Thoroughbred
Introduction: Perhaps the horse most known around the world is the Thoroughbred. Some call this the finest riding horse ever bred. These magnificent blood horses are the fastest of all equines. Even today, some show traces of their Arabian ancestry, and the breed also has enormous influence on many other breeds. If you have any comments or suggestions, please click here. The picture on the left is of a stallion named Ribot.
Names: Thoroughbred; sometimes called the English Thoroughbred. Occasionally identified according to country, as in French Thoroughbred. The name Thoroughbred is from a literal translation of the Arabic "kehilan," meaning "pure bred all through." I also found it referred to in one older source as the Pur Sang, which I believe means Pure Blood in French, and which makes just as much sense as the English name Thoroughbred.
Origin: The
Thoroughbred horse was developed in England in the 18th century as the ideal
animal for racing and cross-country hunting--a horse that combined speed,
stamina, and jumping ability.
Polish
Thoroughbreds were originally war horses, founded of Orientals, crossed with
local mares. From the beginning of the 19th century these were bred up and
improved with imported English Thoroughbreds. The Polish Horse Racing
Society was formed in 1841, and although the racing studs were confined to a few
wealthy families, these people saw to it that high standards were maintained by
importing only the best mares from Germany, France and England.
The first Thoroughbred was imported into the New World in
1730. At first mated with Mustang
and other mares,
the merits of the breed were soon realized, and it was gradually upgraded and the
alien strains bred out.
Breeding is international and widespread in all civilized
countries of the world. The principle breeding area is in the British
Isles--the country of origin--at the National Stud and numerous private studs;
the main centre is at Newmarket. Also bred in all other European countries
(e.g. in Italy at Dormello-Olgiato, Razza del Soldo and Razza Ticino studs), as
well as the USA (Kentucky), Australia, New Zealand, South America and the USSR (Onufriewski
Stud, Ukraine). In Britain, breeders are represented by the Thoroughbred
Breeders' Association. (This paragraph was taken from a book published
in 1963; hence the reference to the Ukraine being part of the USSR. This
may also account for the fact that there is no reference to Thoroughbred
breeding in the Middle East, which I believe is fairly common now, though I need
to do more research into that.)
The Thoroughbred came into existence by continual, systematic
selection on the basis of the toughest racing tests. The progenitors of
the breed were the foundation sires, the Byerly Turk, the Darley
Arabian, and
the Godolphin
Arabian,
imported into England towards the end of the seventeenth century or the
beginning of the eighteenth century. These stallions were mated with mares
of English stock, which had already been tried and tested on the
racecourse. A number of these mares also bore Oriental blood already, but
the pedigree and origin of the majority of them is today still obscure.
From several points it may be concluded that quite a large number of them were,
in fact, ponies. since their foundation, the height of the Thoroughbreds
has increased from an average of 15 hands to 16 hands and has sometimes even
reached 17 hands. Any horse is considered as Thoroughbred whose lineage
can be traced, unbroken, both on the paternal and the maternal side, to horses
accepted for registration in the General Stud Book, or can prove some eight or
nine crosses of pure blood to trace back for at least a century and to show such
performances of its immediate family on the Turf as to warrant the belief in the
purity of its blood.
Breeding: Jockey
clubs throughout the world define the Thoroughbred as a running horse whose
ancestry may be traced in unbroken line to one of three Oriental sires.
Before these sires were known, there were in England two
types of horse--the big lusty steeds used in war, and the small, plain-looking
creatures used for the race and the chase. The racers were pony size and
pacers mostly.
But when the blood of desert stallions, the blood of the
vital little Arabians,
began to trickle into England, a curious thing happened. The plain-looking
pacers gave way to gallopers, their coarseness was fined down, and the fastest
running horse in the world was born.
Three
horses, all of Eastern blood, stand at the very beginning of the Thoroughbred
breed. These were the Byerley
Turk (of Arabian
blood and
possibly purebred) imported in 1689; the Darley
Arabian,
about 1700; and the Godolphin
Barb (also quite possibly pure Arab), around
1730. (The
designations "Turk," "Arabian," and "Barb" refer
to breeds native to Turkey, Arabia, and the Barbary Coast.) The importance
of the three horses, as time proved, was in their prepotency, their ability to pass on their own desirable qualities of speed, endurance, and
refinement to generations of descendants.
These then are the three Oriental stallions, the foundation
sires of the Thoroughbred. Their blood ran like a fine vein deep through
the English stock, strengthening it, fortifying it. And the new breed
surpassed both the Arab
and the English
horses in size and in running speed. Today even the fleetest Arab
could not stay with
the Thoroughbred on the track.
Horsemen developed the Thoroughbred family along bloodlines
tracing back to three descendants of the Turk, the
Arabian, and the
Barb.
These were, respectively, Herod, Eclipse, and Matchem. The three were
foaled between 1748 and 1764. They established themselves as the
foundation sires of
the Thoroughbred family by their supremacy as race horses, and by the quality of
their offspring. The "taproot mares" of the Thoroughbred breed
were English mares of strong Eastern blood. Late in the 18th century the
British General Stud Book was closed to all horses whose bloodlines did not go
back through the male line either to Matchem, Herod, or Eclipse.
America began early to breed champions. In 1775, Daniel Boone
presented to the first Kentucky legislature a bill for improving the breed of
horses. Perhaps Squire Boone knew the value of Kentucky's blue grass in
building strong bone. Knowingly or unknowingly, he planted the seed that
started Kentucky on its way to becoming the land of fine horses. Today the Thoroughbred is bred all over the world.
Description: The modern Thoroughbred is a beautifully put-together horse, powerful and elegant. There are different types of Thoroughbreds according to the distances run. Sprinting races require a horse that is quick at the start, and so sprinters, needing to generate great speeds over short distances, are more compact and shorter than the longer distance runners. Long or middle distance race horses need stamina and endurance, and their tall, sleek physique and enormously long, ground-eating strides make it easier for them to cover more ground with less energy spent.
Action: Long easy stride. Usually good stride in walk; long flat trot; galloping machine--enormously long, springy, striding action in gallop. While some Thoroughbreds possess good jumping ability, others may have no inclination for it at all.
Body: Lean, with extraordinary depth in girth. Powerful, muscular, short back; often perfect, strong loins connecting up to long, sloping and muscular quarters. Well-sprung ribs, sprung from the spine at a more downward angle than is usual with other breeds. Chest deep and broad to accommodate well-developed heart and lungs (sometimes rather narrow). Croup has pronounced rise; rump gently sloping. Neck long, elegant, well-set, gracefully proportioned, and slightly arched. Long, well-sloped and well-muscled shoulders. Withers high, long, prominent, and very pronounced.
Head: Refined and expressive, with medium-length ears. Profile straight or dished. Small, highly refined, clean, light head with large, lively eyes and broad nostrils.
Hooves: Quite small and round, though tending to be brittle. Small and well-shaped.
Coat: Should be lustrous. Tail set high. Skin very thin and fine; main and tail fine and silky.
Color: Predominantly bay, brown and chestnut, but any solid color seen. (One source stated it may be any color, but I tend to believe they meant any solid color.)
Legs: Long, especially the "drive shaft," the distance between the point of the hip and the hock on the rear legs. One source said "extremely long legs"; another "with length varying according to type." I believe the latter. Strong, with very dense bone and well developed joints. Pasterns flexible, and springy to absorb shocks of galloping gait. Muscular, exceptionally clean, and often closely-placed limbs. Pronounced solid tendons. Flat knees; well-shaped hocks.
Size: 15-16.2 hands high. May reach 17 hands. Physique is lithe and clean.
Temperament: Thoroughbreds are fine, courageous, sensitive animals, and they need experienced handling and riding. Assault's trainer said the Thoroughbred is a creature of bone and blood and bottom. By "bottom" he meant stamina and the wind of a fox. Samuel Riddle, owner of Man o' War, used to say that Thoroughbreds have an extra quality greater than speed. He called it heart. "Thoroughbreds don't cry," he would say, and he would tick off on his fingers the ones who showed this courage.
