Training a racehorse is a mix of science, horsemanship and intuition. Many people, are unaware of the processes taking place to turn a homebred youngster into the athlete it needs to become to fulfil its potential.
The KEY to Sarah-Jayne's success have been acknowledging that preparation, education & conditioning of the racehorse, can never be underestimated in its significance to the performance on the racecourse.
No matter how sound, how talented, how well bred your horse may be, without conditioning that animal will be destined to failure on the track.....if it makes it that far! This is how the team at SJD RACING have got a fantastic record in improving horses that have not been performing in other yards. Horses such as: ROYAL ACT, CAPISCI, DRESDEN, THE SOCIETY MAN, to name but a few.
We adhere to strict principles:
I pride myself on my horses fitness and many inmates have won first time out after an extended break which is testament to our routine here. Firstly, I evaluate structure, movement & temperament, in developing a training programme for each horse, a successful conditioning program will generally consist of walking, trotting, and cantering the horse over gradually increasing distances and for longer times. Depending on age, previous racecourse experience/injury and condition when starting, a horse may need anywhere from five weeks to nine or ten months of this slow, steady work. This will also improve bone strength and slowly build up muscles. Long, slow distance work is also the basis for aerobic conditioning.
In conjunction with the above, our horses health and happiness is very important.
It doesn't matter how fit your horses are if you have a virus in the yard. Nowadays due to the ease & regularity of worldwide movement, viruses are prevalent so not only are strict isolation procedures carried out but being vigilant to the early signs are key.
Each horse has a tailor made nutritional programme to match its individual needs and work schedule, with the aim to deliver optimum nutrition in every situation to maintain sustained successful performance.
NH racing is all about the jumping, races are won or lost in the air. All of my inmates go through an intense schooling programme, which involves jumping being equal to galloping as part of their daily training schedule. When a new horse arrives it is assessed as to its previous jumping experience/natural ability. Any one, or all of the following, are then included in their training: