Hot Blooded Thoroughbreds

Domestication of horses is believed to have started around 3500 BCE, with the Prewalski horse (named after the Russian photographer of Asia, who was born in 1839) the only true surviving wild horses today, found in Mongolia – after being reintroduced by China during the 1980’s.

A female horse is often referred to as a Mare and carries a young horse for 11 months, the young horse is called a Foal. A horse reaches maturity by age of 5 and can live to between 25 and 30 years. Horses naturally have superior senses to humans, an excellent sense of balance and sharp fight or flight instincts. Domestication has made the horse a useful method of transportation over the centuries and can now be found working in diverse areas from police work to working in the fields.

Their large eyes provides them with a vision range of more than 350 degrees and two colour, dichromatic vision. A horse can gallop at average speeds of between 25 and 30 mph although speeds of 55mph have been recorded for a horse at galloping speed over a short distance. Their speed, sensitivity, ability to learn and the energy levels exhibited by horse breeds such as the oriental horses have allowed them to be successfully used as racing horses.

From the Oriental horse, the Arabian horse was selectively bred for traits that were attractive to its owners in the deserts of the Middle East. With a refined, wedge shaped head, dense strong bones, short broad back, good disposition to humans and a high stamina, has helped the breed to become very successful in endurance racing.

The modern thoroughbred breed can trace its lineage to three particular horses; Darley Arabian (a horse of great beauty whose genes can be found in 95% of modern thoroughbreds), Godolphin Arabian (lived for approximately 29 years c 1724 to 1754, although of small build he had exceptional strength and power, his first offspring ‘Lath’ won the Queen’s plate at the Newmarket races a number of times) and Byerley Turk (who accompanied Captain Robert Byerley in military service during 1686 before retiring to stud). One of the traits the Arabian horse was bred for was endurance, allowing them to travel at speed over long distances, hence the thoroughbred has inherited this characteristic that allows it to travel at speed over medium distances. Thoroughbreds are known for their ability of distance running or sprinting, distance runners are smaller and slimmer when compared to sprinters who tend to be more muscularly. Today there are millions of thoroughbreds throughout the world as well as working in racing, they are also used in a number of equestrian events such as show jumping, polo and dressage.

Kempton Park is a premiere horse racing venue situated in 210 acres that includes refurbished stabling designed to provide comfort for horses, 119 boxes and a state of the art veterinary and sampling unit. Hosting famous horse racing fixtures such as the Grade 1 National Hunt, King George VI Chase which encompasses 18 jumps over three miles held every Boxing Day.