Buying A Thoroughbred Racehorse: Six Traits to Evaluate in Racehorses For Sale
What makes a winner?
To an outsider, it may seem like a mystery. But you’re not an outsider. You’ve followed horse racing for years and, with the right bourbon in glass, can talk racehorses for hours.
When evaluating racehorses for sale, what should make your checklist, and what are some of the pitfalls to avoid when buying a thoroughbred racehorse?
When discussing thoroughbred racehorses a C-word comes up often. Conformation is the single most important factor to be considered when evaluating racehorses.
A second C-word is confidence. That’s the immeasurable quality in a racehorse, the swagger and style certain horses have that exudes a winning temperament. Racehorse confidence is the “secret sauce” of success that’s hard to measure.
Conformation, on the other hand, is the overall makeup of the horse. It encompasses the shape and arrangement of muscle, bones, tissue, and body structure that combine to create the racehorse. Theoretically, this arrangement is what dictates the athletic ability of the horse in question. For a racehorse to have a safe and successful career on the track, good conformation is essential.
Racehorses without optimal conformation are at higher risk of:
Physical Injury
Harder training
Lameness
Also, racehorses with conformation flaws often bring lower prices at auction and future perception of flaws to their offspring.
Because of this, most horse buyers consider conformation to be of paramount importance, but there are different approaches to this consideration, and individual parts of the horse’s makeup receive different levels of this consideration.
If you’re in the market for buying a thoroughbred racehorse, here’s how should you evaluate a horse’s conformation.
Racehorse Conformation
Head
A racehorse’s head is measured from the front of the muzzle to the top of the poll. Its neck is measured from the poll to the mid-shoulder. An ideal racehorse’s neck would be one and a half times the length of the head. This ratio allows for a balanced head and neck. If the horse’s head is too big, the horse will be weighed too heavily to the front. If the horse’s head is too small, it will lose balance.
What to look for:
Clear, wide-set eyes
Ears set slightly below the poll
Clearly defined lower jaw
Large nostrils
Clean throatlatch without heavy fat and muscling
Neck
A racehorse’s neck should measure one-third of the horse’s total body length. It should be the same length as the horse's front leg. The head and neck should meet at an angle that allows the horse to move in balance, and meet the body at a high enough point that allows significant chest area below. The base of the neck should be level with the point of the horse’s shoulder. A good neck allows the horse to be more flexible and balanced.
Shoulders
A racehorse should be symmetrical when they stand square. Their shoulder angle should be between 40 and 55 degrees, and at that angle, the horse's elbow should be directly below the front of the withers. Generally, horses with straight shoulders have shorter strides.
Body
A racehorse’s body is considered in three parts:
Chest
Back
Hindquarters
A properly proportionate horse will be symmetrical—the same on both sides of its body. Faults in conformation should be symmetrical. Lack of symmetry will stress those points and may harm or limit the horse’s ability to perform with grace and ease.
Chest and ribs
A wide chest allows for greater lung capacity, which leads to better stamina. Strong chest and rib form leads to better attachment in the legs, shoulder, and neck. This attachment leads to better athleticism and overall performance.
Strong performing racehorses have an underline that rises gradually to the hindquarters. Their ribs project out with large spaces between them. Generally, they will have shorter backs as well.
Legs
Much of the emphasis on a horse’s conformation comes down to the animal’s weight-bearing source of propulsion—the legs. But there are specific requirements, balanced between the front and hind legs to optimize the equilibrium between propulsion and load-bearing. These have to be present in the right blend for the horse to be in its most balanced and optimal form. The racehorse will run many hard and fast miles in its lifetime, and its legs must endure every one of those miles for the horse to have a safe and successful career.
The Front End
The front legs support the bulk of the horse’s weight. Because of this, they are more prone to injury. Correct alignment of all the bones in both front legs is essential.
What to look for:
Looking from the front of the horse, you should be able to draw a straight line from the point of the shoulder down the center of the leg. This line should split the forearm, knee, cannon, fetlock, pastern, and hoof.
From the side of the front leg, you should be able to draw a straight line from in front of the withers down the center of the front leg to the heel.
The cannon bone in the front leg should always be shorter than the cannon bone in the rear leg.
The forearm should be longer than the cannon bone. When looking from the side, the alignment of the knee should be straight, not set forward or behind.
The pasterns and the hooves should be in alignment with the shoulder. The pasterns should be less than twice the length of the hooves.
Ideal front legs for a racehorse move in a straight line. This proper alignment gives a horse greater:
Speed
Agility
Stride
Overall athletic ability
If the front legs are out of alignment in any way, this puts additional stress on:
Tendons
Ligaments
Muscles
Bones
Undue stress in these areas can lead to lameness.
Hind Legs
The muscle in the horse’s hindquarters should be balanced and symmetrical with the rest of the body. The hindquarters dictate the horse’s capacity for speed and propulsion.
Work from the hip back. The hind legs bear less weight than the front—about 40 percent. This leads to far fewer lameness issues than in the front legs.
What to look for:
From the rear, you should be able to draw straight lines down the rear legs. This line should run from the point of the buttock to slightly inside the hock, to the middle of the hoof.
You should be able to form an equilateral triangle with the points being the top of the hip, the tip of the butt, and the stifle, with muscles distributed evenly and symmetrically.
The hock cannot be too straight or too crooked; it should be able to have an imaginary straight line drawn up the length of the gaskin bone and to the point of the hip. The connection from the hindquarter to the gaskin, thru to the hock, is key to optimum hind leg structure. A strong, well-placed hock makes a stronger, more efficient leg. Large-formed hocks are better at absorbing concussion and generally make for a sounder joint.
From the rearview, the gaskin bone should slant slightly inwards between the stifle and the hock without turning the hock inwards. The gaskin and thigh muscles are responsible for power running, jumping, and propulsion.
Working down the leg, the cannon bone should be shorter than the gaskin bone and line up with the point of the butt. You should be able to draw a line from the point of the buttock, down the back of the cannon to behind the heel.
What to Look for in Racehorses for Sale
The most effective and powerful racehorses can combine the whole package, balancing support for weight and the ability to generate propulsion. The guidelines above are a start to evaluating racehorses for sale. Look for balance and alignment for potential.
Injuries generally stem from one or more deficiencies in the above-mentioned areas of conformation. Conformation studies should be carried out early in the foal stage so that any necessary interventions can occur while there is still time to correct the issue. Preventative measures and therapy can be effective at remediating many deficiencies while the horse is young, ensuring a long career, and fulfilling the potential of the racehorse. Pedigree, intelligence, and athleticism all combine to make a racehorse. These considerations should all be thoroughly evaluated and studied when buying a thoroughbred racehorse.
Visit Mill Ridge
Have you ever fed a carrot to a thoroughbred broodmare or foal? Here’s your chance! If you’re thinking of buying a thoroughbred racehorse, there’s no better place to start than with a Mill Ridge Farm tour. We schedule group tours and private showings through Visit Horse Country. We’d love to see you at Mill Ridge Farm.