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Originally Posted by paisjpq
UMMM they are not 'just jogging'---they too are all out @ more than 30 Mph, which equates to a 2 minute mile. (dreadfully slow by today's standards).
Standardbreds as a whole are a sturdier breed than throroughbreds...they usually have more bone and are smaller...some of what they do (race every week--jog 2.5 miles right before a race)--is more tradition and need than anything else. The purses they run for are a fraction of thoroughbred and therefore they have to start more often to make up the difference. Because the vet bills and feed bills and farrier etc are the same. the tradition of racing every weekend in the evening goes back to the country roads and farmers in the late part of the 1800's who would pitt their family horses against each other for bragging rights.
Like many other breeds in selecting for a specific trait without regard to others is changing the standardbred breed. They are larger and lighter boned than they were even as recently as ten years ago--breeders are looking for a horse that will be extremely fast on a 1 mile track (vs. the more common and traditional 1/2 mile oval)there is more money to be made @ these tracks..ie the meadowlands. the turns are not a tight and the stretch is longer so a smaller 'bulldog' type horse is usually not as successful. With the changes in the breed eventually you will see changes in how often these horses are run, at least at the top levels.
If you go on the backside of any harness track you will see many of the same injuries and ailments that are found in TB's. The track surface is stone dust and therefore harder and the turns are banked more--soft tissue injuries are not as common (but do occur esp. in the rear legs) bone chips and sore muscles etc are every bit as prevalent. I used to take in layups for a standardbred trainer and chips in the knees (and the resulting arthroscopic surgery) were quite common.
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Yes, they are going 30 mph but they're not galloping. If a harness goes into a gallop, he gets disqualified. Harness racing is definitely not nearly as "high-impact" as thoroughbred racing.
Thoroughbreds are also going quite a bit faster. They run close to 40 m.p.h.