Inhalation therapy - treating airway problems in the racehorse
Physiologically speaking, one of the major limiting factors to racehorse performance is how efficiently the lungs can exchange gasses. Clearly any threat to the efficiency of the lungs will result in poor performance.
Paul Peacock (European Trainer - issue 14 - Summer 2006)
Pia Brandt - a Swedish trainer taking on the giants of Chantilly
It takes considerable courage and determination to pull up your family roots and start from scratch in another country where competition is at its highest level. In addition, a new language must be mastered as well as a complete change of environment and culture. That is the challenge that Pia Brandt has set herself when she decided to leave Sweden last year and take on the giants of Chantilly on their home ground.
Desmond Stoneham (European Trainer - issue 14 - Summer 2006)
Declaration time – anomalies around the world
Just when I thought that things in the administrative world could not get any worse, they did, though it took a trip to South Africa to discover the elements of an entry and declaration system that, at face value, makes any problems faced by European racehorse owners and trainers look like a little local difficulty.
Howard Wright (European Trainer - issue 14 - Summer 2006)
Back problems - how they can affect performance, and how to treat them
It is well documented that horses can suffer with back problems and they tell us by their actions. Sometimes the signs are blatant – for instance the horse stops jumping, or displays an obvious aversion to being saddled. Most of the time the signs are much more subtle.
Jo Sutton-Walker (European Trainer - issue 14 - Summer 2006)
Postcard from Senonnes, the training track near Nantes and Angers
Situated in France in the Mayenne region (not far from Nantes and Angers), Senonnes is a training centre in full development.
Aurelie Dupont-Soulat (European Trainer - issue 14 - June 2006)
Kiaran McLaughlin - a veteran who has enjoyed international success
By participating in the last two runnings of the Kentucky Derby, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin has raised his profile among casual observers of the North American racing scene. But for those who follow the sport regularly, McLaughlin is known as a veteran horseman who has enjoyed international success.
David Grening (European Trainer - issue 14 - Summer 2008)
Are the six newly upgraded Group One races for fillies and mares in Europe worthy of their status?
Well that is too soon to say, but there is a significant difference between the newly upgraded “f&m” events and how other races that have earned Group One status over the years. The key word is “earned” of course, as a race cannot, under normal circumstances, be upgraded unless it has earned it through attracting high quality fields.
Geir Stabell (European Trainer - issue 13 - Spring 2006)
The European Horserace Scientific Liaison Committee
Anyone heard of it? No? EHSLC? Still no-one? Thought not. Neither its full nomenclature nor its clumsy acronym elicits anything approaching a visceral response amongst racing professionals.
Trainer’s Comment - Christian von der Recke
This summer the Football World Cup will take place in Germany. Teams from Africa may play teams from South America. It is unlikely they'll talk the same language and the games may well be refereed by Asians who speak neither French nor Spanish! But, they all know the rules they are playing by. You see, wherever international football, rugby, cricket, basketball or golf (to name but a few sports) uniform rules of sport are in place.
Christian von der Recke (European Trainer - issue 13 - Spring 2006)
The role of protein in the racehorse's diet
Dietary protein is probably one of the most talked about elements of a racehorses’ diet, which is unfortunately ill deserved. Whilst the level of protein in the diet is important for tissue growth and repair, it is probably the least important source of energy to the athletic horse when compared to starch, fibre and oil.
Dr Catherine Dunnett (European Trainer - issue 13 - Spring 2006)
Paul Nolan - from complete beginner to leading National Hunt trainer in 10 years
It is at times assumed that a background in horses is almost essential for anyone to succeed at training but one individual that is certainly putting paid to such preconceived notions is Paul Nolan.
Ryan McElligott (European Trainer - issue 13 - Spring 2006)
International news round up - stories from the world of racing
Kempton Park will become England’s fourth “all weather” venue when racing returns to the right-handed Sunbury oval on Saturday March 25th. Over £18.8 million has been spent on converting the track to a floodlit facility, which will also continue to stage National Hunt racing.
Giles Anderson (European Trainer - issue 13 - Spring 2006)
Hoof Cracks - a very common problem in racehorses
A keen-eyed racegoer spotted a horse running in the USA last summer with six quarter cracks spread between three of its feet. While this number would be highly unusual in the UK, the problem of the hoof crack is not, and is one, which plagues the trainer, vet and farrier. For the trainer, the words “The apple of your eye has popped a quarter crack, guv’nor,” are not welcome. Some great names have won Group One and other big races carrying hoof cracks, but the onset of a crack will result at minimum in serious problems in the horse’s preparation. Nevertheless, it is quite common for several horses to have cracks of one kind or another in a larger yard at the height of summer.
Tony Lindsell (European Trainer - issue 7 - Spring 2004)
Digestion Development - how modern feeding practices affect the natural digestive system
Previous articles in Trainer have looked at how the horse, regardless of what he has been developed to do, remains the nomadic, trickle feeding animal that nature designed him to be. We have also examined how modern diet and management, combined with the physical and mental stress imposed on the competition and racing animal are contributory factors in a variety of problems, including ‘stereotypy’ behaviour such as cribbing and windsucking, and the perennial problem of ulcers and colic.
Sue McMullen (European Trainer - issue 7 - Spring 2007)
The Lone Star phenomenon - built for big things
Maybe it’s because of the long, flat stretches of landscape that, when shimmering in the summer heat, have potential for mirage. Or maybe it’s just the capacious grandeur of a land vast as imagination. But whatever the reason, Texas always has inspired dreams and ideas so big and robust they couldn’t sit comfortably anywhere else.
Gary West (European Trainer - issue 7 - Spring 2004)