Maataloustieteellinen A ikakauskirja
Vol. 63: 483—492, 1991

Some factors of the time of breaking and training affecting racing
performance in young trotters

M.T. SAASTAMOINEN

Agricultural Research Centre, Equine Research Station,
SF-32100 Ypaja, Finland

Abstract. Saastamoinen, M.T. (Agricultural Research Center, Equine Research Station,
SF-32100 Ypaja, Finland). Some factors of the time of breaking and training affecting racing
performance in young trotters.

An inquiry study was carried out to query the main reasons for non-starting and poor
racing results, as well as to estimate the effect of some factors of the time of breaking and
training on racing performance. The numbers of acceptable responses were 796 for Standardbred
trotters and 857 for Finnhorses. About 72 % of the Standardbred trotters raced before the
end of the five-year season, and about 42 % of the Finnhorse trotters raced before the end
of their six-year season. The main reasons for non-starting and poor racing results were inju-
ries and ailments, bad character, lack of talent and poor training. In general, young age at
the beginning of breaking and training was favorably associated with racing performance. For
instance, three-year-old Standardbred trotters broken at the age of 1 or Wi years were 2.1
seconds faster (p <0.01) and had a larger number of starts (p< 0.05) than their racemates bro-
ken at 2 or 3 years of age. The influence of class of persons responsible for breakingand train-
ing was minor. However, trotters broken and trained by professional trainers seemed to have
better racing results than trotters broken and trained by breeders and owners.

Index words: horse, trotting, racehorse, environmental factors

Introduction

Environmental factors affecting the racing
performance of trotters can be classified by
long, middle and short term effects (Katona
1985). Long term effects include the influences
of breeder, birth year, season of birth as well
as age and sex of the horse. The influence of
training and racing year are middle term ef-

fects. Short term effects include factors affect-
ing performance in a single race.

Racing performance may also be affected
by several factors arising during the breaking
and training periods. These include e.g. inju-
ries, ailments and bad character.

The possible effects of training on racing
performance may be due to differences in the
methods employed by different persons car-

483

JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE IN FINLAND

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rying out breaking and training. A horse’s age
at the onset of breaking and training may also
influence racing performance. Starting train-
ing at young age is supposed to be advanta-
geous both to the development of young
horses and their racing performance (Roneus
1987, Lindholm 1988, 1990).

The purpose of this study was to query rea-
sons for nonstarting and poor racing results
of trotters. Another aim was to estimate the
influence of the age at onset of breaking and
training, as well as the influence of persons
responsible for breaking and training, on rac-
ing performance in young trotters.

Materials and methods

A questionnaire was sent out to both own-
ers of Standardbred trotters born in 1981 and
1982, and to those owning Finnhorses born
in 1980 and 1981. The number of inquiries
sent out was 1810 and 1995, to Standardbred
and Finnhorse owners, respectively.

The response percentages were 46.5 for
Standardbred trotters and 46.8 for Finn-
horses, with no reminders sent. Thus, the to-
tal number of replies was 841 for Stan-
dardbred trotters, and 934 for Finnhorses.

The numbers of acceptable responses were
796 (361 born in 1981, 435 born in 1982) for
Standardbred trotters, and 857 (389 born in
1980, 468 born in 1981) for Finnhorses. These
horses were approximately 35 % of each crop
born. The proportion of males (stallions or
geldings) was 47 % in Standardbred trotters
and 58 % in Finnhorses.

In the data the number of Standardbred
trotters raced before the end of the five-year
season was 589 (72 % of all horses), and the
number ofFinnhorse trotters raced before the
end of the six-year season was 391 (42 %). For
Finnish Standardbred trotters born in 1981
and 1982 the proportion of horses raced be-
fore the end of the five-year season was about
65 % (Anon. 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987).
In the case of Finnhorses born in 1980 and
1981, the proportion of horses raced before

the end of the six-year season was about
45 %.

Only a few Standardbred trotters started
racing at two years of age, and the starting
frequency of 2-year-old Standardbred trotters
was distinctly smaller than that of 3-year-old
Finnhorse trotters (Table 1). Percentages of
horses raced at different age classes in Stan-
dardbred trotters were in agreement with the
statistics on Finnish trotter population (Anon,
1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987). In Finnhorses
the percentages were smaller than reported for
the whole population, as shown in Table 1.

The data consisted of age at onset of break-
ing and training, persons charged with break-
ing and training, as well as the annually sum-
marised race records for 3 through 5-year-old
Finnish Standardbred trotters and 4 through
6-year-old Finnhorse trotters. The data also
included information on sire, sex, birth-month
class (January-March, April, May, June, July,
August-November) and birth year of the
horse.

Age at the onset of breaking and training
was determined within the accuracy of one
half or one year (Table 2). The age of a horse
is calculated from the first of January of the
birth year (Anon. 1987b).

For the statistical analyses, the horses were
classified according to their age at the onset
of breaking or age at the onset of training. The
class “early broken” included Standardbred
trotters that started breaking at 1 or 1 Vi years
of age and Finnhorses that started breaking
at P/2 or 2 years of age. The class “late
broken” included Standardbred trotters that
started breaking at 2 or 3 years of age and
Finnhorses that started breaking at 3 or 4
years of age.

Similarly, the class “early trained” includ-
ed Standardbred trotters that started training
at the age of 1 Vi or 2 years and Finnhorses
starting training at the age of 2 or 3 years.
Standardbred trotters whose training began at
3 or 4 years of age, and Finnhorses trained
beginning at 4 or 5 years of age, belonged to
class “late trained”.

Persons in charge of breaking and training

484



were classified as breeders, owners and profes-
sional trainers (Table 3). The largest group
responsible for breaking was breeders in both
breeds.

Traits representing a horse’s annual racing
performance were best racing time on volt-
start, number of starts, fourth root of earn-
ings, logit transformation of first placings,

Table 1. Number and percentage of horses raced at different age classes.

Age class Data Anon. Age class Data Anon.
(1983—87) (1983—87)

n Vo % n % %

Standardbred trotters Finnhorse trotters
2 14 1.8 1.2 3 92 10.8 7.9
3 289 36.3 35.6 4 221 25.8 34.9
4 478 60.1 60.1 5 287 33.5 44.0
5 449 56.4 58.5 6 357 41.7 44.9

Table 2. Number and percentage of 3 to 5-yr-old Standardbred trotters and 4 to 6-yr-old Finnhorse trotters in dif-
ferent age classes at onset of breaking and training.

Age Standardbred trotters Age Finnhorse trotters

3 4 5 4 5 6

n % n % n % n % n % n %

Age at breaking Age at breaking
1 36 13 48 10 47 11 V/i 63 29 76 27 88 25
I'A 145 50 241 50 209 47 2 94 42 113 39 136 38
2 94 32 147 31 141 31 3 57 26 75 26 91 25
3 14 5 42 9 52 11 4 7 3 23 8 42 12
Age at training Age at training
Wi 22 8 24 5 22 5 2 8 4 11 4 11 3
2 134 48 186 40 164 37 3 116 53 115 41 132 38
3 122 43 226 48 212 48 4 87 40 131 47 152 44
4 4 1 32 7 42 10 5 7 3 24 8 52 15

Table 3. Number and percentage of 3 to 5-yr-old Standardbred trotters and 4 to 6-yr-old Finnhorse trotters in dif-
ferent classes of instructor and trainer.
B = breeder, O = owner, PT = professional trainer.

Age Standardbred trotters Age Finnhorse trotters

3 4 5 4 5 6
n % n % n % n % n % n %

At breaking At breaking
B 109 39 184 39 169 38 B 118 54 153 54 186 53
O 86 30 144 31 146 34 O 89 40 117 41 153 43
PT 88 31 141 30 125 28 PT 13 6 15 5 15 4

At training At training
B 71 26 130 28 112 26 B 80 37 111 40 133 39
O 84 30 141 31 149 35 O 102 47 130 46 167 48
PT 122 44 189 41 170 39 PT 35 16 39 14 45 13

485



logit of first-to-third placings and logit of dis-
qualified races.

