More Leads

Decided to finish following the horse around the race track and then possibly a closer look at the Rachel Alexandra training and performances. I'd watched some Havre Degrace work over the weekend in contrast. From what shows there is a remarkable difference in the quality of the training. As an aside, was Havre moving all that well at the trot?

The posts have followed the horse from entrance onto the race track and into the gallop on the Clubhouse turn with view to doing a simple 2m gallop 5f to 5f. I'd noted necessity that the rider on track entrance correctly assess ground conditions, the necessity of starting the trot on the correct diagonal to get the left lead into the turn--and in contrast what a lead changing disaster this work would be on failure of this fundamental requirement--and also the techniques to bring this about. A little more on technique later.

And, then my stumbling onto that perfect 3/2/10 RA video demonstrating all this although off the pony. Mainly I was impressed that, for once, seeing total rider awareness to the same extent that I always have with my own horses compared to the normal obliviousness u see on the race track regarding lead changing.

Our horse is now successfully into the turn at the 7f on the left lead, exactly as planned. The trainer is at the rail watching the proceedings, or, more correctly monitoring the proceedings for purpose of assessing this work and planning the next--notice the contrast with the trainer that leaves all this up to the rider and is back in the shed row mucking stalls as all this happens--what is the concern at this point?

For our trainer technique to this point has been correct. The thoughts then transfer to the warm up before the work. Please note that my own horse would normally conduct a bigger warm up than what is being done here--ie. track entrance at the 3/16th and commencing the speed at the 5f which is a total of a little more than 1/2 mile with 2.5f gallop before commencing the speed. This is insufficient warm up for maximum performance and also what I call "acquisition" for the horse, which means what the horse will get out of the work physiologically.

Avoid the many details of this, which requires a book because we are thinking both performance and injury prevention. A short summation would be that in terms of injury we'd like to extent possible to maximize fracture resistance got from the work, AND we sure as heck want to avoid commencing speed without proper warm up and stretching of tendons and ligaments and even muscle. In terms of performance we'd want a good strong maximum gallop through the whole work with heart rate, lung capacities, blood vessel dilation, etc. etc. to be fully engaged before the speed starts.

None of this is going to happen maximally with the minimal warm up of this work such as it is done by most trainers. Yet, somehow these animals respond and do. Normal view of this animal galloping around the Clubhouse turn would be for the jock to be in slow mode to about the 6f at which point he'll slowly let out a presumably eager horse into the 2m gallop.

How does this feel "on board" for the rider, and what is going through the rider's mind at this point, next post.

Training:
Fri. 10/28 4 times up and down the hill trot gallop with about 100 yds of near :14s on 4th heat.
Sat: 10/29 4 x up and down hill trot gallop with half of last heat probably in near :14 flat. Next w/o should be a big w/o.
Sun. 10/30: off.

Rachel Alexandra Digression

Continue next posts with following the lead thing around the race track and a few other points related to on-track performance.

Here, some thoughts on these RA vids. My awareness involved watching the RA races which, with exception of some really nice 2 yr. old efforts I underestimated at the time. Watching again there's really some exceptional wow stuff in those RA races. And so the Q, how did this 16 hand filly get this good?

My personal reaction at the time to the RA races was tempered by a combo of my disdain for conventional training--Hal Wiggins--buying success in athletics particularly when source of money is pushing wine--Jess Jackson--and my personal distaste for running fillies against colts--see 8Belles.

All that aside there's some really interesting stuff here in terms of performance. Rachel summarized here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Alexandra

and take note of where this filly was broken--because that is an impressive job--and of the statement by breeder Morrison what he looks for in his matings--a horse that can breathe according to Morrison, which is what I've been saying--its breathing ability that separates them. U can really tell this when ur on board as a rider.

Will digress here for a couple of posts--what do we see in Rachel Alexandra that's transferrable to our own horses in terms of performance?

Training:
Thurs 10/27: 4 times up and down the hill trot-gallop. Mr. Nob reports he felt the wind on that last heat which means it was approaching :14 rate of speed, but just for a hundred yards or so. It was clumsy as unknown to the horse what we were trying to do. A breeze tomorrow perhaps?
Fri. 10/28: 2 times trot gallop up and down hill. Thought getting on was--first breeze coming. Nob confident from nice two week set of rides. Then, horse severely spooks over some fly masks laying the ground leaving the barn area and a light spook down in the trees where the deer live and the heats begin. Given this horse's history that one spook is always followed by another by this time our good rider was getting spooked. This is other than Rachel A jumping around playing with her bit, but an athletic unpredictable keg of dynamite outweighing Rachel by 200 lbs. Nob decision, on spur of moment, other than a good idea to run initial breeze in near dark past rustling deer in the trees in spook ball mode. Aborted. Live to see another day.

