe the Preston Burch cycle of every 3 day breezing is--long term--too much. You may get away with the Burch w/o for several months, but eventually the number of destroyed bone cells will be too many in some body part and the horse is going to fracture. Even in his own book Burch's horses fail to last long term. If you have the book, check it out.

If it's too much, the solution, you say, is to reduce the distances. Do 2f spurts instead of 3f and maybe 7f instead of 8f on Sundays. Again, since the w/o already was barely skirting FR, while the lesser distances may take the horse out of the realm of doing too much, and might indeed be beneficial in terms of performance, those w/os would fail to maintain long term FR imo, even with the racing. Thus, my choice might be to consider the many other possibilities.

The above is other than my last word on this type of w/o schematic. I posted previously that I have considered the same routine but with some variations that I will get to when I get to performance.

Finish by stating that I am other than a fan of changing up distances. Numerous reasons that will require a future post. In terms of distance, there's the FR thing, but there's also the soft injury thing. We need consider both. Soft tissue causes us to think "longer and slower". FR causes us to think--at least 4f in :12.5. My guess is the correct and safe (as opposed to being on"the bare edge of FR") is more than 4f. How much more depends on the rest of the program, and how far the horse is racing--e.g. I think it's very possible, and would be interesting, to train a 6f horse strictly on a routine of frequent :35s. More on this when I get to performance.
Training
Tues. 3/1. Ground conditions--1st day of the thaw--permit only 10 min walk under tack.

More Overdistance/Underdistance

The 100 year old marathoner, at left.

The interesting Q--for performance we consider varying our w/o in terms of speed and distance. Here it is:
3f in :35.5 on Tues.
8f in :13.5 on Sun.

We also need consider this workout in terms of injury risk and long term injury prevention.

How to view? The first reaction the normal one. Omg. "That is a lot for the horse" presuming we're going to enter next week at a mile and a 1/16th. The natural human intellectual tendency considering the volume track work for the horse is to back off. As athletes, or as non-athletes but understanding athletics, we are afraid to do too much with another human or our own horse, whereas such a regimen for ourselves we'd hardly give this a second thought. For ourselves the thought process is:--I do a short sprint then wait another FIVE days to do a short mile, what is up with that. For our horses it should be the same. I have found, in riderless workouts at our farm, that horses do short sprints with enthusiasm every 36 hours for several days at a time. Eventually it gets stale for them, of course, but in general they are like little kids--they love to run. Moral of the story is to fight that nagging natural tendency to always consider taking the animal to the track as "too much for the horse". Instead, consider the horse's workouts as you would your own.

What of the injury effects of this w/o? Can we decipher this absent wild guess work? Here would be my thought process.
1. Red Flag. Does this work qualify for FR since the minimums required--as outlined on this blog-- are present in neither workout. Read on.

2. Would the workouts in combo produce FR? Here is were some knowledge of horses working out, injury production, experience, etc. come into play. Read on.

First, how the heck could we possibly tell what any w/o or combo of workouts, with all the possibilities, would be in terms of injury risk and injury prevention? The answer is that the best we can do is educated guess work, and although hopefully this blog is of some aid in such guess work, we're guessing nevertheless. The very first thing we need do--THE #1 THOUGHT--is to begin with the "I don't known" that I prefer to phrase as "Unknown".

If something is "unknown" for our animals--such as in this case, the FR effects of a combo workout-- we are in the realm of uncertainty. How to deal with uncertainty on the race track. Very simple. We have a rule that I call RR Rule #1: never (ever) do anything with the horse unless you are 100% sure you can do it without injury. If you're a horse owner, take"never, ever" seriously!

3. Since there is uncertainty as to this protocol, the Q is whether we should use it. I think we can use it, and here is why:

4. The key to viewing this workout is speed. We take note: 3f breezes are not all created alike!!! There is a significant difference between a :37.5 and a :35.5. How?

5. Consider watching the horse in it's 3f work for our typical trainer. The horse will do a paltry warm up by galloping to about the 4f and then suddenly commence acceleration. The usual is that the rider will barely be into sub :14s at the 3f pole and will then spurt the horse from there to get the :37.5. For a normally talented horse a :37.5 is a piece of cake, and the rider knows that. After crossing the finish line the horse will quickly slow down and be basically into a slow gallop by the 7f.

The :35.5 differs significantly. To get this faster time the rider has in their mind the idea of going all out from the get go. The key--for purposes here--is that the acceleration into the work will be both longer and significantly faster. Additionally, the gallop out after the work will be faster and longer. The moral of the story: the horse doing the :37.5 does just that--3f at a :12.5 rate of speed that fails to qualify as an FR workout. BUT, for the 35.5 the horse is already into a :12.5 rate of speed before the 3f pole and will maintain a :12.5 rate of speed after the wire--the :35.5 workout is a essentially a 4f FR workout that does qualify as an FR w/o!!!

6. If our 3f workout goes in :35.5 it will qualify in terms of injury prevention. If we go in :37.5 that's insufficient.

Training: After a week of this, we're starting up again today.