The data were analysed by the Least
Squares Analysis. The following linear models
were assumed for each age class withinbreeds:

Model 1
yijklmno P "t" aj -|- bj -f" Ck +d|+ f m"h Sn + Cjjk i m no

yukimno is the annually summarised race
record;

p is a general mean;
a, is fixed effect of the ilh class of age

at onset of breaking;
b, is fixed effect of the jth class of in-

structor;
ck is fixed effect of the kth sex;
d, is fixed effect of the Ith1th birth-month

class;
fm is fixed effect of the m th birth year;
s n is random effect due to the n,h sire,

HD (0, o*);
eijk , mo is a random error effect, NID (0, a*).

Model 2
yiikimno =H+a, + bs +ck +d, + fra +s„ + eijklmno

In model 2 a-effect was the class of age at
onset of training and b-effect was the class of
trainer. All other elements were defined as in
model 1.

Results

Reasons for non-starting and poor
performance

The incidence of different reasons for non-
starting and poor racing results varied between
the breeds (Fig. 1 and 2). However, the main
reasons for non-starting in both breeds were
injuries and ailments, as well as transferring
to breeding (mares). Other important reasons
were lack of talent, bad character and growth
abnormalities which were separated from
other diseases.

About 63 % of the Standardised trotters
and 62 % of the Finnhorse trotters succeeded

worse in their races than their owners had ex-
pected. The most important reasons for poor
racing performance in both breeds were dis-
eases and injuries, poor training and bad
character.

Diseases and injuries, as reasons for non-
starting and poor performance, were more
common among trotters trained by profes-
sional trainers than among those trained by
breeders and owners. They were also more fre-
quent in males than in females.

Factors affecting racing performance

Class ofage at onset of breaking. In general,
young age at the beginning of both breaking
and training was favorably associated with
racing performance. Three-year-old Standard-
bred trotters that started breaking at the age
of 1 or \'A years were 2.1 seconds faster
(p<0.01) and also had a larger number of
starts (p<0.05) (2 starts more) than their race-
mates broken at 2 or 3 years of age (Table 4).
The “early broken” Standardbred trotters
had larger earnings at five years of age than
their “late broken” contemporaries (p<0.001).

Five-year-old Finnhorse trotters that start-
ed breaking at the age of 1 Vi or 2 years had
larger earnings and larger number of first
placings than horses broken at 2 or 3 years of
age (p<0.01). The “early broken” Finn-
horses had a larger number of first placings
(p< 0.001) and first-to-third placings (p<0.01)
at the age of six years than their “late bro-
ken” racemates.

Class ofage at onset of training. Three- and
four-year-old Standardbred trotters that start-
ed training at 1 Vi or 2 years of age were faster
(pcO.Ol and p<0.05) than their contem-
poraries who started at 3 or 4 years of age (Ta-
ble 5). Young age at the beginning of train-
ing was also advantageous for the number of
starts in 3-year-old Standardbred trotters
(p<0.001).

In Finnhorses, four-, five- and six-year-old
trotters whose training began at 2 or 3 years
of age were faster (p < 0.01 or 0.05) than their
racemates started training at 4 or 5 years of

486



487

Fig. I. Reasons for non-starting in Standardbred trotters (a) and Finnhorse trotters (b).

Fig. 2. Reasons for poor racing performance in Standardised trotters (a) and Finnhorse trotters (b)



age (Table 5). Early training was also advan-
tageous for the number of starts in four-year-
olds (p < 0.01), for earnings in five-year-olds,
and for the number of first-to-third placings
in four- and five-year-olds (p<0.05 and
p<0.01).

Class of instructor and trainer. The in-
fluence of class of instructor and class of
trainer on racing performance was statistically
significant only in three- and four-year-old
Standardbred trotters (Table 4). Trotters bro-
ken or trained by professional trainers were
faster (p<0.05 to pcO.Ol) than trotters bro-
ken or trainedby breeders and owners (Fig. 3).

Sex, birh-month class and birth year. In
general, in both breeds and in all age classes,
males were superior to females. The differ-

ences between sexes were largest in four-year-
old Standardbred trotters (Table 4). The in-
fluence of birth month was statistically signifi-
cant (p<0.05) only in Standardbred trotters.
In their case, the most advantageous birth
months for three- and four-year-old horses
were from January to March For five-year-
olds the most advantageous birth months
seemed to be April and May. Differences be-
tween birth years were statistically non-sig-
nificant.

Discussion

Reasons for non-starting and poor racing
performance. Injuries and ailments included
different diseases and accidents, and might

Table 4. Statistical significance of the effects of fixed factors on racing performance (F-test).
1 = class of age at onset of breaking, 2 = class of instructor, 3 = class of age at onset of training, 4 = class of
trainer, 5 = sex, 6 = birth month class, 7 = birth year.

F-test for

Standardbred trotter Finnhorse trotter

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Trait and age Trait and age

Best time Best time
3 ** *• ** ** NS NS NS 4 NS NS NS NS NS NS
4 NS NS NS 5 NS NS NS NS NS NS
5 NS NS NS NS NS * NS 6 NS NS • NS • NS NS

Number of starts Number of starts
3 * NS NS NS NS NS 4 NS NS »• NS NS NS NS
4 NS NS NS NS •** NS NS 5 NS NS NS NS NS NS NS
5 NS NS NS NS NS NS NS 6 NS NS NS NS * NS NS
(Earnings)I''* 1''* (Earnings)’ 7*

3 NS * NS NS NS * NS 4 NS NS NS NS NS NS NS
4 NS NS NS NS NS •• NS 5 *• NS ** NS NS NS NS
5 ••• NS NS NS NS NS NS 6 NS NS NS NS » NS NS
Logit (first placings) Logit (first placings)
3 NS NS NS NS NS • NS 4 NS NS NS NS NS NS NS
4 NS NS NS NS • NS NS 5 ** NS NS NS NS NS NS
5 NS NS NS NS �* NS NS 6 NS NS NS NS NS NS
Logit (first-to-third-placings) Logit (first-to-third placings)
3 NS NS NS NS NS • NS 4 NS NS � NS NS NS NS
4 NS NS NS NS ** NS NS 5 NS NS * NS NS NS NS
5 NS NS NS NS NS * NS 6 *� NS NS NS NS NS NS
Logit (disqualified races) Logit (disqualified races)
3 NS NS NS NS NS NS NS 4 NS NS NS NS NS NS NS
4 NS NS NS NS NS NS NS 5 NS NS NS NS NS NS NS
5 NS NS NS NS NS NS NS 6 NS NS NS NS NS NS NS

Levels of statitical significance: *•* p<o.ool, ** pcO.Ol, * p<0.05, NS non-significant

488



also include poor durability and unsoundness
occurring during the training period. The
higher frequency of injuries in Standardbred
trotters compared to that in Finnhorses may

be due to the higher training intensity and the
more stressful training environment of Stan-
dardbred trotters.

Poor training as a reason for inferior per-

Table 5. Effect of class of age at onset of training on performance traits.
1 = early trained", 2 = late trained (see text).

LS- Class of age at F-
mean onset of training test

1 2

LS- Class of age at F-
mean onset of training test

21

Standardbred trotter Finnhorse trotter

Best time (sec.)
5 104.44 0 +3.32 »•

5 101.00 0 +2.88 ••

6 98.84 0 +2.00 *

Number of starts
4 8.36 0 —2.80 ••

5 14.10 0 —2.40 ns
6 15.00 0 —2.27 ns
(Earnings)**
4 3.65 0 —0.65 ns
5 4.15 0 —0.40 **

6 4.28 0 —0.25 ns

Logit (first placings)
4 —l.BB 0 —0.22 ns
5 —2.15 0 —0.13 ns
6 —2.14 0 —O.lB ns

Logit (Ist to 3rd placings)
4 —1.05 0 —0.36 •

5 —1.02 0 —0.31 *

6 —l.ll 0 —0.16 ns

Logit (disqualified races)
4 —1.54 0 +0.20 ns
5 —1.75 0 +0.26 ns
6 —1.71 0 +0.05 ns