More RA Clinic

Here's a different RA rider. In addition to the pains in getting the correct lead watch this rider steer Rachel along a clean path avoiding to the extent possible the hoof prints in the track. If ur on the horse each print, looking down at it, is deeper than the vid shows. Jocks are oblivious normally, but this rider is paying attention. This is just freaky good training and riding. Perfect stuff for this pistol of a horse.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHqYW7xOsIo&feature=related

Rachel A

This is just great. More guess who.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwPFWX4OD_w&feature=related

Rachel Alexandra Continued.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7za5GH86Jik&feature=related

Need the correct lead going into the Clubhouse turn or our horse is going to wind up going almost 3/4 mile on one lead part of it at speed--although in Exhibit A above, observe the expert job of ponying where the pony person permits Rachel enough shank for some left lead exercise at the outset. This is unusual since most of the ponys with too snug a hold force the horse to stay on the right for the whole warm up. First time on race day much of the field sees the left lead is when they finally switch onto the left in the race.

We'd like for performance and injury prevention to warm up on both leads, if possible, and in the exercise strengthen both leads equally for performance purposes. Equalization is crucial for injury avoidance purposes.

The vid shows the awareness of the rider, and likely the trainer, for the correct lead. This rider instead of just trying to get the left keeps working till he gets it. Same deal down the stretch, but will make the work in stretch a separate discussion.

So--the rider "knows" he need get the left and also need know how this is accomplished. Noting superior rider skill here, let's take a look at what happens from the get go.

Watch the outset of this vid. Rachel is on her left front but cross firing as she's pushing off with her right rear. Jock seems aware, which ain't that easy. On board you can see the front lead, but the rear you have to feel, and it's very subtle approaching pure guess work for me. Watching this, I can only surmise by a combo of feel, body position of horse and rider, tilt, bit, etc., this rider seems awesomely aware of which rear leg the horse is pushing with. We know this because every time she gets on the wrong rear the rider makes a correction.

He seems to want to want to get her onto the right, which is the natural ponying lead so that on release she'll be comfortably on the right and set up for a flying lead change to the left. But, Rachel is jumping around and the rider need constantly to make adjustments. Guarantee most riders would just let her go at this point without worrying about it. What happens on 3/2/2010 around that Clubhouse turn into the breeze at the 6f is expert riding at work.

Awareness is one thing the rider demonstrates. He also shows the technique. We can see that Rachel has been quite expertly trained likely by being broken by an extraordinarily knowledgeable rider. Rachel in this work seems totally tuned to the bit. She's jumping around but going straight forward. If this were you're truly on the horse the jumping around would probably involve ducking to the right and left, bucking etc., but this rider has got it all under control. That the horse is trained to this helps. She's reacting to the bit work by the rider.

The bit work is very subtle. How do you get a horse to change right to left on the race track? It's difficult to describe. I liken it to a Fiddler explaining to a violin player how the Fiddler does those licks on Ragtime Annie. My pop, a Fiddler, played them superbly but was unable to verbalize his technique. Getting leads is similar in this respect. Describe it as a "sweep" of simultaneous but logical gestures.

What's required is a shift of weight in the horse from one side to the other as well as a shift of legs. If you're a horse person you know horses have to adjust the legs their standing on to avoid falling over. This is very subtle for 4 legged creatures. When shoeing, on occasion, I've had a sleeping horse almost fall over due to mal position of his legs.

In lead changes it's a rhythemic thing orchestrated by the rider. The easy part of it is picking the horse's front up with the bit--u do this (for left lead) by pulling up slightly on the right rein. Simultaneously you'll notice in the vid how the rider shifts his weight at just the right moment, sweeps the rein motion across the horse's head to the left and the final part of it is a slight pull on the left rein in a forward direction. If the horse is paying attention the final rein pull completes the switch. In an exaggerated sense--in trying to switch to left lead--you'll see this rider cranking Rachel's head out to the right, switching his weight to the left, and pulling her forward with the left rein simultaneously. There's also some rider leg work involved. To get the left the rider can shift his right leg backward and give a little pressure inward onto the butt end simultaneous with technique at the front cranking the head to the right. Head right, butt left to get left lead. The front thus is going right and the rear leftward in attempt to change the body position of the horse. It is unknown to me with the irons jacked up that high the extent to which jocks can do any of this with leg pressure.

Training:
Mon. 10/24 3 time up and down the hill trot-gallop and some extra trot. called due to darkness.
Tues. 10/25 Another nice work. 4 time trot-gallop up and down the hill with last heat probably getting into low :14s. He's on verge. Near dark again, deer jumping around all over. Good grief.

Lead Change Clinic (Continued)

Was going to take this lead change thing around the track step by step and then noticed the Rachel Alexandra video showing lead changing, and, would we expect less than what shows from the horse of the year? Enlarged version on YouTube. Notice, particularly what occurs when Rachel gets the wrong lead down the stretch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7za5GH86Jik&feature=related

Instead of walking onto track by herself and commencing trot on correct diagonal to get left lead into Clubhouse turn, Rachel does this off the pony. Notice the rider with his A+ skill set, and the obvious emphasis this jock has for the correct lead change into the Clubhouse turn, and then again down the stretch. Compare the work in this vid with the oblivious Europeans endangering their horses coming down the stretch on the wrong lead in the recent stakes at Woodbine, Canadian International and E.P. Taylor stakes. You have two different sets of jocks--one understanding, obviously, the crucial nature of the correct lead, the other two--out to lunch. Which do u want on your horse?

