Animal Kingdom Injured
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karenkarenn
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Bill from WA
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I'm very happy that the injury doesn't seem to be serious and that with rest he should be fine. I am quite fond of this horse.
Bill
Bill
Last edited by Bill from WA on Thu Jun 16, 2011 6:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Hopefully the minor crack will close in a couple of weeks and he can resume training. A few weeks off will do any horse a lot of good. It sounds pretty minor. Luckily they caught it early.
This additionally tells me his minimal racing activity followed by three grueling races in 5 weeks is almost impossible to accomplish without some sort of physical damage. That's a lot of bone stress for a horse with minimal bone density remodeling, IMO..
This additionally tells me his minimal racing activity followed by three grueling races in 5 weeks is almost impossible to accomplish without some sort of physical damage. That's a lot of bone stress for a horse with minimal bone density remodeling, IMO..
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Shammy Davis
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I've recently been reading some research articles on bone modeling. The training regimens of today's racehorses may not be as vigorous and concentrated as required to maintain good bone health.
I wouldn't encourage the training regimen and race schedule that Hirsh Jacobs used for HAIL TO REASON during his juvenile season, but I've noted on other threads that some are questioning the training of methods of many current day trainers.
It was Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons who was quoted: "Speed Kills," but that doesn't preclude long slow gallops and plenty of walking. Pharlap was trained this way. The idea of leaving a horse in a stall for 23 hours a day is simply ludricous. There is research that shows that lack of movement causes bone degradation.
Bill: You certainly got everyone's attention when you picked AK to win the derby. It looks like he'll recover and continue to make a name for himself and, possibly, you.
I wouldn't encourage the training regimen and race schedule that Hirsh Jacobs used for HAIL TO REASON during his juvenile season, but I've noted on other threads that some are questioning the training of methods of many current day trainers.
It was Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons who was quoted: "Speed Kills," but that doesn't preclude long slow gallops and plenty of walking. Pharlap was trained this way. The idea of leaving a horse in a stall for 23 hours a day is simply ludricous. There is research that shows that lack of movement causes bone degradation.
Bill: You certainly got everyone's attention when you picked AK to win the derby. It looks like he'll recover and continue to make a name for himself and, possibly, you.
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Shammy Davis
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Shammy Davis
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)How long has Animal Kingdom been trained by Graham Motion? At Fair Hill, you certainly have the set up for varied training and for paddock turn out.
I have always wondered how some can claim to have a horse fit from morning gallops/works and yet they would be no where near as fit as a huntsman's horse who rides to the hounds weekly. The foxhunter's thoroughbreds I watched (jealously) growing up were amazing athletes.
And I so wished my parents would pull me out of school to ride on a school day morning. It is no fun to wait for the bus while the horse trailers are unloading across the street!
I have always wondered how some can claim to have a horse fit from morning gallops/works and yet they would be no where near as fit as a huntsman's horse who rides to the hounds weekly. The foxhunter's thoroughbreds I watched (jealously) growing up were amazing athletes.
And I so wished my parents would pull me out of school to ride on a school day morning. It is no fun to wait for the bus while the horse trailers are unloading across the street!
ak1 wrote:How long has Animal Kingdom been trained by Graham Motion? At Fair Hill, you certainly have the set up for varied training and for paddock turn out.
I have always wondered how some can claim to have a horse fit from morning gallops/works and yet they would be no where near as fit as a huntsman's horse who rides to the hounds weekly. The foxhunter's thoroughbreds I watched (jealously) growing up were amazing athletes.
And I so wished my parents would pull me out of school to ride on a school day morning. It is no fun to wait for the bus while the horse trailers are unloading across the street!
