slim vs. medium build Standardbreds

[Zimmy]

OK, so in Track Racing I use very slender built TBs because the ones with "slim" build (usually recently crossed with a AAA or other slim breed) just don't seem to do as well.... I am convinced of this one and have spoken to other people who feel the same about their Track Racers... sooo...

Does anyone else have trouble eventing Slim built Standardbreds in Harness Racing? I swear my Medium Build Standies do pretty well, but my Slim built ones with the same training never seem to get anywhere... they still work for other events, but they don't seem to do well in Harness.

Just curious if anyone else has noticed build having an effect on Harness Racing... maybe my slim built Standies should do Jumping or Foxhunting instead?

[quasarsmom]

OK, so in Track Racing I use very slender built TBs because the ones with "slim" build (usually recently crossed with a AAA or other slim breed) just don't seem to do as well.... I am convinced of this one and have spoken to other people who feel the same about their Track Racers... sooo...

Does anyone else have trouble eventing Slim built Standardbreds in Harness Racing? I swear my Medium Build Standies do pretty well, but my Slim built ones with the same training never seem to get anywhere... they still work for other events, but they don't seem to do well in Harness.

Just curious if anyone else has noticed build having an effect on Harness Racing... maybe my slim built Standies should do Jumping or Foxhunting instead?

Yes, I have noticed this as well. This seems to also affect other horses,

Slim horses (for me) fail at Sprint racing, while Medium Heavy do well.
Draft Broncs seem to do best in events, with Medium Heavy coming in second.
Draft Ponies do better in Jousting, than Medium Heavy.

I'm sure I'm missing some others. These are the ones off the top of my head.

[Zimmy]

OK, so in Track Racing I use very slender built TBs because the ones with "slim" build (usually recently crossed with a AAA or other slim breed) just don't seem to do as well.... I am convinced of this one and have spoken to other people who feel the same about their Track Racers... sooo...

Does anyone else have trouble eventing Slim built Standardbreds in Harness Racing? I swear my Medium Build Standies do pretty well, but my Slim built ones with the same training never seem to get anywhere... they still work for other events, but they don't seem to do well in Harness.

Just curious if anyone else has noticed build having an effect on Harness Racing... maybe my slim built Standies should do Jumping or Foxhunting instead?

Yes, I have noticed this as well. This seems to also affect other horses,

Slim horses (for me) fail at Sprint racing, while Medium Heavy do well.
Draft Broncs seem to do best in events, with Medium Heavy coming in second.
Draft Ponies do better in Jousting, than Medium Heavy.

I'm sure I'm missing some others. These are the ones off the top of my head.

mmhmm, that's what I am thinking, I don't have as much trouble with different builds in Sprint Racing (although there are not usually enough events for me to do a really good side by side comparison) but I am seeing a BIG difference in my Harness Racers, and have avoided Slim built TBs for racing for a long time, although they seem to do just fine for Foxhunting and Jumping... Bronc size does seem to matter as well, but, again, few enough events that I haven't had time yet to do a great comparison, and your Draft built ponies are kicking butt in Jousting, Exmoors do well with their Phenom strength but the lower statted Haflingers and Argeios (sp?) do well with far lower strength stats, but a heavier build. I am starting to wonder to what extent build effects other types of events (maybe some not at all, but some a great deal? I have no idea, but I have become sort of fascinated with it, lol). I know that Swar recently mentioned something about build for Driving as well... so now I kinda want to play around with "size" in other events too... but it kind of sounds like a complicated task to take on alone.

