Some horses work frequently, which
is so-called "hard track workers" in local racing
newspapers, meaning among which some may even show up at
trackwork almost every morning. In contrast, some horses
work once at rather long intervals (so-called "infrequent
track workers"). Why does such variation occur? And
how does the frequency of these workouts influence a horse's
performance in a race?
In
local racing, two strong, fast workouts on the training
track a week are deemed as the most common form of maintaining
fitness in the horse. Horses usually do fast work every
Monday and Thursday; every Tuesday and Friday; or every
Wednesday and Saturday - in between three-day intervals.
Workout schedules are usually arranged in such patterns.
Trainers regulate the workout frequency
of each horse according to the horse's needs and they will
shorten a horse's fast work cycle if they wish to increase
its work volume. For instance, the horse may be worked fast
every second day so that it does strong works three times
a week. If horses are required to ease up training, trainers
will lengthen their fast work cycle and give them only one
strong work or even none except for such light works as
canters or trots ("slow work"). If horses race
rather frequently within a certain period of time, the frequency
of fast works may be correspondingly lessened in order to
avoid fatigue.
Racing fans should understand that
the frequency of work may not be directly proportional to
performances in races. In other words, heavy workouts do
not guarantee a creditable performance while light workouts
similarly do not mean that such horses will perform poorly
in races. The question is whether the volume and pattern
of training is well suited to the horse's constitution,
characteristics, health condition and current form. Excessive
training may instead make a horse run below par. Horses
undergoing insufficient training are likely hovering around
recent form. Nevertheless, it is clear that horses that
can endure frequent fast workouts are generally healthy.
