Kentucky Racehorse Trainer

Don't fall victim to a racehorse trainer scam artist.

Thoroughbred racehorse trainers make their living on training thoroughbred racehorses. It does not matter whether the horse being trained can win races.  But some trainers will keep a racehorse in their stable that they know will not win in order to receive a daily / monthly income.

Take for example a Kentucky married couple who desired to invest in a racehorse.  With prices of thoroughbred's falling to new lows, they decided to purchase a suitable horse.  They approached a trainer who had been in the business for more than 20 years, had good statistics for results, and asked him to select the appropriate racehorse. Relying on his expertise, he purchased a yearling at auction for the investors.  After paying for training of that thoroughbred for over a year and a half, the couple learned from other trainers that their racehorse had a deformity, that the horse could never run in a race, and that their trainer should have known better.  When the couple confronted the trainer, he responded by stating that they said that they wanted a cheap horse! 

Of course, this tatic is not limited to small stables nor the inexperienced investor.  A professional pinhooker (soneone who buys horses with the intention of reselling them at a higher price) purchased a racehorse from a breeder and sent him to a big time trainer for training and conditioning. After receiving very high bills - including higher than average vet bills, the pinhooker decided to visit the stable and the horse. It seems the horse was not located in the barn where the trainer told the pinhooker the horse was located.  After some checking, the pinhooker located her horse in one of the trainer's barns in another state.  The pinhooker thereafter contested the charges.

So how does one avoid this type of situation?  There is no easy answer.  Perhaps the best is to retain the services of an independent trainer who has nothing to gain nor loose in the investment to use as an independent advisor. Do your homework. Check on your horse regularily. Last, before you invest, plan on how you intend to exit the investment.

 

 

Preventing Sunburn in Horses

As warmer weather approaches, we will naturally be aware of the dangers of staying in the sun too long. We know that if we spend too much time in the sun we run the risk of turning a nice tan into an ugly sunburn. In addition to being unattractive and painful, we also know that sunburns can lead to skin cancer. We use all sorts of things from sunscreen to light weight covers to prevent our skin from burning.

Because they are big and strong, we often forget about the affect that the sun has on our horses. Horses, just like people, can sunburn. Sunburn is most frequently seen on horses with a light colored hair coat such as Appaloosa's, Lipizzans, Paints, Pintos, Andalusians, and grays. Horse owners who own horses with white noses and a lot of pale skin around the eyes often find themselves treating their equine partners for sunburn.

A sudden change in hormones, like mares that are in foal, can cause a horse to develop an extra sensitivity to the sun. Horse owners should also be aware that some medications can also trigger sensitivity to the sun which can lead to sunburn in horses. Tetracycline is one medication that has been known to cause extra sensitivity to the sun in some horses.

Although dark horses aren't typically victims of sunburn, the sun often bleaches the dark hair, which causes them to look scruffy and dull. It can make the mane and tail frizz and split, which is not attractive at all.

Equine sunburn looks just like human sunburn. The skin turns an angry shade of pink or even red. If the skin is left untreated long enough it starts to chap and crack. Horses that are suffering from severe sunburn will start to blister.

Preventing sunburn around the eyes is fairly simple. All an owner needs to do is purchase a fly mask for their horse. When using a fly mask it is extremely important to make sure that the fly mask is kept clean. Simply use a hose and a sprayer to rinse the dirt and eye gunk from the mask. After rinsing the fly mask hang it in the sun to dry.

Some fly masks have an extension that protects the end of the nose from getting sunburned. If you do not own a fly mask that covers your horse’s nose all you need to do is rub your horse’s nose with sunscreen that you can purchase at your local drugstore. There are special sunscreens made for horses, but you don’t need to go to the expense of purchasing special sunscreen for horses when human sunscreen is the same thing.

Some horse owners, especially ones who are interested in showing, try to prevent the sun from damaging their horse’s coat by keeping them inside during the day time hours when the sun is the most damaging. Other owners prefer to keep their horses covered with a light weight turn out blanket or fly sheet to protect their horses hair coat. One of the reasons some owners prefer a blanketed horse to one kept inside is that they feel that keeping a horse stalled and completely free of sunlight can lead to depression.

Beth Moore has been a leading authority on horse grooming and especially on growing long, thick manes and tails on horses for over 20 years. You can learn more about her methods and on the benefits of owning gorgeous horses at Click Here!

Equine Animal Health & Welfare - Links

• American Association of Equine Practitioners
• American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
  
• American Veterinary Medical Association 
• Database of FDA-Approved Animal Drug Products
• EquiFluNet
• Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation   
• Hagyard Equine Medical Institute   
• Info-Horse    
• Kentucky Department of Agriculture, Office of State Veterinarian
• Kentucky Equine Humane Center   
• Kentucky Equine Education Project   
• Kentucky Equine Research   
• Kentucky Horse Counsil   
• My Horse University   
• Racing Medication and Testing Consortium, Inc.
• ReRun      
• Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital 
• Standardbred Retirement Foundation   
• The Horse: Your Guide to Equine Health Care
• Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation      
• Uniform Classification Guidelines of Foreign Substances
• Unwanted Horse Coalition   

This list is provided as a service to the thoroughbred race horse community and is for information only.