Hi ak,
He was transferred to Graham Motion a couple weeks after his stable mate (Pluck) won the breeders cup juvenile turf for Todd Pletcher.....maybe mid-November. What a lot of people don't know is that Animal Kingdom recieved all of his Winter training (and some Spring training) at Palm Meadows (never got to Fair Hill till after his Derby win). AK posted his first breeze as a 3YO at the Palm Meadows training center over the turf course in Jan or February where he stayed till his final breeze there on March 21st. After which Animal Kingdom then shipped to TP and won The GR III Spiral on March 26th. He was sent to Keeneland after that win which afforded him the graded earning to get a spot in the Derby. He had 2 breezes over the Keeneland synthetic course before being sent to Churchill Downs and his final breeze for the Derby over the dirt for the first time April 30th. A lot of praise has come Motion's way for various reasons.....but when you look at his top runner's (all on the shelf) you realize there is a pattern developing which gives pause for concern...Pluck with bruising on both of his hind cannon bones...Animal Kingdom developed a fissure in one of his hind cannon bones and Toby's Corner, also with an undiagnosed hind end lameness in his left leg? It does make one wonder what's going on with all these hind end injury's. TJ
The foxhunter's horses were not 2 and 3 year olds, to start with. The younger horses are still forming their bones. A horse's bones model themselves according to the work they are given, but this stops as they mature. A certain amount of wear and tear is normal, they are expected to have small ouches as they mature, it isn't really cause for concern. It is when the ouches are ignored that bigger injuries are incurred. What happened with AK isn't really serious. It sounds like they were being careful and caught it practically immediately. It's the trainers that try to fit everything into a schedule that have more trouble, I think. JMHO, of course.
ElPrado wrote:The foxhunter's horses were not 2 and 3 year olds, to start with. The younger horses are still forming their bones. A horse's bones model themselves according to the work they are given, but this stops as they mature. A certain amount of wear and tear is normal, they are expected to have small ouches as they mature, it isn't really cause for concern. It is when the ouches are ignored that bigger injuries are incurred. What happened with AK isn't really serious. It sounds like they were being careful and caught it practically immediately. It's the trainers that try to fit everything into a schedule that have more trouble, I think. JMHO, of course.
Hi El,
Granted it isn't that serious....but it was serious enough for AK to feel the pain and that's what made Motion take a closer look. It was called a fissure by one vet, another may very well call it a fracture....any time there is something of this sort going on in long bones it's not good. What has me wondering is if the Fair Hill surface is causing this as many that have trained over other synthetic tracks have developed hind end issues. In this case, Graham Motion a decent, careful trainer has three of his top horses with hind end issues. Let's not forget another who trained over that track and ended up shattering a cannon bone....Barbaro. TJ
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Shammy Davis
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As a young Thoroughbred begins their race training, the cannon bone is constantly modeling (growing) in order to handle the demands being placed upon it.
“When an animal exercises,” said Nielsen, “the bone bends as weight is put on it. If the load placed on it is too great, or if the number of times it is bent is excessive, damage to the bone can occur. Fortunately, bone has the ability to repair itself if given enough time.”
Bone modeling only seems to occur in the juvenile skeleton as compared to bone remodeling which occurs throughout life, he explained. “Bone modeling is either the net deposition or resorption of bone while remodeling is the resorption followed by deposition. Since modeling occurs in the juvenile skeleton, the young horse is much more susceptible to bone loss when disuse of the bone occurs.”
Speed is a necessary component in order to build strong cannon bones. But there exists a fine line between the right amount of speed to strengthen the bone and too much speed, which can harm.
“It appears that bucked shins is an inflammatory response to the damage that is occurring” during training.
Because more new bone is deposited on the surface of the cannon bone when an animal bucks its shins, many trainers subscribe to the old adage ‘buck ‘em good’ in the belief that the bone becomes stronger in response to the inflammation.
In a study published by Dr. David N. Nunamaker of New Bolton Center in Pennsylvania, he determined that bucked shins generally occurred in Thoroughbred racehorses during the first year of training – usually as a two-year-old. Horses that had been brought along slowly, what trainers refer to as “putting a bottom” into them, before being asked for speed were more likely to buck their shins once speed work began.
“It seems that providing some stimuli to the bone, either through turn-out or through short-programmed works is the best way to prevent the problem or at least minimize the occurrence of it,” Nielsen said.
Researchers have shown that when young horses have been put into stalls without any access to sprinting, the mineral content of their cannon bones is reduced. Add to that the lack of high-speed work during the first few months of training and the scenario has been set for bucked shins. . . . As anecdotal evidence of the stalling vs. mineral content argument, Nielsen talked with a trainer of National Hunt horses while on a visit to Northern Ireland.
“One trainer informed me that these National Hunt horses have been known to buck their shins as late as when they are five-year-olds. After questioning him further, it turns out that these horses are stalled for weaning, then kept in stalls all winter long so as to not tear up the pastures. This seems to suggest that the long term confinement rearing of horses may predispose them to problems such as this even later in life.”
http://review.barnmice.com/4049/bucked- ... acehorses/
In the above link the author uses the term "sprinting" but I think he is referring to gallops or breezes because he addresses the issue using the term "fine line between" the right speed training and harmful speed training. The only way a trainer will know where the "fine line" between good and bad speed is when the horse crosses it and is injured. The trainers today, IMO, are fairly attached to the same regimens of their predecessors in 1980's. I think that decade galvanized less intense training regimens. The 80's, as a result of the 70's syndications of Secretariat, Riva Ridge, Seattle Slew, Affirmed, and Alydar, just to name a few, were the beginning of the peak profits at TB sales. Smart owners knew that the big money was in stallion ownership.
