How Did Thoroughbred Breeding Start?
Thoroughbred breeding first began in England due to the crusaders breeding large, heavy horses for their stamina, hard work and the ability to carry a crusader in all his armour and in the middle east horses which were lighter and agile were being bred for their speed.
A Middle Eastern Stallion known as Byerlye Turk was used for breeding by his owner, an english captain. Byerlye Turk was bred with English mares and produced the Herod line of thoroughbreds.
The horses bred from this particular stallion and others like him are known for their wide girths, this increases lung capacity. Long shoulders and long strong hind legs which enabled them to run at extreme speed and gain ground very quickly. Basically these horses were bred for speed.
In todays world thoroughbred breeding and racing is a massive business and the country that actually now has the most thoroughbreds is the United States of America. There were approximately 50,000 foals registered last year alone.
All thoroughbred foals have the official birthdate of the 1st January allocated to them even if they were born in June. Their racing career ususally begins at about two years of age but many do not race for long due to injuries. They are then either retired or sold.
Thoroughbred horses are usually very highly strung and tempremental and I know from experience do not make very good “all round” horses. In fact a friend of mine has recently purchased a retired thoroughbred racing horse who only responds to stop and gallop! They are, however, good with many people as they are used to having different trainers from such a young age.
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