489

Best time (sec.)
3 84.84.96 0 +1.90
4 83.25 0 +1.04
5 82.47 0 +0.22 ns

Number of starts
3 7.73 0 —3.00
4 14.16 0 —1.40 ns

15.85 0 +0.12 ns5

(Earnings) 1'
3 4.13 0 —0.40 ns

4.48 0 —0.30 ns
4.30 0 0.00 ns

4
5
Logit (first placings)
3 —1.74—1.74 0 —O.OB ns
4 —2.01 0 —0.12 ns
5 —2.24 0 —O.lO ns

Logit (Ist to 3rd placings)
3 —0.87 0—0.87 0 —0.24 ns
4 —0.93 0 —0.06 ns
5 —l.OB 0 0.00 ns

Logit (disqualified races)
3 —1.46—1.46 0 +0.12 ns
4 —1.73 0 +0.18 ns
5 —l.Bl 0 0.00 ns

5

Fig. 3. Influence of class of instructor (a) and class of trainer (b) on best time in Standardbred trotters



formance was more important in Finnhorses
than in Standardbred trotters. This was pro-
bably associated with the small proportion of
professional trainers responsible for the train-
ing of Finnhorse trotters. Most Standardbred
trotters were trained by professional trainers
and most Finnhorses were trained by owners
(Table 3).

Horses classified as “transferred to breed-
ing” probably also included sick, injured and
untalented horses. In regard to the frequency
of growth abnormalities, it was not known
how the incidence of these cases was diag-
nosed. However, growth abnormalities were
more common in Standardbred trotters than
in Finnhorses.

Even most trotters succeeded worse in their
races than expected by their owners, the num-
ber of starts observed was larger than that
presented for an average Finnish Stan-
dardbred trotter and Finnhorse trotter belong-
ing to the same crops studied here (Anon.
1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987).

The reasons for non-starting and poor per-
formance agreed with thosepresented for non-
and late starting in trotters in Nordic coun-
tries (Bendroth 1981, Klemetsdal et al.
1985, Andersson-Eklund 1988, Saastamoi-
nen 1991). Thafvelin and Magnusson (1985)
reported that 4-year-old trotters which never
raced had worse orthopedic health compared
to raced trotters, and that trotters with poor
orthopedic health had a smaller number of
starts compared to trotters with good ortho-
pedic health.

The main reasons for non-starting and poor
racing results in Thoroughbreds have also
been reported to be injuries and a variety
kinds of ailments (Darenius and Strom 1979,
Jeffcott et al. 1982).

Hoppe and Philipsson (1984) reported a
lower racing capacity for trotters with os-
teochondrosis (OCD) compared to those trot-
ters without OCD. Morris and Seeherman
(1991) reported that 84 per cent of horses with
poor performance suffered from more than
one health problem.

According to Fredricson et al. (1975) the

condition and design of racetracks have a
large influence on the soundness of trotters’
limbs. On the other hand, Hill et al. (1986)
concluded that track conditionwas of no im-
portance in the occurrence of racing injuries
to Thoroughbred horses, and that injuries in-
curred during training were believed to be
more common than those occurring during
races. According to Krook and Maylin

(1989) most injuries in Thoroughbreds are
pathological.

Effect of class of age at onset of breaking
and training. It can be supposed that horses
beginning breaking and training earlier than
their racemates were more talented and ma-
ture. They might also be sounder and more
resistant to injuries compared to the horses be-
ginning late (Bendroth 1981, Darenius et al.
1983, Saastamoinen 1991), and could thus
start earlier and race more frequently.

The influences of age at breaking and train-
ing may be overestimated because some horses
discontinued their careers after one or two rac-
ing seasons. On the other hand, some horses
whose breaking and training was started ear-
ly might have been delayed in starting to race
due to different reasons.

The practice of beginning breaking and
training at an early age has been stated to be
advantageous to the performance of the horse
(Lindholm 1988). A Standardbred foal should
be broken at 1 Vi years of age (Roneus 1987,
Lindholm 1988). Training a growing horse is
benefical to the development of its bones,
musculature, tendons, respiratory organs and
circulatory system. In addition, a negative
correlation has been observed between age and
rate of learning (Mader and Price 1980)
which, in turn, is positively correlated with
trainability (Fiske and Potter 1979).

