I was wondering what the differences are between a race horse, a show horse and another type of horse. I know race horses go to races, show horses go to shows but that’s it.
The difference between a race horse, a show horse, an endurance horse, an event horse is a matter of the training received by the horse, as well as in some cases their breed. Most not all race horses are TB, but there are QH races, Arab races, and Appaloosa races. And I could be missing some.
Show horses can show in many disciplines some of which are breed restricted.
I had thought maybe they had different personalities or something like that. Some people might want you to have experience grooming race horses, or experience grooming show horses, or experience at horse shows. I’m just not sure what that all means or what the differences are.
Racehorses tend to be very young, very fit and fed ‘rocket fuel’ feed. That means they’re generally high energy and can take careful handling. Not saying that they’re monsters, but there’s a knack to handling a fit young horse in a busy place.
Show horses tend to be older and expected to have better behaviour. You need to know how to groom to a high standard, with might include plaiting manes and tails.
[QUOTE=aurora171989;7996574]
I had thought maybe they had different personalities or something like that. Some people might want you to have experience grooming race horses, or experience grooming show horses, or experience at horse shows. I’m just not sure what that all means or what the differences are.[/QUOTE]
They tend to, as part of their jobs, have different personalities.
Racehorses need to go very fast and sometimes in their training there is less emphasis placed on their manners. So to groom a racehorse is a job for a person with a great deal of experience with horses and good safety skills.
Show horses can be shown in many different ways so one might need every bit as much experience as a racehorse groom to work with an Olympic athlete in international competitions, or one might be a youth in 4H learning with an old horse as a teacher and companion in small local shows, put on by clubs or groups, for fun.
This makes sense thank you for your responses
A racehorse is typically either a thoroughbred or standardbred (trotters and pacers) and of the two, the TB tend to be hotter. They are fed a very high energy diet, they are typically young very fit. Many people used to handling typical riding horses might find racehorses a bit too “up” for their comfort.
Standardbreds are (on average) a bit less hot. Many race for many years and thus the general population of horses at a harness track is older.
Horses used for either type of racing are specifically bred for the job. You might take a TB and make him a show horse but you couldn’t take an Oldenburg and make him a racehorse. (In part because the Jockey Club wouldn’t allow it and in part because they would never be fast enough, ever…)
As far as personalities go, like anything else it depends on the horse. IF a racehorse is young and/or winning the top levels of the sport, certain quirks are tolerated. However, like everyone else around horses, grooms, gallopers, jockeys, and trainers don’t want to die from getting trampled or kicked. Plus horses who aren’t constantly wired are wasting a lot less energy. They’re a bit more ‘up’, but they’re not fire-breathing dragons and in fact the people who deal with them daily would really be happier when they’re not. I own shares of two horses racing–the three-year-old is actually the more laid-back horse (EXCEPT actively during the race-he brushed the place horse breaking his maiden last out, which we on the one hand don’t want to encourage, but on the other hand like the ‘fighter’ personality) and is fairly relaxed in the paddock and around the barn, even when he ran on the BC undercard and the track was a zoo. The lookie-lou is the older one and he’s taken longer (and blinkers, and shadow rolls) to break his maiden because he’s been a touch confused about his job and wasted energy in the morning he could have used in the afternoon.
Show horses it’s the same thing–“great” ones get more behavior slack. (I’d sooner gallop a two-year-old in training than get on one of Anky van Gruensven’s dressage stallions–I like not being a paraplegic, thanks.) Also, what kind of show horse? The fire-breathing dragon look is exactly what Saddlebreds SHOULD have going around–energy is a good thing. A western pleasure horse should make you wonder if he’s got a pulse.
And in the case of most Thoroughbreds that don’t do well at the track…some go on to be show horses with some let down time and re training … So it’s not an exclusive thing. A few TBs that did race well go on to be show horses, though usually if they are a gelding. Successful race mares / stallions tend to stay in the race breeding pool.