And, to be sure, although Rachel's entire work is very decent, there's also a lot to criticize in that video. Get to the criticism part eventually. Keep this in mind that we want maximum "acquisition" for our horse in this workout in terms of performance, and, we want to actually get our horse to the race by also avoiding injury. The vid shows expert training and riding in terms of leads.. Nuts and bolts in the next posts.
Training:
Sun 10/23: Pasture romp. Unable to catch 'em.
Mon. 10/24: Horse and rider very in tune this night. Saying a lot for our difficult horse. However, despite best efforts, sun again drops like a rock and prior to heat #4 nearly dark with 15 deer flittering around at the bottom of the track. Decided to avoid the risk and called it after 3 heats. Went well and aiming for :14s this eve.

Lead Change Clinic

"Getting" The Correct Lead

Understanding necessity of getting correct leads is important (crucial to survival of the horse). Getting compliance from our horses and riders is another matter entirely. We know, they do, would be the plan.

We want inside lead on the turns, outside lead on the straightaway in every gallop. The need for compliance in terms of injury prevention increases geometrically as speed increases although it remains perpetually iffy for a horse to travel 3/4 a mile on one lead regardless of speed. At speed this same exercise is a virtual guarantor of the beginnings an injury of some sort, keeping in mind the difference between the normal time on one lead--2 to 2.5f is extended to 6f or three times the normal distance.

Some of the lead changing is automatic with the horse, some of it needs to be got by the rider.

The general deal is also the ideal practice--going into the Clubhouse turn the horse switches right lead to left lead around the 7.5f marker. They hit a little past the 5.5f straightening into the back stretch and its back to the right. Going into the final turn most horses will, well before the 3.5f, switch to the left "with enthusiasm" just attacking the final turn, and then generally having fatigued the left switch to the right before the 3/16th exactly as they turn into the straight away. Occasionally I'll gallop a horse fast around the final turn and feel it switch to the right prematurely as it has tired on its left.

That's what is supposed to happen, whatever the speed. There are a few practical difficulties to achieve this in many rides.

The first potential problem comes with the inception of the gallop. We need the horse to get the correct lead right off the bat, for if it's otherwise we have a screwed up gallop a good bit of way around the track.

Getting the correct lead initially--at the Woodlands--demanded a warm up gallop down the straightway on the left lead diagonal--i.e. the minute the horse walks onto the track the rider need be aware of the position of the horse and its legs at the walk since take off on the trot, in terms of diagonals, depends largely on footfall at the walk. That the horse need be walking correctly is the first step in getting the correct initial lead! If our rider is jawing with a buddy at this point, our chances of getting this right will be exactly 50-50.

For the rider, he's at the 3/16th looking at the long cuppy straighaway sitting on a excitable animal whose body weight may be shifted in the correct position for the trot or the wrong position. The correct rider aids need be given at inception of the trot--i.e. the horse's head need be cranked to the outside, right foot pressure on the horses rear, reins pulled gently in tandem to the left, stand up and hopefully this horse starts a trot on the correct diagonal to get a left lead gallop around the finish line. It's hard believing, if ur watching this from the ground, that this little sequence may be the most important part of the whole gallop. Screw this up, and there's going to be lead change trouble ahead.

When the horse does begin its trot at the 3/16th, for the rider, there is the Q, is the horse in fact trotting on the correct diagonal. People on the ground give riders way too much credit. Riders "know" they think, about trot diagonals, leads etc. The presumption is that the rider at the trot can feel what diagonal the horse is on.

Not necessarily. Truth is what diagonal the horse is trotting on is very difficult to feel. Riders may "think" they know the horse is on the correct diagonal only to see the horse take off on the wrong lead at the gallop which is the evidence the rider was "mistaken".

Break this technique down yet a little more, next post.
Training:
Sat 10/22--trot-gallop up and down the hill. Nice calm work with fastest in about :17s setting up for next day faster yet.
Sun: 10/23: arrive late due to pro foot ball, and naturally, minute they see me coming they start fight and racing each other. Happens this time of year. These two these days totally outsmart me and I was hardly able to locate them as they galloped one end to the other of the 18 acres. Got in a few nice spurts by the lazy one, but unable to catch 'em before dark. Did have one positive aspect--that this horse covers ground so quickly in the straight it's almost breath taking. The one thing that keeps me going with the fellow.

Techniques Of Race Track Lead Changing

A former chess master name Josh Waitzkin has out an instructional DVD that I am plowing through. And, OMG. How do talented people achieve their status? Waitzkin at some point mastered the intricacies of this game down to the nth detail. Its other than that Waitzkin possesses some magical mental ability to anticipate a correct combo of moves. Instead, confronted with a position, what does he do? He figures it out. Simple as that.
He figures it out because he has internalized the names of the rank and files of the squares and with each move considers each in combo. That's 64 squares with various permutations. Certainly there's mental ability there, but primarily Waitzkin's game appears to be an obsession with detail greater than his opponent. His games primarily show more applied mental energy than his opponent instead of innate brilliance. The DVD shows step by step how Waitzkin mentally calculated each and every sequence purely by process of elimination to the best move in his better games.

By comparison for horse racing here is a training e.g. I just witnessed, and wish I'd saved the vid clip. In the barn area at Santa Anita a trainer is throwing up a rider for a breeze, and the rider is standing there talking about golf with the trainer also engaged in the golf conversation oblivious to the horse. I am thinking of this scene, how many times I've witnessed the same and considering the number of errors we're likely to get at the breeze that the horse hopefully will survive. What would be the owner's take when just before a crucial breeze before a major stakes race trainer and jock are talking about golf?

Breeze looks decent, and post breeze turns out the jock is Garrett Gomez. Lesson of this vid being perhaps if u can throw up a Hall of Fame jock, an equine version of Josh Waitzkin, then maybe it's ok to avoid worry. If on the other hand, u have Mr. or Ms. typical exercise rider, I am impressed with the degree of Waitzkin's detail. If we want to succeed is one of the things that pro sports requires is correct knowledge and application of technique to the nth detail?

One of these skills, of course is lead changing, and, though this series of posts is much longer than planned, I want to relate in the next post or two what I know about this important subject. It starts with the walk as the rider enters the race track knowing (and paying attention) that the trot MUST commence on the correct diagonal. If it starts on the wrong diagonal it will be physically impossible for the horse to get the correct lead at the start off the gallop.
Here's Waitzkin for anyone interests. Some good stuff in this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Waitzkin

Again, too long a post. Discuss Techniques, next post.
Training:
Thurs. 10/20: lengthy riderless with a few spurts + got on for first time in 4 days--about 10 min walk trot, not for the horse but because I again needed to stretch inner leg tendons on this ridiculously wide beast.

Leads And Horse/Rider Compliance

Although lead changing in races mostly looks automatic except for those occasions when one of them rolls down the stretch on the left instead of right lead, if you're on the ground, trust this, its other than that correct leads just happen.

Four lead changes are required from our animal in every gallop of every day around the track. Calling our equine friends hob knobs of inconsistency would be kind. Let's just observe that getting the correct lead is likely other than on their list of priorities.

This means, of course, that it is the rider of the horse that need make things happen. While there are peripheral things that effect lead changing including speed of the gallop, experience of horse/skill of rider, whether the horse is right or left footed, the point at which the gallop begins, etc, the essence of lead changing is rider motivation and rider control. For the trainer, be assured, these latter two characteristics generally, although other than always, need guidance. The trainer that leaves lead changing to chance is going to get burnt, or, more accurately, the owner is going to get burnt.

So, we get down to an aware rider with knowledge of technique. When the horse/rider pair enter the race track, in this e.g. at the 3/16th pole, at the walk, where does the lead changing idea begin?

If the trot warm up is on the front straight away as it was at the Woodlands, the horse will trot roughly from the 3/16th pole to the wire before commencing it's gallop. We want the horse on the left lead going around the club house turn. Unless we get that lead the whole work is going to get screwed up. This idea of commencing on the left lead is crucial to the 2M gallop to come.

Easy you say? Think about it. Does the horse have a 50% chance of deciding for itself to start on either lead and hence a 50% chance of screwing up the work? In this case the rider is thinking for the horse, and that thought process better be going entering the race track instead of e.g. the rider jawing with a buddy as he enters or any of the many other myriad of distractions plaguing our good pin heads.

The difficulty for the horse is that to get the left lead it must be on the correct diagonal at the trot. If e.g. the horse is on the diagonal that requires right lead, then the right lead is all the horse can get off that particular lead. This is required by rear leg-front leg coordination. You've seen those charts of the horses four legs at the trot. At the trot the left rear and front right will be in coordination. And the four legs will be going in a different sequence depending whether the horse is leading at the trot with it's left or right. Picture the horse going around in a circle. Going around the circle clockwise the horse will be leading with its left at the trot/counterclockwise with the right.;

Thus from walk to trot at the 3/16th the rider need get the horse on the correct diagonal at the trot. Frequently easier said than done. Technique, next post.
Training:
Tues: 10/18: Off.

Concept Of "Equalizing The Leads"

Flying lead change at left.

The rider is starting the warm up at the finish line for take off on a 2m gallop at the 5f pole. Our good trainer is standing at the rail on a vantage point watching and calculating with the idea in mind, and something the trainer has drummed into the rider's head, to: equalize the leads.

What does this mean? Let's remember in every work our interest is:

injury prevention
performance

In the short time every horse is on the track, little is gained unless we move ahead in performance and in terms of injury that the horse live to gallop another day. Pardon my "concern" (to put it mildly) with injury prevention to which any small owner unable to afford to lose a horse can attest. This blog spent two whole years on that subject for a reason. You're playing Russian Roulette with your animal unless every second that the horse is out there you as owner or trainer are obsessed with injury prevention.

Part of this obsession involves the concept of equalizing the leads. In the broadest sense we, e.g. want to avoid the horse going out there every day and doing 3/4 of its work on one lead. This happens so easily for if the horse e.g. fails to change into the Clubhouse turn, as many are prone to do, then all of the work will be done on the right lead except the left lead gallop around the final turn. If the horse perchance gallops two miles then the problem is even much more exaggerated.

We want to avoid at all costs the horse doing 3/4 of its work on one lead for several different reasons. The main one is, of course, developing fracture resistance on "both" lead legs. There is also the problem of doing too much on the lead leg that is doing most of the work, and this type of injury threat increases geometrically as speed increases. Every rider knows that at speed after about 1.5 to 2f on one lead the horse (if it' healthy) wants to switch. Many of them fatigue so rapidly on their lead leg at speed that they'll switch too early. The horses tell the gallop boys and girls they want to switch?

