By Sujain Thomas
What do we understand by the term sports? The thought which comes to our mind through the term sports is games.
Sports are all forms of physical activity which involve competition as well as entertainment. Sometimes sports may be casual while at other times it is played in an organized manner. In our world, there are nearly hundreds and thousands of sports that are played all over. Cricket and football being the prime ones! Then there is tennis, basketball, swimming, hockey, rugby and much more.
There is another game which is adapted as one of the famous sports throughout the world is horse racing.
Horse racing – an ancient and popular sport
Horse racing is a horse riding sport which involves two or more horses which are ridden by their respective jockeys. The game takes place in a defined area or field which has individual tracks for individual horses. These tracks are made at a specific distance from the given area. Horse racing is one of the ancient sports in India which is mainly played to determine the fastest running horse among the entire string.
There are many aspects or points which are to be kept in mind while selecting a horse for racing.
There are various breeds of horses, but the ones that are best suited to run on the turf needs to be selected with utmost care. Most of the committees allow entry of only a few breeds of horses to the turf.
• The best-known breed that is used for racing is the thoroughbred breed. These horses are famous as “hot-blooded,” and they are mainly known for their energy, agility, and velocity. The primary purpose of using this breed is racing though sometimes they are also employed for other purposes like show jumping, polo, and fox hunting. You can get in-depth details from TVG Horse Races.
• Another breed of horses that are employed for racing is the Arabian horse. These horses were developed after breeding by the people of the Middle-East. They are mainly known for their stamina.
• The next breed is the Quarter horses. These horses are a blend of Colonial Spanish horses and English horses. They are muscular, and so they possess more strength and agility.
Talking about the types of horse racing that are mainly conducted worldwide there are a few types of horse racing that are worth mention-
• Flat competition – it is a type of race where the horse gallops between two points around an oval track.
• Jump racing – also known as steeplechasing, this kind of race involves jumping of the horses over hurdles.
• Harness racing – this requires trotting or pacing while pulling the driver in the sulky.
• Endurance racing – this type of track involves the horse running over extremely long distances, generally 25 to 50 miles.
People who take up horse racing as their passion, travel around the world watching races at various turfs. Some of the best places in the world where one can experience exciting horse races are:
Ø Lexington, Kentucky, USA
Ø Newmarket, UK
Ø Meydan Racecourse, Dubai, UAE
Ø Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, Australia
Ø Doncaster, UK
You can follow the upcoming blogs to know more about horse racing and related facts!