I previously used Hirsch Jacobs as an example for conditioning regimens. He was a great trainer, but appears to have crossed that "fine line" of speed conditioning with HAIL TO REASON when the juvenile broke down after 19 starts in his juvenile year. As I recall, Hirsh really made a name for himself as claiming trainer. I've read a couple of articles on Hirsh and IMO that his claiming ranks training techniques, if used on HTR and other juveniles, would have been disasterous. In the case HTR it was disasterous as he was luckily saved for the breeding shed, but just barely.
Also, here is an interesting Canadian link on the subject.
http://www.larounds.ca/crus/laveng_0305.pdf
“When an animal exercises,” said Nielsen, “the bone bends as weight is put on it. If the load placed on it is too great, or if the number of times it is bent is excessive, damage to the bone can occur. Fortunately, bone has the ability to repair itself if given enough time.”
Bone modeling only seems to occur in the juvenile skeleton as compared to bone remodeling which occurs throughout life, he explained. “Bone modeling is either the net deposition or resorption of bone while remodeling is the resorption followed by deposition. Since modeling occurs in the juvenile skeleton, the young horse is much more susceptible to bone loss when disuse of the bone occurs.”
Speed is a necessary component in order to build strong cannon bones. But there exists a fine line between the right amount of speed to strengthen the bone and too much speed, which can harm.
“It appears that bucked shins is an inflammatory response to the damage that is occurring” during training.
Because more new bone is deposited on the surface of the cannon bone when an animal bucks its shins, many trainers subscribe to the old adage ‘buck ‘em good’ in the belief that the bone becomes stronger in response to the inflammation.
In a study published by Dr. David N. Nunamaker of New Bolton Center in Pennsylvania, he determined that bucked shins generally occurred in Thoroughbred racehorses during the first year of training – usually as a two-year-old. Horses that had been brought along slowly, what trainers refer to as “putting a bottom” into them, before being asked for speed were more likely to buck their shins once speed work began.
“It seems that providing some stimuli to the bone, either through turn-out or through short-programmed works is the best way to prevent the problem or at least minimize the occurrence of it,” Nielsen said.
Researchers have shown that when young horses have been put into stalls without any access to sprinting, the mineral content of their cannon bones is reduced. Add to that the lack of high-speed work during the first few months of training and the scenario has been set for bucked shins. . . . As anecdotal evidence of the stalling vs. mineral content argument, Nielsen talked with a trainer of National Hunt horses while on a visit to Northern Ireland.
“One trainer informed me that these National Hunt horses have been known to buck their shins as late as when they are five-year-olds. After questioning him further, it turns out that these horses are stalled for weaning, then kept in stalls all winter long so as to not tear up the pastures. This seems to suggest that the long term confinement rearing of horses may predispose them to problems such as this even later in life.”
http://review.barnmice.com/4049/bucked- ... acehorses/
In the above link the author uses the term "sprinting" but I think he is referring to gallops or breezes because he addresses the issue using the term "fine line between" the right speed training and harmful speed training. The only way a trainer will know where the "fine line" between good and bad speed is when the horse crosses it and is injured. The trainers today, IMO, are fairly attached to the same regimens of their predecessors in 1980's. I think that decade galvanized less intense training regimens. The 80's, as a result of the 70's syndications of Secretariat, Riva Ridge, Seattle Slew, Affirmed, and Alydar, just to name a few, were the beginning of the peak profits at TB sales. Smart owners knew that the big money was in stallion ownership.
I previously used Hirsch Jacobs as an example for conditioning regimens. He was a great trainer, but appears to have crossed that "fine line" of speed conditioning with HAIL TO REASON when the juvenile broke down after 19 starts in his juvenile year. As I recall, Hirsh really made a name for himself as claiming trainer. I've read a couple of articles on Hirsh and IMO that his claiming ranks training techniques, if used on HTR and other juveniles, would have been disasterous. In the case HTR it was disasterous as he was luckily saved for the breeding shed, but just barely.
