Racing
Horse racing dates as far back as the Roman times where chariot races used to take place as a form of entertainment and as a means of domination and fighting. Those that won would often be believed to be the stronger, more deserving side and that would be enough to settle whatever dispute merited the race to start with.
The principal form of racing is thoroughbred racing. This involves a round track either with fences - often known as a steeplechase - or without (flat racing). This kind of racing is heavily associated with gambling and at the events themselves it is usually possible to find several ‘bookies’ at regular junctions around the course.
Other forms of racing worldwide include harness racing (Australia and New Zealand), quarter horse racing (USA) and endurance racing (Middle East and parts of Europe). These are not as popular or well known, but recognized by the FEI nonetheless as competitive sporting events.
Different races concern different breeds of horse. Typically, the thoroughbred is seen to race moderate distances at a very fast pace. The standard bred horses therefore use their ability to race in harness at a trot or pace instead of under saddle at a gallop, using a different set of muscles and therefore having a different skill entirely whereas the quarter horse is involved in short distance sprinting. Conversely, the Arabian is involved in endurance racing, meaning it has stamina as opposed to speed.
The training, breeding and racing of horses is largely funded by its gambling culture. It is incredibly important that horses are kept fit; so many training yards have their own tracks and stable hands to assist with this job.

Breeding
Most people’s attention is focused exclusively on a horse’s performance on the racing track, with little pre-occupation concerning the breeding or blood line of the animal. In racing however, this is exceedingly important, as horses can stand to be worth a huge amount of money (thus helping the gambling culture) depending on who their parents were, how much money they won and what their ancestry looks like.
One of the primary rules of allowing a horse to race (in any kind of race) is pedigree. Any owner wishing to race their horse must ensure that the animal must have a sire and a dam who are pure bred individuals of whatever breed is racing, so that the offspring may also be pure bred.
If a horse is successful during their racing career, they will often be put up to stud when they retire (stallions). An owner who is serious about racing will pay a great deal of money to put his mare to a successful stallion because, although stallions can go on breeding throughout a season, a mare is confined to one birth a season. Therefore an owner with a successful stallion probably stands to gain more than those with successful mares. Some owners also choose to keep a colt or filly for breeding instead of putting it into racing if it has been bred from successful parents.
The National Stud http://www.nationalstud.co.uk/ is a prestigious British breeding yard dedicated to racing. For more information on racing and breeding or for your chance to visit them, please follow the link.

Tack and Rider Attire
Tack for racing is minimal. The saddles are light, often weighing less than 6 pounds, and small. The jockeys always ride with very short stirrups so that they are off the horses back and not impeding movement in any way. The size of the saddles relates to the fact that the aim of racing is to finish the course in as little time as possible, therefore the less weight a horse is carrying, the more chance they have of being able to move with speed. Saddle pads are usually slightly larger and square so that numbers can be displayed while racing.
Bridles to, are very basic. They are light and simplistic so that again, there is no alteration to the way that the horse moves. Bits are considerably less severe than you might see on cross country jumpers and nosebands are often wrapped with large, fur protectors to reduce friction on the horses face and thus prevent injury and scarring.
Jockeys characteristically wear ‘silks’, a light material so that they to are not too heavy. These are specifically decorated so that they may be recognized, and it is often easier to identify the jockey rather than the horse because of this reason. Shirts and hat covers will match and jodhpurs/breeches and boots will be of regular racing standard.

The Grand National
Perhaps the most famous race in the world, or certainly the one most people have heard of is the Grand National. The race comprises of two full circuits of a 2 ¾ mile course where competitors will be faced with 30 of the most challenging fences any horse/rider combination will ever have to jump. The most famous of these fences is fence 6 – Becher’s Brook, so named because the top jockey, Martin Becher, took shelter underneath it after coming off mid flight. Each fence on the course is jumped twice, with the exception of fences 15 and 16, the chair and the water jump.
Famous horses from these races include such legends as Red Rum, Foinavon, Aldaniti and Devon Loch. People include the Pitman family and the Duke of Albuquerque. For more information on the Grand National and its history, please click here