[quasarsmom]

mmhmm, that's what I am thinking, I don't have as much trouble with different builds in Sprint Racing (although there are not usually enough events for me to do a really good side by side comparison) but I am seeing a BIG difference in my Harness Racers, and have avoided Slim built TBs for racing for a long time, although they seem to do just fine for Foxhunting and Jumping... Bronc size does seem to matter as well, but, again, few enough events that I haven't had time yet to do a great comparison, and your Draft built ponies are kicking butt in Jousting, Exmoors do well with their Phenom strength but the lower statted Haflingers and Argeios (sp?) do well with far lower strength stats, but a heavier build. I am starting to wonder to what extent build effects other types of events (maybe some not at all, but some a great deal? I have no idea, but I have become sort of fascinated with it, lol). I know that Swar recently mentioned something about build for Driving as well... so now I kinda want to play around with "size" in other events too... but it kind of sounds like a complicated task to take on alone.

Well, I've been keeping some notes (mental and computer) on this for a while. Well, I'm far more concerned with build than the temperament. At least for me jumping seems to favor medium to med heavy (possibly stocky, but have not ran any stocky sport jumpers, only warmbloods). I'd be more than happy to comare notes sometime, in fact I should go tally up my recent eventing stock...

[Zimmy]

mmhmm, that's what I am thinking, I don't have as much trouble with different builds in Sprint Racing (although there are not usually enough events for me to do a really good side by side comparison) but I am seeing a BIG difference in my Harness Racers, and have avoided Slim built TBs for racing for a long time, although they seem to do just fine for Foxhunting and Jumping... Bronc size does seem to matter as well, but, again, few enough events that I haven't had time yet to do a great comparison, and your Draft built ponies are kicking butt in Jousting, Exmoors do well with their Phenom strength but the lower statted Haflingers and Argeios (sp?) do well with far lower strength stats, but a heavier build. I am starting to wonder to what extent build effects other types of events (maybe some not at all, but some a great deal? I have no idea, but I have become sort of fascinated with it, lol). I know that Swar recently mentioned something about build for Driving as well... so now I kinda want to play around with "size" in other events too... but it kind of sounds like a complicated task to take on alone.

Well, I've been keeping some notes (mental and computer) on this for a while. Well, I'm far more concerned with build than the temperament. At least for me jumping seems to favor medium to med heavy (possibly stocky, but have not ran any stocky sport jumpers, only warmbloods). I'd be more than happy to comare notes sometime, in fact I should go tally up my recent eventing stock...

lol, I agree, to me this seems to have FAR more effect on things than temperment... I will start taking notes as well so that we can compare/share later. (Oh, and my Pony Express Mounts that are good at Sprinting turned out to be Medium Heavy too, lol, for some reason I was thinking they were lighter built, but nope, you were right).

[Swar]

I would have thought that there would be no difference in slim/med standies since the event is supposedly balanced between speed, strength, and endurance. However lol, all my standies have been, coincidentally, medium. Harness always seemed to me, to be a touch on the random side, so I never really paid much attention to it.

I didn't do any build experiments on them either, because the event looked balanced. But now this leads me to believe that perhaps the trial is not entirely accurate. Interesting. I do view all events as individual cases. They all have their quirks and varying degrees of hidden factors. Build may be crucial for one event, and then on another, may only have a minor effect, or be overshadowed by something more important.

Good to know

[Zimmy]

I would have thought that there would be no difference in slim/med standies since the event is supposedly balanced between speed, strength, and endurance. However lol, all my standies have been, coincidentally, medium. Harness always seemed to me, to be a touch on the random side, so I never really paid much attention to it.

I didn't do any build experiments on them either, because the event looked balanced. But now this leads me to believe that perhaps the trial is not entirely accurate. Interesting. I do view all events as individual cases. They all have their quirks and varying degrees of hidden factors. Build may be crucial for one event, and then on another, may only have a minor effect, or be overshadowed by something more important.

Good to know

I haven't been noticing it long enough to see if other people were having the same experiences is the only problem for me... makes me unsure... which is why I posted to see if anyone else had noticed it. All I know is that my Slim Built ones do so badly that they get rolled to breed (to heavier built horses) or retrained for another event entirely... It could still very well be my training... I have plans to train up another slim and a medium at the same time and try eventing them at the same time... mebbe I just lost my touch with the Harness Horses.