Horse Racing Handicapping Angle Horses That Fade Now Going …

One of my favorite horse racing angles seems to defy logic.  In the world of betting on horse races and finding value in your wagers, however, you’ll find that if something is logical and seems to make a lot of sense, it is usually over bet.  When something is over bet, it means that the crowd has latched onto some piece of conventional wisdom and hammered so that even if the horse wins, it is a lousy bet over the long run.

An example of one of these horse racing “isms” that everybody and his brother seems to know is “Lone Early Speed in the Race.”  I’ll bet that as soon as you read that phrase you knew exactly what I was talking about.  It is one of those situations handicappers look for where only one horse has early speed and will easily make the top and win the race.  Everybody knows about it and when it occurs, it is usually bet down below fair value odds.

Fair value odds simply means that if you bet a horse under those conditions at those odds ten times you will lose money in the long run.  Let’s say you spend $10 per race for a total of $100, but the payoffs are so low that you only take back $90, you’ve lost money despite cashing tickets.  That is an example of a horse below fair value odds.

Sometimes you have to either sit a race out or go against the wisdom of the crowd.  Cases where you sit races out are typically where you don’t have a strong opinion about a horse and therefore don’t want to risk money on any of the runners.  Here is a bit of conventional horse racing handicapping wisdom that is still good no matter how many people know it, call it a principle of wagering.  If you don’t have a strong opinion about a race, don’t bet the race.

One bit of conventional wisdom that you can cash in on if you have the courage to go against the crowd and what seems to be common sense is the horse who faded in a race that is shorter than today’s event.  An example would be a horse who took the lead at the half mile marker in a $5,000 claiming event at six furlongs who is now in a $5,000 claiming race at a mile.  Obviously, if he couldn’t go three quarters of a mile without fading he certainly won’t be able to get a mile, right?  Well maybe, but not necessarily.

The problem is pace and how he handled it in the last race and what the pace of the race may be today.  If this is a horse that needs to settle and run off the pace and gradually make his move he may have expended too much energy in the earlier stages of that sprint and consequently burned himself out.  In a longer race where the pace may actually be slower and he may have time to get his stride and run his own race, that fader may actually hold on.  

Many people will be shaking their heads after the race when that type of horse wins, but if you’ve looked at the pace and determined the horse was used hard in the early part of that race and therefore compromised his chances of winning, you’ll be heading for the windows to cash your ticket.  Don’t just assume that a horse that faded in its last race can’t go a longer distance and be competitive.  Always look at the pace scenario of the race that any horse faded in and then make your decision about its chances today, no matter what the distance.

Author Box
Bill Peterson has 1 articles online

If you want to learn how a horse owner and insider handicaps just go to http://williewins.homestead.com/truecb.html and get the truth. Bill Peterson is a former horse race owner and professional handicapper. To see all Bill’s horse racing material go to Horse Racing Handicapping, Bill’s handicapping store.

Following Trends in Horse Racing Handicapping or Knowing When …

Perhaps you’ve had this experience when handicapping horse races.  You start out with a plan to pick winners in a certain way and develop your own little method.  It starts to show promise and then starts going sour on you.  You started out by winning a little or perhaps even a lot, but then you watch your winnings dissolving and even start to lose money.  You wonder if you should stop or if the method you were using will start working again.  Does this scenario resonate with you?

One of the most common responses you’ll get when you ask a horse player how he or she is doing is, “Up and down.”  Gambling on horses is a roller coaster ride, both financially and emotionally.  The problem is that it is hard to tell if you’re winning or losing at the moment.  One way to solve this problem is to work in modules.  You can set aside your next twenty bets as a module, for instance and just keep track of them and see if you make money.

Whatever the length of the module happens to be, if you continue using the same criteria and start to have a history of modules to look at, you may be able to determine if you’re really winning or losing.  It may also teach you other things about your career as a horse player.  If you find twenty races too cumbersome, you can always use fewer races.

The same method may be applied to the race results at your favorite track.  You can use it to spot trends and those trends may be the very reason you are losing that money back.  Just be careful when looking at trends or setting up modules that you don’t start over reacting to normal fluctuations.  Knee jerk reactions will set you on a course of chasing the normal aberrations in statistics as though they were a long term pattern.

On the other hand, if you see that in your last three modules over a two week period a certain factor, say early speed, has lost a lot of its clout, you may be able to change your method slightly to account for that.  Weighting factors formally or informally, depending upon how rigid your guidelines may be, will adjust your method of picking winners according to changes in the track as well as the changes in the horses themselves.

One example of this adjustment process if the natural maturing of horses that occurs every year, but gets little notice by the bettors.  I’m talking about how a horse that is three weeks away from becoming a four year old is considered a three year old, even though it is nearly a year older and about to be considered a four year old.  While stewards make weight allowances and adjustments throughout the year as the horses mature, how many of the bettors won’t bet a three year old against older horses, even when it is just weeks or even days away from becoming a four year old?

If your modules show more and more three year olds beating four year olds, it is just because they are maturing and learning how to race as they also become stronger.  How many other trends do you think you could spot if you had a month or two of modules to compare?

Author Box
Bill Peterson has 1 articles online

If you want to learn how a horse owner and insider handicaps just go to http://williewins.homestead.com/truecb.html and get the truth. Bill Peterson is a former horse race owner and professional handicapper. To see all Bill’s horse racing material go to Horse Racing Handicapping, Bill’s handicapping store.

Raising New Born Baby Foals

Raising new born baby horses can be a nice experience, but don’t let the excitement fool you into raising a brat. Remember that that small foal would shortly be as big as or even bigger than her mom. And if you treat her the way you’d do your pet dog, you’d inevitably raise a hard-headed pain in the neck. A horse like that isn’t fit for riding, much less equestrian sport.

Baby horses are naturally not ready for horse riding or coaching for sport (though you can teach her to load or something similar). Consider what human babies do most of the time till they are ready for school: they play. Let your foal horse around with other fillies and colts her age range. If you can, take some time to watch her within a herd. If she gets too rowdy, her dam or some other aged herd member would give her a horse spanking to sort her out. Not only is she learning who are playmates, also she is learning who are leaders. Clearly, though you can be a playmate occasionally it’s smart though to establish yourself as her leader.

This means teaching her when you are serious and establishing your leadership authority. The most effective way to do so is with reins or bridles. Without them, it’s play time. When they’re on, she better not play around. It’s fine to reprimand her on your own way, just be gentler—she is a baby after all. Try early training with mom around, and eventually teach her away from mom to develop uniqueness and a sense of being a separate horse away from her dam she might instead be dependent on. In the wild they naturally come to an age where they become self dependent. In captivity, you must guarantee this pattern is followed, because they will be together in pens and enclosures almost all of the time—dam and filly.

Observing the young foal as she grows would provide hints when she is of age for further stages of training. If you believe she is , always apply lessons in moderation, and be twice as patient as you would on other horses. Do not use lessons that are physically demanding or mentally taxing—she’s still developing her muscles and her brain. Pushing too hard on the lessons may cause irreversible damage to essential body parts of your foal.

But let’s go back for a second. Lots of folks take horse riding for a casual activity, while some owners intend for their horses to join equestrian events. Either way, almost all of the time a newly born foal which they’re going to raise into maturity on their own is a rarity. And due to that, and because the thing can be terribly cute, first time breeders tend to treat it too loosely. As fast as evidence of stubbornness or insubordination arise, nip it at the bud. You wouldn’t need her taking such practices to adulthood—a 900 pound stomping, kicking, biting pony that will hardly be contained much less trained.

Horses are Heather Toms’ passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100’s of articles with other horse lovers… like all things about cheap horse rugs

How To Profit From Your Pony Expertise

Many an equestrian first wanted her own pony for leisurely horse riding or modest sport and then found herself starting a barn and a business. And irrespective of what kind of equine related business she puts up, she’ll unavoidably need to market her services and products. How do you go about marketing horses?

Apply target selling. In simpler words, know who possible customers are and target them. As an example, if you are an equestrian coach, then owners of untrained horses need your services—market to them. This is an vital component of selling any business: knowing who to sell to.

When you work out who your possible clients are, the next thing to work out is the easiest way to reach out to them. In the old days an equestrian had to attend shows and competitions simply to have exposure to pony owners and lovers to pitch to. Today though, there are a lot of horse related sites on the web. Frequent these sites (and shows) and work out what your market is like.

When the analysis is done, go ahead and pitch incorporating what you have researched about your target market. You know where they are and what they’re like, so advertise where they often hang out and use adverts that you know would turn their heads.

Now that might be easier said than done. Of course , you’re an equestrian, not a sales person. You would probably do better training a horse for the first time in dressage than you would writing an advertisement the first time. But all you need to concentrate on is the way to reach out to your target market efficiently. Just add a bit of creativity and passion to what you already know about your goods and services and why your target audience should pick your special goods and services. One good point is to be specific and sell the advantages of features: like when selling a mare, don’t just cite her breed, color, and personality, try sharpening it up with accolades, sport accomplishments (if she’s been in dressage competition, your target audience would likely want to know), and any other appropriate provoking facts about her.

Now the equestrian next to you will likely incorporate the same ideas, so set yourself apart. One way of doing so is by giving away something free. Nothing too fancy as that would disadvantage you as a businesswoman; try simple stuff like a day where you let prospective clients take a look at your barn and facilities, if say, you are advertising a boarding facility. If you’ve got the resources, you can try grander stuff like sponsoring a horse riding clinic.

Now promoting doesn’t end with the advertisements and promotionals, it continues with the services or products you provide. Why? Because word of mouth can boost or burn your business, so you would like folk who have had business with you to only say pleasant things about you. It is true that almost 8 out of 10 people would tell people they know about a bad experience dealing with a business, but only 3 out of 10 would proactively tell their pals and acquaintances about good dealings with a business. Take advantage of those 3, rather than getting bad vibes out of those 8.

Horses are Heather Toms’ passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100’s of articles with other horse lovers… like all things about horse rugs.

Horse Coaching Success Comes From Pressure

There are numerous facets of humans that are similar to horses. Among the more notable similarities: we both need camaraderie and fellowship to survive. Horses are herd animals, people are political animals. The core of both natures is that an individual horse or human will always need another of his kind to go on. Another notable parallelism between the two species is that when in a required form of fellowship, an individual horse or human is the subject of pressure. When several minds mingle and share similar space, pressure is inescapable.

Extend this parallelism a bit more, and you can see how pressure, though often having negative connotations, can become a positive driving force too. Some people excel under pressure—using the typically undesirable force to compel them to perform at heightened standards. This is also applicable to horses. Implement some type of pressure in your training and your mare would better and quicker understand her lessons. Though there are limits to using pressure as a training tool.

What does a person do when he constantly experiences pressure at work? He quits his job—or his health becomes undermined. He either escapes the pressure or loses to it. Again, this human condition parallels horses. Apply too much pressure, and your mare would start to go looking for avenues of escape. The flight reaction springs to mind. Well, you’re fortunate if your mare chooses the flight reaction over the fight reaction, in fact. But occasionally a trainer would ignorantly force his steed to the final resort of fighting back to escape the pressure. Horses trained under regimens of unceasing punishment, cruel pressures, and those based totally on fear and force are not fit for horse riding or other higher equestrian sport. They can only be a potential danger to themselves and their riders.

A mare only becomes really fit for riding if she establishes a relationship of mutual trust and confidence with her rider. This relationship must be rooted in her coaching.

Don’t be fooled though; as mentioned earlier, pressure is integral in training and lessons. Dressage and likewise all high level equestrian sports need firm training and compelling pressures. The key is in always knowing the resistance brink of your mare—just how much pressure she can take before she goes searching for a way to be rid of the source of pressure.

As such, it is clear that lessons that can benefit from using pressure positively are most advisable. And pressure is best utilized in acceptable levels. This implies that lessons should be broken down to smaller parts in such a way that the pressure asked for in each part serves to force the pony to learn faster instead of causing her to escape the situation. Of course, the release from the pressure and the corresponding rewards for proper or correct responses build on this idea and help improve a lesson in which these are incorporated. These serve as the small holiday getaways from the little pressures horses are subjected to in training.

Horses are Heather Toms’ passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100’s of articles with other horse lovers… like all things about horse rugs.

Natural Soothing Remedies For The Nervous Horse

Your reliable steed could be a safe mount during horse riding ventures, but may actually be a twitchy wreck in an equestrian sport or before a physically taxing activity. These are some natural remedies for the anxiety you need to use on her to help calm her down.

Homeopathic Chamomile “Okay, so chamomile is pretty familiar, what about homeopathic? A homeopathic remedy is one that embraces homeopathy, an alternative cure with base elements embedded in administering minute amounts of a substance to ease symptoms it could cause in larger treatments. Basically, bigger measures of this substance in a healthy pony would cause it to be nervous—but when your mare is already agitatedly nervous, small doses of this can help her out. While this treament does not always calm the pony down, it does restore her brainwaves to a balance that can permit her to think rationally. This cure is generally available at health food stores.

Herbs for adrenal support “This is a pretty new concoction of four herbs that support the adrenal system of a horse so helping her to relax. This fusion of adrenal support herbs can help a mare unwind before new training, her first pony riding session in unfamiliar territory, and can help unwind COPD or heaves symptoms within 30 minutes to 45 minutes. This herb combination can be fed on an everyday basis or for swift relief of anxiousness and similar symptoms.

Probiotics “Probiotics are the good bacteria that flourish in an animal’s stomach—even humans have good bacteria. In horses, probiotics include bifidus and acidophilus. The favorable effect of probiotics in horses is that they produce B12, and the B vitamins, especially B12, have a natural relaxing effect. Mixing in whole food supplements loaded in probiotics before an equestrian event or a long pony riding trek in unfamiliar environs would help shed any upsetting reactions.

Equilite Feed Supplements “Commercial yes, but natural too. Equilite’s Relax and RelaxHer Blend of feed supplements are Valerian-free, natural herb additions that can be fed on a day-to-day basis or during equestrian events, which makes them real handy in an emergency medical kit.

Blue-green Algae, without the cell walls “O.K, this one is rather more scientific: blue green algae which has been specially processed and had their cell walls removed is good for your horses because the substances left—the pure core of the algae cells—are easily absorbed by the horses ‘ brains. This implies the anxiety is dealt with from the center of the studs ‘ and mares ‘ nerve systems, and the nutrient elements permeate the brain where not many nutriments reach due to the pony brain-blood barrier. This barrier is a wall that separates circulating blood from cerebral spinal liquid in efforts to keep invading damaging bacteria and the like out of the steed’s brain; sadly, it also keeps away the cool stuff like vitamins and nutrients. Best of all, specifically treated algae is legal for pony shows and competition.

Unless expressly said you’ll have to check with your equestrian sport authority if these substances are legal in shows and competition, and not all horses react the same way to some of them.

Horses are Heather Toms’ passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100’s of articles with other horse lovers… like all things about cheap horse rugs

How To Rid Your Horses Of Ear Shyness

Ever try to clean a new horse’s ears? Just as folks have sensitive parts of their bodies, horses have parts they would not easily let you touch. The difficulty is, when putting a horse thru equestrian training—or even though you simply wish to rear the horse and not make him go thru equestrian training—you’ll also need to look after her health and overall welfare. This comprises cleaning and applying medications and ointments on spots she could be too shy to let you touch—like her ears.

During your equestrian coaching regime you’ll discover that you have got to apply 3 things in order to teach your horse whatever it is you want her to learn: Restraint, Reward, and Repetition. Actually as early as now, when you’re only acclimatizing your horse to her new environment and what’s to become her regular routines for holistic care, you already need to apply these three ideas.

For the most part, your horse will not let you touch her ears because she’s innately wary of you hurting her. The key to making her comfortable with such routines as cleaning the inside and outside of her ears is to let her know that you are not going to hurt her. To be well placed to do that, you both must be in a safe enclosure where you can work on her ears. Start by placing your hand on a part of her face she permits you to touch. If you have been into horse riding for a long while now, you ought to know which parts are OK and which would simply make her turn away from you. Stroke her face in a manner that naturally brings your hands close to her ears. Your action would then transition into a stroke that goes past her ears. You’ll notice the slightest touch can make her move her head and her ears away. So on your part; you need to brush your hand over her ears quick enough such that you move your hand away before she can react. Do this frequently until you believe that you can do it slower and slower still until she understands that you’re not going to harm her or her ears.

