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BREATHING IN RACE HORSES i English Expert Advances Novel Theory of Equine Lung Inflation t 1 Horses Respiration Not Like Humans 1 Animal Tills His Lungs and Then Docs Not Itcinflate Until Air Is Exhausted. 1 t The English expert, A. Shortcliffe, writing J in the London Sportsman, contends that a thorough study of horse breathing on the I part of trainers and jockeys would revolu-tionize racing. The article is reprinted be- low : If there is one characteristic which over- shadows all others in racing men it is their ready acceptance of the superficial and obvious in everything connected with race riding. IS very incident of a race, every condition of a horse in relation to racing, has its stereotyped formula of explanation. If a horse does not realize expectations an im- mediate half dozen neatly turned and time- wcrn phrases are glibly accepted as cxplana- , tion, and when a horse wins a similar series of formulae gush forth from satisfied patrons, either to account for the failure of the beaten or the success of their own. The same terms have been in use since horses were first put to race, and most or all are based on fallacies. It is doubtful if many trainers or owners can be found to i have really studied the scientific principles on which the running of a horse in a race depends. If they would do so they would be surprised at the success which would follow, and some of the unaccountable running of the present day would receive explanation. ! In fact, many of the so-called cases of "crooked running" are just as inexplicable to owner and trainer as to everyone else. But many would not be inexplicable if all the facts in the light of real knowledge were examined. ntACTICE BASED OX FALLACY. Space in this article will not allow of discussion of any but one factor, namely, the aeration of the horses lungs. With the characteristic impulsiveness of mankind in general it seems to have been hastily concluded i that the physiology of the horses muscles i and lungs during a race acts in the same j way as in ourselves. Races arc run, instructions are given to jockeys and explanations after the race are based on this fallacy. Let me put the facts baldly and briefly, j When a man is running he breathes continuously and in increasing strength and speed, j If he holds his breath for a second he inev-; : itably prejudices his chance. To breathe continuously and with ease is imperative, j I This we all know from experience. More- j I over, we find our muscles even when our J breathing is. perfect become fatigued and ! less effective as we pursue the exercise, j ! Now, in neither of these fundamental facts : j are horses similar to ourselves. To take the muscle fatigue first, it is probably certain that horses do not suffer any fatigue cr muscle pain when run over any of the distances usual in present-day racing. AVe are left, therefore, with the fact that the breathing is the vital factor in the galloping horse. There, again, our human analogy is wrong. DOES NOT BREATHE" CONTINUOUSLY. A horse does not breathe continuously and regularly while galloping. In fact, it does not breathe at all. By that is meant that a horse does not reinflate its lungs in the continuous and imperative manner we adopt ourselves. The process in the horse is to fill the lungs to their greatest capacity at the very commencement of the gallop and then not to reinflate until this lungful is exhausted. The horse has been evolved to do this in adaptation to the great speed of the gallop at which normal and regular intake of air is impossible. We see immediately how important this factor is and how far-reaching are its effects, especially when we try to make a horse carry out a race on our own method ; of breathing. A horse can only gallop so: long as its lungs are charged with air, and it cannot refill them at the gallop. The question arises as to how long this supply will last. This depends not on distance of ground covered nor on rate of speed, but on duration of time. No exact or vouched figures can be given, but it is probably certain the extreme time a horse can gallop at high speed on a level track on the one deep inspiration he took at the start of a race is that time taken on the average to cover a little more than nine furlongs. If gradients are galloped over, the necessity for reinflation comes very much earlier, and it also follows that, a "waiting" race run at a false time will- cause a horse to need reinflation of its lungs before anything like nine furlongs have been covered. It is always to be Temembered that time is the factor, not speed or distance. That is why it is usually observed that a horse is more exhausted much to the astonishment of everyone concerned after a slow-run race than one run at breakneck speed. It follows from what has been said of muscle fatigue that if a horse can reinflate its lungs during a race it becomes again as fresh as it was at the starting post; in fact, the horso makes a fresh starting post at . the point it refilled its limgs. Thus in slow-run races, where the so-called "wait and one final dash" policy is adopted, the animal which wins is the one which has managed .o to evade the pulling and annoyance of the jockey as to refill its lungs. When a horse in sprint races is seen "to come from the clouds" and finish "as fresh as a daisy," this is what has happened. The horso has in actual fact made a starting post an eighth from home with a well-filled lung. But five-eighths races are usually run at a speed throughout which forbids reinflation, and this is one reason why placings and form are perhaps a little more reliable in these races. In the longer races of one and a half miles or more fast or slow tactics do not affect the result so much, as these races obviously cannot be run without reinflation by all the horses concerned. Again, it is often observed that a horse guilty of what appears i t 1 1 1 J I , i ! i i j j j : j I j I J ! j ! : j a vicious act during a race, necessitating a temporary stoppage, very often wins in spite of the lost ground. This action on the part of the horse, looking very much like an attempt to kick, and resulting in vigorous tactics by the jockey, is nothing more than a very determined effort by the horse to refill its lungs, with results which surprise everybody. But if. instead of allowing lung inflation to be an accident, jockeys would make it a deliberate action the results would be surprising. If is very likely that the success of some of the great jockeys of the past and present time is due to an empirical use of the tactics of reinflation. They, perhaps, cannot explain the reason for their action, but constant trial and error have led them to adopt a certain "knack" or habit of easing their horses and so bringing about reinflation. By allowing this process of refilling the lungs to go on at the proper time a horse may be galloped for two miles or more, and yet finish with amazing speed and quite undistressed. This has often been observed. It is certainly very unlikely to be due to any forethought on the part of the jockey, but rather to a combination of circumstances, which has allowed reinflation at the precise moments to gain a maximum effect. This method of breathing which the galloping horse adopts is the main factor determining the staying power of the animal. Naturally, horses vary considerably in their lung capacity, their power of filling at the start of a race without undue disadvantage. The capability of a horse to gallop over long distances that is, its staying power does not primarily depend on muscularity, but on the above-named factors. DISTAXCES AXD HORSES. Many horses even can only go about five-eighths or three-quarters when run at high speed throughout, their lung capacity not being equal to the time of a slow run race. But .many horses can get up to a mile and a quarter without reinflation if they are allowed to take the race at their own speed that is, at one "buret." But with most horses it seems to be unfortunately the case that the distance they are run over is not the natural or best one indicated by their natural capabilities. It apparently seams to be accepted that by a course of training a sprinter can be made into a long-distance horse; in fact, that the horse can be molded to run over any distance its connections decide to indulge in. How many thousands of good horses have been ruined by this process; only those concerned can know. The fact is that it is probable that a horses lung capacity and associated factors can be increased very little, if at all, by training. Efforts :o increase a horses distance by training lead to a ruined horse and one perhaps whose confidence and temper have been spoiled to such an extent even as to make it worthless over its previous best distance. The only way a non-stayer can be raced over a longer distance is to find its reinflation time and then during the race jto ease up and allow this process to go on. Of course, they must be allowed to run their race in full-speed "bursts" and not "waited" with, as is often the case nowa-j days. Several classic examples of the at-i tempt to turn a "miler" into a "cup" horse which met with failure spring to the mind, and many examples of non-stayers winning long-distance races in the hands of certain jockeys could be quoted. But enough has been said to indicate the chief principle underlying the capabilities of the galloping horse, and there can be little doubt that a proper attention to the "lung capacity" sind reinflation time by trainers; jockeys an I owners would result in a more scientific management.