If ur horse is doing 3/4 of its work on one lead than the the non-working lead is going to get weaker and weaker also in terms of muscular strength. If the horse is training for a mile race or more and only uses its left around the final turn in its training, suddenly in the race we're asking the horse to double its work on that lead. Simple logic ought tell of the effect on both performance and injury risk.

Equalizing the leads is an easy concept when both rider and horse comply. Often it's otherwise--either from the oblivious rider or the non-compliant horse. The question then becomes, if in this particular work the horse failed to equalize it's leads, what now? What's the consequence?
Training:
Tues. 10/18: Off

Leads III

Well, naturally, the very day this blog notes my personal obsession with correct lead changes the filly Sarah Lynx wins the Canadian International at Woodbine on the wrong lead. Just to rub it in exact same deal with Miss Keller in the Woodbine E.P. Taylor stakes.

Europeans, of course, and let's make the pertinent observation that nobody is saying a horse is unable to win on the wrong lead. My point, which I consider crucial, is that what these two horses did violates the "horses are egg membranes" principle, and though I'll likely never know, there's still the question whether either of these horses will race again. Additionally, since they're Europeans it would be possible that they may have been on their right leads part of the way into the final turn, and therefore the particular circumstances may be less of a big deal.

I will stand by my statement that a horse racing competitively down the stretch on the left lead of a dirt surface has about a 75% chance of being injured by that effort, and a 50% chance of never being heard from again. Have seen it time and again including several circumstances documented on this blog, see as one e.g. Kathie Walsh's KY Derby contender Georgie Boy winning the San Felipe on the wrong lead:

http://ratherrapid.blogspot.com/2008/04/georgie-boy-and-spacing-works.html

Bye, bye Georgie Boy and so many similar others. For the novice or oblivious owner, if you value your horse suggest being tuned into "leads".

Our good rider is planning a 2 min mile from the 5f pole and is starting out on this by approaching the finish line at the trot. If leads are crucial, what should Mr. or Ms. Rider be doing at this point?
Training:
Sun 10/16 primed for fast stuff when I get to the farm I had the overwhelming sense of avoiding tack work this day for the purpose of keeping my lazy horse interested. Went with the instinct and did a riderless work with several nice spurts planning a short breeze tomorrow.
Mon. 10/17 As is prone to happen whenever a workout is skipped (yesterday) it rains. Did another riderless 10 min. with some fast stuff. Unable to ride fast safely over wet grass.

This is great illustration of lead changing. Watch horse with green blinkers in the stretch!

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/21134540/vp/44916183#44916183

LEADS II

Alydar, outside besting Affirmed in the Arlington Classic. Notice obvious left lead.

And, the horse raced 26 times. My understanding is that they never did get him to change leads in the stretch. Trainer: John M. Veitch. Yes, that John Veitch.

What's the concern anyway? If Alydar can race on one lead, and the Europeans, how about our every day race horses?

First, what is it that happens? 1 1/8 mile race, horse correctly changes leads into Club House turn, back to right lead on the backstretch, left around final turn, and at the 3/16th into the stretch the horse refuses the right lead change. Could be for any of a number of reason--the confusion and mayhem at that point distracts the horse, it may be in such position vis a vis a competitor that it's unable to go through the necessary motion, might be injured on the right lead, or, as happens, downright rider negligence or rider effort to change and the horse just declines.

Why does it matter--and it dam well better--to our sanguine horse owner? As we may imagine, if we're dealing with animals fragile as egg shells (I prefer "egg membranes" as the appropriate metaphor), how much more difficult is it in terms of geometry to injure that horse going half a mile on one lead as opposed to just 3/16th of a mile? They fracture all the time with correct lead changes. How much more likely is it to create a fracture or beginnings of a fracture line when a horse is asked to go 1/2 mile on one lead, all out?

Who knows, but I'd guess the %s in this would be other than pretty. In this sense, is insisting on correct leads even a question?

But, Alydar did it, you say. Let's put Alydar's lead changing in perspective. My understanding is that Alydar refused galloping on his right lead even in training except on the back stretch. Apparently the horse was trained from day one--and he won the Champagne Stakes as a 2 yr. old--in this manner of lead changing. They did everything possible to get it correct but were never able to persuade the horse. In this scenario, quite obviously, the horse developed enough fracture resistance in its left lead that the horse withstood racing in this manner.

It's quite a different story for our horse that normally changes leads and then all the sudden, surprise, is raced a half mile on one lead. This horse's skeleton will be over born for the reason that insufficient fracture resistance for this exercise had been developed in training.

And, what of these dudes? Are they on the left lead as they're supposed to be around the Clubhouse turn at what looks to be Saratoga?

Both horses look to me to be on the right lead, though it's hard to tell. The outside horse is leading with it's left but his position and body language speaks right lead. The inside horse horse to me seems fairly obviously on his right lead although the rider is looking down and so may have just awoken to the fact that the horse is on the wrong lead. You look down at the front leg strike when you're trying to see what lead your horse is on. Take note than when horses are on the inside lead around turns their heads generally are fairly noticeably cranked to the outside. Both these horse heads are turned the other way, which indicates probable right lead. The bane of every owner--two jocks jawing with each other instead of paying attention to their mounts.

Training:
Fri. 10/14 Off.
Sat. 10/15 light riderless + 4 x trot gallop up and down hill. Wanted speed but horse this night has difficult breathing (his norm) going into the gallop and then is a bit out of control trying to get his breath. Rider decides just to hand on, and the last two probably went in :16s. A little breeze likely in next two days.

""LEADS""!!!

This 2m gallop will go 5f to 5f. Last post indicated some rider/horse difficulties entering and going around the Clubhouse turn where the warm up is to occur. The point of these posts involves the subject--how do we get rider/horse to comply with our training both for performance and injury prevention. In a general sense, it ain't easy, and, as noted, it helps if ur trainer/owner understands what's involved.

Our horse has commenced it's trot at the 3/16th. The rider is aware of ground conditions as well as traffic ahead. The rider is calculating the warm up, and, already the reader here is thinking, enough already. To this however we add a fourth concern which is also THE MAJOR CONCERN
of any and every on-track gallop: getting the correct leads.

Did I highlight it enough? There's no way to do that in print except--take it from long experience--if ur rider/horse is failing lead changes u have a short timer as a race horse. Likely our training team in this situation will injure the horse sooner instead of later. I personally am so radical in terms of insisting the horse gallop on the correct lead that my jock instructions in general, including on race day, are that if the jock is unable to get the lead, at that point u stop persevering with the horse--i.e. racing out of the final turn if the horse stays on the left lead and after a reasonable distance using every technique the rider is unable to get the horse to change, at that point the rider is directed to stop persevering with the horse which will, of course, lost the race, or position in the race, whatever it is.

Contrarians will point to such non-lead changing horses as Alydar, or the European or Australian jocks who on many occasions seem to avoid worrying about any lead changes at all, and so, why this great emphasis in the RR training stables?

To avoid major digression by outlining the topic of leads down to the minute physiological reasons, will restrict this to a summary. First observe that the European/Australians are racing on grass where there's much less concussion, and hence geometrically less potential damage from persevering on the wrong lead. Additionally, because we see a European jock failing to get a lead change in a single race hardly means that particular horse is going to survive to the next race any more than the Americans do.

As to Alydar who can be seen in most of his races basically racing on his right lead for three quarters of a mile, best to use that horse as an e.g. of the potential career ending effects of failure to get lead changes.

Expand on this next post, but, let's also observe that a horse racing on one lead will also be experiencing muscular/skeletal fatigue on the strained lead that will compromise that horse's speed in the stretch. There's both a performance and injury aspect to racing on the correct--as opposed to incorrect--leads. Humorously, somewhat, it looks as if both riders in the photo are on the incorrect lead. Can u spot it?

Training:
10/13/11 2f riderless spurt then 4 x trot gallop up and down hill near 15 sec/f pace.
10/14/11 Off. After 5 straight days. Hope to get a little breeze on the 16th.

Thurs. Misc.

Training:
Tues. 10/11: 2f riderless spurt + 4 times up and down hill fairly fast.
Wed. 10/12 As always this horse is terror to trot/pleasure to gallop. 4 times up and down hill trot-gallop some at 15 sec/f. on his own. Decline letting out all the way as horse bucking and throwing legs. Need get under control before speed work, that should be just ahead.

Tues. Misc.

Busy week. my other job. blog may be awol till Sat.
Training:
Sun. 10/9 light riderless + 10 min trot slow gallop.
Mon. 10/10. What was planned as a take off night turned into a nightmare. Humid, low pressure and rider legs were in excruciating pain on this wide beast. Trotted for 5 min before I had to quit. Miscalculated the light again. Too dark to try again after some leg stretching. Light riderless before this started.

Getting Correct Leads Into The Clubhouse Turn

My purpose is to indicate on-track training in terms of performance. We have a two fold problem of 1. trying to get the horse to do what we want done, and 2. trying to get the rider to do the same.

Avoid letting those Larry Zapeye UTubes with the hall of fame jocks at Santa Anita breezing horses by Zapp's camcorder making this look easy fool u. Look closely and observe plenty that should worry, or stand track side through a morning workout there'll never be a day pass without spotting a rider or horse in error out there that will guarantee that particular horse will never see the track again. #1 of course we want avoid this unlucky animal to be our horse, and we also want to get the max out of our workout.

If the rider enters at the 3/16s he's immediately surveying traffic and track surface conditions. There are horses on the right back tracking and inevitably some fool ancient rider up ahead going through hijinks's or some idiot ponying too far on the inside that u have to get around. Thus, immediate steering problems while simultaneously the rider should be calculating the warm up.

This warm up will be conducted to the 5f pole where the 2m gallop will begin 5f to 5f. Thus, if the horse starts the trot at the 3/16th we have about a 4.5f to warm up the horse. Let's take note that "warm up" has some significant meaning in exercise physiology. Will discuss after I get this horse around the track an ideal warm up in terms of 2 m gallop. For now let's observe that 4.5f of distance from 3/16 to 5f, though less than an ideal warm up distance still provides enough length to get the minimum physiological processes going since we also walk-trotted the horse to the track from the barn.