Features: The Thoroughbred is the
fastest horse in the world over long distances. Since its development,
horse racing, which has existed for thousands of years, was brought to an
entirely new level. As the sport of Thoroughbred racing gained in
popularity, Thoroughbreds were exported worldwide. The supreme racing
machine, the Thoroughbred can
cover a mile at nearly 40 mph.
It gets its qualities of speed, good looks and
endurance from the Arab.
Big in heart and high in courage, the Thoroughbred is, as one man put it, a
creature of bone and blood and bottom (meaning stamina). Spirited and
delicate bearing.
Uses: The racehorse par excellence, both for flat racing and, to some extent, for steeplechasing. It is an elegant riding horse and, in the right hands, displays ability and willingness in carrying out any task to which it is suited--including dressage events, jumping and hunting. Extremely noble, mobile and intelligent. It is of a very lively, eager, though not always simple, temperament and character; liable to "hot up." The equal of the Oriental in refinement and prepotency and even superior to it in importance for improving national breeds. Thoroughbred Premium stallions are used for production of high-quality half-blood riding horses.
Accomplishments: The
exciting talents of the Thoroughbred quickened the sporting scene in
18th-century England. Racing drew the public in ever greater
numbers. (Perhaps the people took example from Queen Anne, an intrepid
horsewoman and founder of the Ascot races.) And the Thoroughbreds
themselves prospered, due to a change in custom from match races between just
two horses to races with fields of several runners; in response to the demand
for good horses, more were produced by breeders.
Meanwhile, riders to hounds found in the Thoroughbred a
splendid mount for the new sport of fox hunting. Before great areas of
land were cleared for agriculture, hunting had been mostly after stag or boar in
woodland settings that made for fairly slow pursuit. But riding after fox
in open country meant taking dozens of jumps at the gallop, and the Thoroughbred
proved fully equal to the test.
French Thoroughbreds are very successful race
horses. For many years the French invaders have crossed the channel, to
capture some of the richest British racing prizes.
An accomplishment by a jockey, rather than a horse, is in the
style of riding. About 1900, Jockey Tod Sloan made a daring
experiment. He shortened his stirrups, moved up from his horse's back, and
crouched like a lightning bug on his neck. Here he was so close to the
horse's ears he could whisper him home, without whip or spur. Soon all of
America's jockeys were riding high, like monkeys on a stick, and their horses
were making better time.
This bug-boy crouch not only means more speed but it saves a
horse's back, his weak spot. This is important, as many race horses are
ridden before they are two years old.
Curiosities: All Thoroughbreds are given the same birthday, January first. Thus a foal born in April has his first birthday the following New Year's Day, when he is really only eight months old.
Profiles: Sir Ivor - American-bred and -owned; won the English Derby of 1968, emphasizing the quality of the American Thoroughbred as he stormed past his rivals to the finishing post, with an ease and acceleration not to be forgotten. 'The best horse I've ridden!' was the comment by Lester Piggot, Great Britain's champion jockey. Byerley (or Byerly) Turk - the first of the foundation stallions; see Thoroughbred Profiles. Darley Arabian - second foundation stallion; see Thoroughbred Profiles. Godolphin Barb - third foundation stallion; see Thoroughbred Profiles. Matchem - a grandson of the Godolphin Barb. Herod - a great-great-grandson of the Byerly Turk. Eclipse - a great-great-grandson of the Darley Arabian; see Thoroughbred Profiles. Alcock Arabian - all gray Thoroughbreds trace back to this horse. War Admiral - often limped painfully in his stall, but let the bugle sound and he would walk square and strong to the post and then fight like a gamecock to win. Assault - he stepped on a sharp stake, injuring his foot so badly it was malformed the rest of his life. A horse with less heart would have favored it, but he kept testing it, using it, and he became a triple-crown winner, known as the horse that ran on three legs and a heart. Black Gold - trying for a comeback as a middle-aged horse, broke his leg in the final furlong but drove on to finish his race just the same. Dark Secret - A sixteenth of a mile from the finish in the Gold Cup Race he ruptured a tendon. Forcing his weight onto his good front foot, he shattered it, too, a step before the line. But he crossed it to win! Man o' War - "the mostest horse that ever was"; see Thoroughbred Profiles.
Conclusion: