Why aren't racehorses getting faster?

[xpc316e]

There's an interesting thread running on why ships haven't got any faster, and it got me thinking.  Our athletes are constantly running faster, jumping higher or further, etc., but the same doesn't seem to happen with racehorses.  Record times for races seem to have been set many years ago in most cases, which seems odd given that there is a huge industry in breeding racehorses while good athletes are born by chance, not organised breeding programs.

So now that we know so much about training humans for strength and speed, and there are organised programs for breeding one very fast horse with another, why aren't they getting any faster?

[Rapples]

Breeding of racehorses is controlled by a relatively small gene pool, dating back to 2 or3 stallions I believe?

The science of breeding the fastest with the fastest, probably produced the best early on in the history of breeding?

I'm no expert, but add this to the fact that a racehorse today has exactly the same motivation as one 200 years ago, why should they run any faster.  A racehorses motivation is to be at the front, once there he is not trying to break records so why run any faster than he needs to.

[Hot Flatus]

A racehorses motivation is to be at the front

Really? I'd always assumed that horses are so thick they don't even realise it's a race. 

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

Carbon fibre has proved unsuccessful when applied to race horses.

[clarion]

Carbon fibre has proved unsuccessful when applied to race horses.

Steel is real

[Really Ancien]

There is quite a small gene pool and artificial insemination is not allowed.

Damon.

[HTFB]

I understood that running-track records were falling not because athletes were getting faster but because the tracks and shoes are. Horseshoe technology is lagging a bit.

[iakobski]

A racehorses motivation is to be at the front, once there he is not trying to break records so why run any faster than he needs to.

Yebbut, if he is not at the front he will be trying to get to the front, which would in theory mean the speed keeps going up.

Humans run faster by moving their legs faster and taking more strides per minute. This sounds obvious, but horses can't do that for physiological reasons.

Galloping horses breathe once per stride as the inflation of the lungs is linked to the shoulder muscles. For a horse to go faster it needs to take quicker strides, but that would give less time for the air to enter the lungs at a time when it needs more. The alternative would be to breed bigger horses to take longer strides, but the extra muscle mass and air required means that it does not necessarily have the same stride frequency.

[iakobski]

A racehorses motivation is to be at the front

Really? I'd always assumed that horses are so thick they don't even realise it's a race. 

Horses are a flight animal - when one runs, every other horse in the area thinks there's something chasing it, so they run too. In such a situation it would pay to be at the front - that much does not require a lot of intelligence.

[mrcharly-YHT]

This is a topic that I know far too much about, unfortunately. My father was a noted racehorse breeder and trainer in australia for decades.

There are three main reasons:

The breeding of horses is not scientific.

Technology has nothing to do with the actual racing. Shoes are unaltered, and the weights that the horses carry are controlled by the racecourse.

The training of horses is not scientific.


To improve a breed of animals, you need to carefully select and breed them over generations. Horses cost a fortune and are difficult to breed (one foal per year maximum). So people don't look 3-4 generations ahead, they just look at the current crop.

[Rapples]

Carbon fibre has proved unsuccessful when applied to race horses.

Steel is real

they have titanium shoes

[Euan Uzami]

There's an interesting thread running on why ships haven't got any faster, and it got me thinking.  Our athletes are constantly running faster, jumping higher or further, etc., but the same doesn't seem to happen with racehorses.  Record times for races seem to have been set many years ago in most cases, which seems odd given that there is a huge industry in breeding racehorses while good athletes are born by chance, not organised breeding programs.

So now that we know so much about training humans for strength and speed, and there are organised programs for breeding one very fast horse with another, why aren't they getting any faster?

athletes aren't getting thatmuch faster.
a bit, yes, but not a great deal. for instance, roger banisters 4min mile back in the sixties or whenever was a record, and there's a handful of people who can break it today, but not that big a handful, and only by a small margin of time. it's 15mph !

[longers]

There is quite a small gene pool and artificial insemination is not allowed.

Damon.

I never knew that. I just assumed it was normal practice.

[Noodley]

The Handicapper has a part to play surely.

[Jaded]

There's an interesting thread running on why ships haven't got any faster, and it got me thinking.  Our athletes are constantly running faster, jumping higher or further, etc., but the same doesn't seem to happen with racehorses.  Record times for races seem to have been set many years ago in most cases, which seems odd given that there is a huge industry in breeding racehorses while good athletes are born by chance, not organised breeding programs.

So now that we know so much about training humans for strength and speed, and there are organised programs for breeding one very fast horse with another, why aren't they getting any faster?

athletes aren't getting thatmuch faster.
a bit, yes, but not a great deal. for instance, roger banisters 4min mile back in the sixties or whenever was a record, and there's a handful of people who can break it today, but not that big a handful, and only by a small margin of time. it's 15mph !

There was only one person that could break it back then. Now there are loads.  Since then there has been a 7% reduction in the record, which is quite significant. Every time the graph looks like it is stagnating along comes a superb performance.

World record progression for the mile run - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[noisycrank]

The gene pool for athletes has expanded quite a lot since the 1950s. Nutrition in many parts of the world has improved significantly. Travel times to events have reduced and for better or worse professionalism has made athletics a more viable career option than it once was.

The same donsn't really apply to racehorses which is mostly a closed shop more akin to Formula 1.

[Pingu]

Are human records changing that much?

Perfect athlete's 100m sprint time calculated - life - 28 November 2008 - New Scientist

[SteveC]

In an odd way, there's no pressure to go faster.
A horse race is about winning that race -- you don't get any more prize money for breaking a record and all the betting is on winning, not the speed.  This means that, from the trainer's point of view a horse that can just win is best.  And one (or a jockey) that will only use exactly the right amount of effort to win is the ideal.  Trainers can get worried about horses which try too hard -- they use up more energy than they have to so take longer to recover for the next race.

(or so I once heard on the radio)

S

[rower40]

'Cos they're going by ship.

IGMC.

[Dave]

I think there are three things

1 Genetics. There wasn't/isn't much variation in the thoroughbred genepool to start with. Humans have a much wider genepool to select from.

2 Physiology. Unlike humans, breathing in horses is connected to the movement of their legs, so there are some mechanical limits involved.

3 Technology. A racecourse today is pretty much the same strip of grass it was 200 years ago. A running track today isn't even the same as it was 20 years ago.

I'm not sure I buy the "psychology" argument. I'll bet human runners 200 years ago were running as fast as they could, same as they are today. And there were huge prizes available for breaking records even then.

[xpc316e]

Well, I never knew of that stride/breathing frequency/length of stride connection.  Therefore, one person has ended up being a little less ignorant than before - thanks.