Also, here is an interesting Canadian link on the subject.
http://www.larounds.ca/crus/laveng_0305.pdf
Shammy Davis wrote:As a young Thoroughbred begins their race training, the cannon bone is constantly modeling (growing) in order to handle the demands being placed upon it.
“When an animal exercises,” said Nielsen, “the bone bends as weight is put on it. If the load placed on it is too great, or if the number of times it is bent is excessive, damage to the bone can occur. Fortunately, bone has the ability to repair itself if given enough time.”
Bone modeling only seems to occur in the juvenile skeleton as compared to bone remodeling which occurs throughout life, he explained. “Bone modeling is either the net deposition or resorption of bone while remodeling is the resorption followed by deposition. Since modeling occurs in the juvenile skeleton, the young horse is much more susceptible to bone loss when disuse of the bone occurs.”
Speed is a necessary component in order to build strong cannon bones. But there exists a fine line between the right amount of speed to strengthen the bone and too much speed, which can harm.
“It appears that bucked shins is an inflammatory response to the damage that is occurring” during training.
Because more new bone is deposited on the surface of the cannon bone when an animal bucks its shins, many trainers subscribe to the old adage ‘buck ‘em good’ in the belief that the bone becomes stronger in response to the inflammation.
In a study published by Dr. David N. Nunamaker of New Bolton Center in Pennsylvania, he determined that bucked shins generally occurred in Thoroughbred racehorses during the first year of training – usually as a two-year-old. Horses that had been brought along slowly, what trainers refer to as “putting a bottom” into them, before being asked for speed were more likely to buck their shins once speed work began.
“It seems that providing some stimuli to the bone, either through turn-out or through short-programmed works is the best way to prevent the problem or at least minimize the occurrence of it,” Nielsen said.
Researchers have shown that when young horses have been put into stalls without any access to sprinting, the mineral content of their cannon bones is reduced. Add to that the lack of high-speed work during the first few months of training and the scenario has been set for bucked shins. . . . As anecdotal evidence of the stalling vs. mineral content argument, Nielsen talked with a trainer of National Hunt horses while on a visit to Northern Ireland.
“One trainer informed me that these National Hunt horses have been known to buck their shins as late as when they are five-year-olds. After questioning him further, it turns out that these horses are stalled for weaning, then kept in stalls all winter long so as to not tear up the pastures. This seems to suggest that the long term confinement rearing of horses may predispose them to problems such as this even later in life.”
http://review.barnmice.com/4049/bucked- ... acehorses/
Here is an interesting Canadian link on the subject.
http://www.larounds.ca/crus/laveng_0305.pdf
Hi Shammy,
Things have changed since the day when "buck 'em good" was the norm.....If you press to hard on a horse getting ready to buck it could turn into a saucer or stress fracture making it much harder for that horse to get to the races.....but back in the day they would just pin fire them and kick them out for 3-4 months. It was the norm then, that most 2YO's would buck shins mainly because they were brought along slowly with lots of mileage (bottom) before being asked for speed. This training scenario doesn't account for bone remodeling, therefore the sudden change of pace over too much ground, would usually bring about bucked shins, stress fractures and hairline fractures.
Today they want short fast burst's of speed while still galloping along to add bottom. After an appropriate amount of galloping and a fitness level of being able to gallop at least 1 1/2 miles at a regular gallop without tiring. A young horse is then ready to vary speed during a mile to up to two miles of work when fit enough...they would start out a gallop going a 1/4 mile regular gallop, 1/4 mile open gallop, 1/4 mile slow breeze and then back to 1/4 mile regular gallop.....this incremental increase of pressure (speed and stress on the legs) will encourage young horses to remodel their cannon bones and many time's prevent bucked shins in the process. The harder and faster they are run, the more the bone remodel's itself (bone density) for future stress. There is a fine line between just right and too much and takes daily monitoring and adjusting of their training schedules to prevent injury. I've seen people train over hard surfaces to promote bone remodeling as well....then there are some horses that are just soft boned (via breeding) and little can be done to prevent the inevitable...eventually having to stop and give that horse time off and return 6 months later to see if the horse will make it to the races or not. I was in this situation with one of mine and he was given time off and returned to the races twice all ready.....but he earns and runs well in his races, breaking his maiden by 11 in his last go round. When the latest training tecniques fail to get the horse to the races....time off and daily monitoring along his comeback trail still is the best remedy. TJ
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karenkarenn
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