For the rider at the 3/16th the horse will be eager into the trot which will be carried on to the finish line where the gallop will commence. We'll plan about 1.5f of slow gallop from the finish line and then accelerate into the :15s by the 5f. Easy, right?

The time we're on the track is 7:50 a.m. There's still some serious low sun shining straight into the horse and rider's eye balls coming off the 7f in that Club House turn. When the duo reach that point neither will for about 1f be able to calculate traffic or see what's up ahead including horses coming out of the gate. Essentially shortly after the 7f the rider will be galloping blind for a spell, and so will the horse. Additionally the 7f at the Woodlands is also the gallop end point and where most of the horses turn around to back track off, i.e. on a busy morning there's always an excess of traffic at the 7f to weave around. So, this time of morn--sun and traffic in the Club House turn and likely a breezer or two coming up behind.

This is the lovely scene for our rider viewing the Clubhouse turn up ahead as the horse trots across the finish line which is where the most crucial aspect of this whole work will happen. What is the "crucial aspect:?

As the rider commences the trot at the 3/16 the good riders will immediately calculate what leads they need to be on. The manner by which the horse commences trot, i.e. the particular diagonal on which the horse commences the trot will determine on which lead the horse will commence its gallop at the finish line. If the horse commences trot on the left lead diagonal the gallop will commence left lead. Why? It is impossible for the horse to gain a right lead gallop off a left lead trot diagonal. The trot diagonal dictates the lead at the start of the gallop. Why is this crucial, next post.

Training:
Sat: 10/8 light riderless. To dark to rider after I replace lost rear shoe.d
Sun: 10/9: light riderless + 10 min trot-gallop around around large arena size area in the pasture. The sunlight once again goes down way too fast and a herd of deer is standing in the dark and wind right on the track. However, the horse is doing well under tack, and we're on the verge if the weather holds.

Into The Clubhouse Turn

Pristine surface here and decent job by the rider, I guess, on a horse named Animal Kingdom. Get a better sense of it by enlarging and watching in Real Player. What's my criticism? Maybe this rider is just a little too disconnected from the horse for my taste. Unknown precisely, though this fellow appears as though he's more just along for the ride than directing each stride of the workout, and yet, fairly decent job for what looks like about a 16 second gallop.
Our own horse has entered the track at the gap for his 2 min. gallop that I prefer to do wire to wire, and this would require a back track to about the 3.5f pole. For illustrative purposes of getting the horse around the track we'll avoid the backtrack, start at the 3/16th pole and plan a 5f to 5f 2 min. gallop. Let's take note also that a lot of times a rider is more prone to take off at the 5f than the finish line, and this pattern of work is more likely thus to get us eight :15 sec. furlongs instead of a couple of :17s while the rider gets into it, and then speed up later in the work. For reasons of our own we're looking for steady :15s here, and the rider should have that idea preconceived by our instructions!

Getting an appropriate warm up for what we want done is the ever present problem on a busy race track with skittish animals. Let's confide that most riders solve the warm up problem by ignoring it. A recent illustration was that video on Paulick Report of Blind Luck doing her one mile breeze straight off the pony, "hall of fame trainer no less, my post criticising this, and Paulick with post calling me "rathersluggish". Unsurprising, if you have any understanding, that Blind Luck likely failed to survive that work absent some sort of injury. Warm ups done appropriately are critical for injury prevention.

Warms ups are also critical in terms of performance and the horse getting the max out of the work. Observing horses innumerable times doing multiple heats riderless I am maybe the world's leading authority on the point that these horses never ever perform their best in the first couple of heats, and it's always heat #3 and 4 when they let it all hang out. Avoid the obvious physiological explanations except to say--how are we going to get the physical processes of the horse engaged on the race track when we start at the 3/16 pole?

On the blog way back I worked out with an actual horse an ideal warm up, and used that warm up in a couple of breezes at Eureka Downs. It worked well and I though I got max performance from the horse. However, on a one mile busy track with a guest rider on our horse a lot of times the warm up is subject to the particular rider. They do what they do, and since we might be stuck with this, we dam well better get one that at least provides a minimum warm up.

What warm up for this 2 min. gallop, next post.

Training:
Fri. 10/7 Off

Trackwork Continued

Horse and rider have arrived on track near the entrance gap for a one mile 2 min. gallop. The rider has assessed track conditions which that are, shall we say it, cuppy in the extreme, but looking down the track about half way between the outer and inner rail there does appear to be a reasonable path somewhat free of holes left by horse's hoofs. The rider at this point computes a number of things at once, some of them pre-planned, some impromptu on the spot.

The first subject of concern is the point on track where the work will begin, and by extrapolation therefore, the point at which the warm up will begin. And, lest any of our inexperienced might suppose these are anything other than critical calculations, let's consider a few things.

First, as our purpose is "training" in the scientific sense--i.e. we have reasons and purpose for what we're doing based both on what's gone on before and what's planned ahead, i.e. our training seeks both to obtain out of this week's workouts maximum acquisition for the horse in the upcoming race in terms of performance, and also--as always--injury prevention of the skeletal and soft tissue sort. To put this obvious thought process in graphic terms, we seek to avoid the situation where a specific sort of workout is directed for our rider, and the result of the subsequent ride is other than what has been instructed. Failure to perform the workout precisely as directed can (and frequently does)l result in a number of undesired consequences from a violation of our basic logical premises to possible catastrophe caused by miscalculating the injury prevention effect of our workout.

Some might say this is "training gone amuck". Too detailed, worrying about stuff that likely will never happen, impossible for horse, rider or trainer to assimilate, etc.

This would be true for indeed breaking things down is unnecssarily complex, but untrue in that all that is being spoken of here is that the rider indeed perform the workout as planned.

Given the recalcitrance of some of our good animals to do as told, or, in other terms, the inability of our riders to communicate what we want to our animals, there will be for the rider at the gap entering the race track a certain amount of pressure. For the trainer watching this from up high the question generally revolves around "what unplanned disaster awaits on this nice day?"

And, indeed, how many times have I sat up there with precise directions as to this workout where e.g. the horse will go 1 mile wire to wire in two minutes, and I'm watching my clock and the rider is doing :17s around the club house turn (instead of the required :15s)--or the rider is making any of a number of the mistakes that I will leave to your imagination.

Some of these faults may by that of the rider, some the horse, and some involve general track conditions such as the traffic. Since the aim of all this is to get compliance from our horse for the purpose of performance, how then will our rider achieve this desired work which is simply following the instructions given, next post.

Training:
Mon. 10/3: riderless, some spurts.
Tues. 10/4: 4 times up and down the hill trot-gallop slow.
Wed. 10/5: 4 times up and down the hill trot-gallop near two min. speed. First serious spook in a while, luckily forward.
Thurs: Off. 30 mph wind. no thanks on our spook ball.

Phewwww

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=brutal-winter-predicted-for-us

http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/story/55832/brutal-winter-ahead-for-the-mi.asp

Horse Around The Race Track

Rider and horse through the gap, without incidence, and onto the race track. At the Woodlands track entrance was located near the 3/16th pole and we entered the track counterclockwise heading to the finish line on the grand stand side.

Rider instructions are one mile of 2 min. gallop after the warm up. The trainer stands track side at a position permitting careful watching and evaluation with thoughts, as always, involving injury prevention and performance and control of pertinent variables.

Helps to know what the variables are. And, you do need transfer that knowledge into the head of your rider which presents its own unique set of challenges. There's an art to trainer-rider communication. I generally try to get one point across every day and compliment it or criticize it at end of w/o.

But we digress. Back to rider and horse entering the race track about 8:50 a.m. just before the break at 9:00 a.m. The sun is less of a challenge at this time but for the rider high up on the horse, immediate red flag, the track from all the morning traffic since 6:00 a.m. is divoted and cuppy. Might our trainer have picked a better time for this relatively fast gallop? Maybe. Depends on a lots of things.

Most riders will utterly ignore the divoting problem to the peril of the horse imo. The problem as stated is the hoof landing sideways on a divot instead of flush with the race track. My suspicion has been that these sorts of hoof landings in the morning cause more injuries or beginnings of fracture lines than is normally understood. Jocks, unfortunately, completely oblivious.

For myself, when I'm on the horse, immediately on entering the track I assess today's divot conditions, their depth(which varies with track conditions), and the extent there might be a path or mostly clear path through the divots, or a path where there are the least divots. The goal is to keep the horse on the freer path, and there generally is a "safest path" in most workouts. The way to avoid this, obviously, is to be the first horse out after the break, something eminently possible when you're riding your own horse.

On entering the track the rider's mind is spinning over several subjects, or should be. What are they? Continue next post.

Training:
10/2: Off.
10/3: Riderless 15 min and finally got a couple of good spurts for the lazy one. Dark at 7:15 p.m. Declined tack work.

The people loaded in the trucks likely were driven to the edge of town and shot. The ones in the rail cars. To Treblinka.

Sun. Misc.

Would it be a natural for the stud farms to advertise re getting new owners in the sport. What about an add that an $11,000 sales yearling won the 2011 Jockey Club Gold Cup
(and a $10,000+ yearling won the Arc)?

In the "they're back" category, last eve I have the coincidence that a ray of sunlight was directly shining on some of those wild flowers some refer to as weeds which I deliberately let grow. I'd noticed one year that we were without insects. Hard to find bees, wasps or butterflies on the farm. Last eve I looked at those white flowers thinking were are the bees? Unable to see any. Then I stuck my head in that small little patch of flowers much closer and there were at least 10 bees buzzing around in there.

Is there a God? Here's an interesting take:

"The remote God of the philosophers...becomes intolerable. Many Jews can no longer subscribe to the biblical idea of God who manifests himself in history, who they say with Wiesel, died in Auschwitz. The idea of a personal God, like one of us writ large, is fraught with difficulty. If this God is omnipotent, he could have prevented the Holocaust. If he was unable to stop it, he is impotent and useless; if he could have stopped it and chose not to, he is a monster."

Extent here:
http://www.deathcamps.org/occupation/occupationoverview.html

Training:
9/30 and 10/1 were about 10 min riderless with some spurts + 4 times trot-gallop up and down hill. Instead of taking advantage of the "go foward" point we took two steps back, but set up for significant galloping this eve.