Then you will need to concentrate on doing just about the same only this time you want to touch the exterior of her ears, beginning from the tips. Then work your way to the inside of her ears. Eventually, you must make her comfortable to the feeling of both of your hands really firmly but gently holding her ears and touching its insides.

The restraint, reward, and repetition cycle is always at work when you do this—restrain her gently if she moves away and put her back to the first position she moved away from, reward her every correct response (in this case, each time she does not move away) by praising her, and repeat the process until she feels the entire routine is safe, and eventually, to be expected. Also, do not expect that you can just walk up to your horse and grab her ear the next day—you’ll need several days or even up to a week of this to make her feel totally comfortable with it.

Before you introduce a new horse to the fundamentals of equestrian coaching or horse riding, you must ensure she’s kept healthy and well. And even before that, you want to let her know she doesn’t need to move away from you whatever part of her that requires cleaning or tending to.

Horses are Heather Toms’ passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100’s of articles with other horse lovers… like all things about stable rugs

How To De-worm Your Horses

While a few different parasites are the standard dwellers in the guts of your horses, there should be levels to your tolerance of them. As an equestrian, it’s your job to keep your horses healthy and parasite-free as they can be. The particular deworming process though, can be challenging. Sure it’s reasonably straightforward to make your own deworming schedule based primarily on your unique circumstances, but making your horses follow this schedule can be hard. Different studs and mares have different temperaments and thus different reactions to the process. Some could be lenient, but there are always those steeds that simply can’t make it simple for you.

In the old days when there were not any commercial dewormers you can easily purchase from a local feed or tack shop, there were an array of interesting ingredients included in special deworming mixtures. Think tobacco and wood ash. Engaging, sure. But while their efficacy in combating small and large strongyles, abdominal threadworms, ascarids, and a bunch of other dangerous parasites are at best moot, what harm they can potentially cause the fitness of a horse can be quite worrying. At last, horse riding and coaching became widespread enough to deserve the development of deworming agents, though the 1st ones made were crude and had miles away from the virility of today’s agents.

Those early horse deworming agents could control only a small number of parasites, and had some unpleasant side-effects. Some weren’t powerful enough to deal a crippling blow to parasite thriving and so the bugs they hoped to keep under check simply grew resistant to their effects. But maybe the worst side of the early sorts of agents was how they were administered “through ungodly tools like stomach tubes, balling guns, and metal syringes. Due to the methods with which these agents were administered, the everyday equestrian wasn’t sufficiently skilled to perform the procedure. A vet or in a similar fashion talented specialist would perform it.

Perhaps due to the great inconvenience of having a professional come over every time a deworming session needs to be undertaken, formulas for deworming agents that could be stirred into horse feed came about. But then horses got evil too “they ate everything but the agents, and those that don’t finish their meals fundamentally were left at a disadvantage. And then of course the start of paste dewormers “reliable, simply administered, and has effects on a big selection of known parasites. But still, some horses just can’t make it easy for their equestrian owners and trainers.

An easy approach of depositing the agent directly onto the tongue of the horse while holding her head horizontal until she swallows it customarily does the job. But when she starts horsing around, don’t fight and force the dewormer into her mouth. Play round the areas of her mouth until she eventually accepts the syringe. Even horses not yet trained for basic horse riding should be dewormed “steeds as young as five weeks can be trained to be dewormed. But before you set up a deworming regime, always consult a veterinarian for correct guidance.

Horses are Heather Toms ‘ passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge thru her 100’s of articles with other horse lovers like all things about horse rugs .

Effective Horse Coaching Aids

There are many tools an equestrian can use when coaching horses for various sport and activities, and dependent on what the training is for, the prerequisite for more effective tools and more effective use of the tools is made more relevant. As an example, the bridles and ropes used in horse riding coaching would be insufficient when teaching a pony dressage maneuvers. There are several aids that help not only in training but also in the activity the steeds were trained for, and as a skilled coach and rider would know, getting well acquainted with them and their uses is essential.

With modern methods of pony coaching, there are natural and artificial aids. The natural aids are mostly parts of the human body, such as the feet, legs, and hands, and even the voice. Artificial aids are everything else—from the ropes to the bridle to the bit and everything in between. When you consider it, all aids and even horse riding and training itself is artificial, as horses weren’t planned to be tamed and trained. But as far as latest views go, all bodily members and aids are natural. There are corresponding ideas of dangers and risks to using artificial aids as they may sow fear and cause negative reactions from horses, but that’s all just hype. Even natural aids, when used badly, can beget unfavourable responses from horses and even sow fear instead of respect. It’s all about using the aids properly.

One major benefit of natural aids though, is that they are always freely available, what with being human body parts and all. But again, it’s all in the use. And when it comes to pony riding and coaching, particularly for sport as exacting as dressage, the right use of a mix of artificial and natural aids is best.

The secret to making the most out of natural aids is that everything should be coordinated. Cues shouldn’t come from your voice commands alone or from established motions of certain limbs. Don’t simply utilise a command and your arms or your legs and feet, always include your back and especially your seat when giving cues. For example, an ideal way to use a coordinated effort of natural aids with the assistance of artificial aids to make a pony slow down would start with the rider bracing his back. This drives the mount into the bridle, and from there the hands can cue the horse to decelerate. A fluid and nearly effortless motion from the back to the bridle to the hands—almost imperceptible and only slightly noticeable—that’s how well body motion used together with artificial aids can influence and command a pony.

Natural aids are usually quite handy, as besides from always being available they’re simple to manipulate and so straightforward to control. But even something as apparently harsh as a whip, when used at the right times in appropriate measure, can be of immense help not just in pony riding, but in coaching for equestrian sport or activity. And combining their usability with natural aids is the way to go.

Horses are Heather Toms’ passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100’s of articles with other horse lovers… like all things about horse rugs.

Ponies And Hay

Winter is at hand , and the hay makers are making hay while the sun shines. I should stock up on hay for my horses for the winter, and am finding out the hard way, like lots of folks with horses, that hay has shot up in price and shot down in quality. Horse owners have to use supplements with even top quality hay. When we were getting hay at 2 or 3 bucks a bale, we did not feel it was any kind of strain to pay for the supplements too. Now, when hay has hit exorbitant dollars per bale and appears to have hit the very bottom in quality, we feel the pressure. We are indignant that at a price this high the hay quality is so poor; we might have anticipated the best hay for the way that we are being scalped.

It appears that high quality hay has just about disappeared from the market. Farming methods nowadays involve repeated use of chemical-based herbicides and fertilizers through the year. While this improves harvest volumes, it does not do much for the purity of things.

Chemicals have an adverse effect on the natural bacteria and fungi that soil contains. In its natural state, arable soil is loaded in necessary minerals, other plant nutriments and water content. Better water means better grass and crop expansion, better expansion reduces chance of drought. Compost and other nature-based fertilizing agents sustain the healthy ecosystems of soil. They support natural cycles and keep soil continually recharged. In reality, chemical fertilizer is needless for fruitful soil that is moved regularly. Organic farming can be costly at the initial stages in comparison to chemicals-based farming, but pretty soon, it works out much less expensive as it maintains soil fertility and increases yield.

Each time we pay hay merchants top dollar for bottom hay, we are encouraging hay farmers to adhere to their chemical-based methods and ignore natural farming. What we should do is follow the example of cattlemen: they do not accept hay that has not been tested for quality and passed. This way, competition in the hay supply market will increase, and increased competition often means good news for the customer. If your hay purchases aren’t so bulky as to justify testing, you must encourage your provider to get tests conducted on hay in his stock. You could also ask the hay grower to get a test done. Reputed laboratories like Equi-Analytical do comprehensive hay tests for charges not exceeding $75. If your current hay provider acts hard, ditch him and get another one. Get all of your horse owning friends to crack down on bad quality hay. Success in your activities to get consistent top of the range hay can be done only if the effort is sustained by each purchaser. Success comes with determination.

So long as you are feeding your horses bad quality hay, you will need to supplement the hay with other feed of high nutritional value. Digestive enzymes and probiotics should represent part of your horses ‘ regular diet. I find performance horses thrive on Simplexity Health’s Essentials and horses for pleasure do well on APA, also from Simplexity Health. Probiotics like KLPP and Pro-Bi are also really useful for horse’s hind stomach digestion. They’re really desirable supplements to feed your horses when they don’t seem to be getting the best hay.

Horses are Heather Toms’ passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100’s of articles with other horse lovers… like all things about stable rugs