Starting to race at an early age has been
observed to favorably influence the racing
results of young trotters (Physicksheard 1986a;
Saastamoinen and Ojala 1988). Minkema
(1975) reported that early mature horses did
not win more money during their career than
later mature horses.

490



Effect of class of instructor and trainer.
Due to the small influence of class of instruc-
tor and class of trainer, it can be assumed that
there were no differences in the training
methods among different intsructor and train-
er groups. The differences between trainer
groups in best time in three- and four-year-
old Standardbred trotters may be due to dif-
ferences in the talentand maturity of horses;
most talented and well developed horses were
driven to broken and trained by professional
trainers. Hintz and Van Vleck (1978) report-
ed a significant effect of the driver on racing
results in pacers. In Finland, many trotters
trained by owners are driven in races by
professional trainers.

Effect of sex, birth-month class and birth
year. The superiority of males to females was
in agreement with many previous studies (i.a.
Ojala 1982, Bendroth et al. 1985; Ojala

and Hellman 1987). The influence of birth
month agreed with Physicksheard (1986b)
and Saastamoinen and Ojala (1991).

The influence of birth year was slight prob-
ably because the number of consecutive birth
years was only two.

Conclusions

Young age at the onset of breaking and
training seemed to be favorably associated
with the racing performance of young trotters.
Horses whose breaking and training was start-
ed early might have been more mature, sound-
er and more resistant to injuries than other
horses. The influence of class of persons
responsible for breaking and training was mi-
nor, indicating slight differences in training
methods. The main reasons for non-starting
and poor racing performance were injuries
and ailments, bad character, lack of talent and
poor training.

The present study should be regarded as a
pilot investigation, and its results will only re-
veal trends and provide some insight into the
influencing factors due to the small and sub-
jective data set. It is also possible that the data
are selected because owners of horses with cer-
tain problems might have been more interest-
ed in responding to the questionnaire.

Acknowledgements. The author wishes to thank Prof.
Malti Ojala for critically reviewing the manuscript.

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Ms received February 28, 1991

SELOSTUS

Eraiden opetuksen ja valmennuksen
aikaisten tekijoiden vaikutus nuoren
ravihevosen kilpailutuloksiin

Markku Saastamoinen
MTTK hevoslalouden tutkimusasema,
32100 Ypaja

Ravihevosten omistajille tehdylla kyselytutkimuksella
selvitettiin syita hevosten kilpailemattomuuteen ja heik-
koon kilpailumenestykseen, seka arvioitiin eraiden ope-
tuksen ja valmennuksen aikaisten tekijoiden vaikutusta
kilpailutuloksiin. Hyvaksyttavien vastausten maara oli 796
lamminverisilla ravihevosilla ja 857 suomenhevosilla.
Lamminverisista oli kilpaillut viimeistaan viisivuotiaana
72 % ja suomenhevosista viimeistaan kuusivuotiaana
42 %. Tarkeimmat syyt kilpailemattomuuteen ja huonoon
kilpailumenestykseen olivat loukkaantumiset ja sairastelu,
huono luonne, lahjattomuus ja huono valmennus. Aikai-
sin opetukseen ja valmennukseen tulleet hevoset menes-

tyivat myohaan aloittaneita ikatovereitaan paremmin. Esi-
merkiksi lamminveriset, joilla opetus aloitettiin 1- tai
I i/2-vuotiaana olivat 2.1 sekuntia nopeampia (p<0.01)
kolmevuotiaana kuin ne, joilla opetus oli aloitettu 2- tai
3-vuotiaana. Niilla oli myos kilpailtu useammin (p<0.05).
Opetuksen ja valmennuksen suorittaneiden henkiloluok-
kien (kasvattaja, omistaja, ammattivalmentaja) valiset
erot hevosten kilpailumenestyksessa olivat pienet. Am-
mattivalmentajien opettamat ja valmentamat hevoset
nayttivat kuitenkin menestyneen kasvattajien ja omista-
jien opettamia ja valmentamia hevosia paremmin.

492