As a bare hoof care specialist and rehab professional with over 30 years exp. in off the track thoroughbreds, physically (and mentally) preparing such an amazing athlete is an unbelieveable process....but so incredible when you get it right on all levels.
From foal to finish line, environment/diet/exercise and mental stimulus (positive and negative) all have a profound effect on the finished product.
In my years of doing rehab, the most amazing transformations I have seen took place first in between the horse's ears (emotionally :) Sometimes it's what you don't say that has the biggest effect.....after all, horses cannot use words.
Back to my passion. What does your horse do every day, whether he wants to or not? He has to stand on his feet. Without a sound base to work off of, you are really fighting a losing battle. Any chiro will tell you they can do the best/most frequent adjustments, and it simply will not help if the horse is unbalanced or misaligned in the hoof.
By applying this with the thoroughbred rehabs that I do, overcoming coffin bone fractures, underrun heels, quarter cracks, infections, etc. and getting all 4 hooves growing sound (sometimes taking a year or more) sets the rest of the body up for faster healing. The horse field is constantly being updated with new technologies and techniques, and the farrier is now being challenged to investigate the nature function of the hoof/ whole body connection. My theory is....if he/she cannot function barefoot sound.....they are not sound! Any dicipline has to start with a healthy well oiled correctly moving animal to have success. Horse are incredible in their ability to function under less than ideal conditions....for awhile. Eventually, your weak link...whether it's in the hoof, the back, or between the ears.....will show up during or right after their biggest challenge. As we require our horses to push themselves more to be bigger, faster, stronger....we need to push ourselves to understand them more....get more educated. Ask the professionals (vets/farrier/nutritionist) for explaination, for more investigation, for more research. If we constantly rest on "the way it's always been done" new heights of health and success cannot be reached.
Can't wait to hear the good, the bad, the funny/ugly stories. By sharing we learn, and it all benefits the horse :)

I would be very interested in the parallels in nutrition for a world class horse and human athlete getting ready to perform at the highest levels of the sport. Is there a window before an event that the horse starts a pre-show regimen and that the training moves to a different stage in terms of rest and muscle work? I know that a human athlete fine tunes to the nth degree and I wondered if the horse athlete was manged as closely in every area.

Again, looking forward to learning.

Jay

I am interested in hearing from those who offer great advice on equine massage and chiropractic as well as the medical community who use standard and accepted modalities as well as the ones that are not as commonly employed. We do not discourage interesting and informed discourse.

Hello,
I'm auctioning my beautiful equestrian facility in Keswick, Va., a suburb of Charlottesville. The auction is on Nov. 18th. You can view the details of the farm at www.albertburney.com Please pass this along to whomever you know. Thank you. Emile

Let's open this group up to everyone who has an interest in improving training methadology and techniques to train horses for whatever disciplines they participate in. It is to help any horse become the best it can be when it comes to fitness for their lifestyle. We cover the entire spectrum, from the horse who has been in the pastrue and now has to become fit for their longevity or to begin competing after a long lay off.
We'll share fun stories and things that we have tried to maximize performance in a way that is healthful and long term in it's benefit.