Racehorses must breathe efficiently to win. Here's how to find such a horse. The difference between a champion and a claimer is often less than 5% in ability. Many times that 5% difference lies in the way a horse breathes while racing. Straight legs and good conformation aren't enough. A champion must have a low oxygen demand and a superior oxygen delivery system, or good airflow. Dr. W. Robert Cook is the recognized authority on how horses breathe. He pioneered research into the connection between breathing and racing performance. In his book, Specifications for Speed in the Racehorse: The Airflow Factors, Dr. Cook explains how you can conduct your own airflow evaluation to detect and avoid the conditions horsemen describe as "flipped its palate," "ran out of gas," "bled," "choked up," "had a lazy flapper," "couldn't breathe," etc.

Specifications for Speed in the Racehorse: The Airflow Factors

Science & Math

Cook, W. Robert

Technology

Russell Meerdink Co

Reschooling the Thoroughbred

Menasha, Wisconsin: Russell Meerdink Company, 1991. Updated Edition, Hardbound, about 9.25 inches tall, 188 pages. Appendices, index. Includes several black and white photo illustrations. This was originally published in 1966.

Pittenger, Peggy Jett

B. Vijay, a noted pedigree expert, has written this guide to bloodstock breeding in simple, easy-to-understand language. He describes the five-step process of rating stallions and how to to determine whether a stallion is rated "Classic," "Border-line-classic" or something less. You will learn the theories of inbreeding, outcrossing, dosage and the "international outbred." The Science of Bloodstock Breeding explains the many theories of breeding Thoroughbreds. It tells why much of what you hear and read about breeding is really fiction not fact. It is a nuts-and-bolts type of book that explains what it takes to breed a winner.

The Science of Bloodstock Breeding

Crafts, Hobbies & Home

Vijay, B.

Pets & Animal Care

The Complete Guide to Claiming Thoroughbreds

Ivers, Tom

The training secrets of Hall-of-Fame trainer, Preston Burch, are once again available in his classic book, Training Thoroughbred Horses. In it he explains how to select, train and campaign horses of all aptitudes to become tough, competitive winners. Burch will teach you how to select yearlings with potential, break and train impressionable young horses, select training regimens to condition horses as individuals, select races which will improve the horse, and how to pick the jockey which is best suited for the animal. You will learn how to feed simple rations that turn into strength and stamina, manage your racing stable so horses remain calm yet fit and how to win more races by understanding the condition book.

Training Thoroughbred Horses

Burch, Preston M.

Bower, Alex

Joe Taylor knows what it takes to breed and raise champions - both Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds. For 40 years, he managed the world famous Gainesway Farm in Lexington, KY. He's been associated with winners of the Kentucky Derby, Breeders' Cup, Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Hambletonian and the Kentucky Futurity. Joe Taylor knows that a horse's chance to become a champion starts long before it goes to the track. It begins with the breeding, the care given to his sire and dam, the quality of the grass on which he grazes, the care and training received as a foal and the environment in which it is raised. Neglect any of these things and the horse will never see the winner's circle. Joe Taylor's Complete Guide to Breeding and Raising Racehorses tells you how to select the best land for your farm and design the best layout for your paddocks, pastures, buildings, roads and lanes.Taylor explains how to select the correct stallion for your mare and how to get your mares in foal and keep them that way. He tells you how to care for newborn foals, raise strong weanlings and correct yearlings, get your yearlings ready for the sales and have your horses reach their peak at sales time, plus much more.

Joe Taylor's Complete Guide to Breeding and Raising Racehorses: Advice from America's Master Horseman

Taylor, Joseph Lannon

Bowed tendons are racing's most dreaded performance injury. The sight of a hot, swollen tendon strikes fear into the heart of every horse owner and trainer. Until now, there has been little sound advice on how to treat a bow and even less information on how to prevent one. The Bowed Tendon Book outlines the hour-by-hour treatment for a bowed tendon and how to bring the horse back safely to winning performance. It explains how to spot a bow in the early stages and how to avoid bowed tendons altogether. This book tells why horses bow tendons and injure suspensory ligaments and how trainers, riders and farriers contribute to these injuries. The Bowed Tendon Book tells you how to distinguish a bow from other problems in the lower leg, how to detect the signs that a bow is imminent, what critical steps to take within the first 72 hours after injury. Ivers explains the best methods for treating a bowed tendon, why some methods do not work, exotic treatments for bowed tendons and the timetable recovery. Every horse owner, trainer and veterinarian should have The Bowed Tendon Book for instant reference in an emergency.

The Bowed Tendon Book

Medical Books

Basic Sciences

Originally offered at $16.95, the Amazon price for this book is now just $12. Equifacts is a complete horse record organizer designed to help manage the careers of serious performance horses. It contains 144 pages of fill-in-the-blank forms to record important information for up to five horses. Also features helpful information that provides answers to many questions about horse care, training, breeding and showing.

Equifacts: The Complete Horse Record Organizer

Russell Meerdink Company Ltd

Reference

Thoroughbred trainer Carl Nafzger took 84 year-old Frances Genter's gawky yearling, Unbridled, and turned him into a Kentucky Derby winner and Breeders' Cup Champion. Millions of television viewers were touched as Nafzger hugged the frail first lady of the turf and declared, "You've won the Kentucky Derby! I love you!" Now Nafzger gives you his methods for developing champion Thoroughbreds in his book, Traits of a Winner: The Formula for Developing Thoroughbred Racehorses. In it he explains the four traits every champion racehorse must have and how to find those traits and develop them. Nafzger explains the key elements in successful Thoroughbred ownership. He tells you what to look for in a racing prospect, how much you should spend and how to bid during an auction. Nafzger gives you the key elements to breaking young horses so they reach the racetrack fit and ready to go to work. Once at the track, Nafzger tells you how to get "inside the horse's mind" and design a training program specifically for the individual. Nafzger shares his secrets for winning. He tells you when you should hire the best jockey and when you shouldn't, how to shoe your horses so they remain sound, and how to feed for optimum performance. You will learn how to ship into races so your horse arrives ready to race, how to campaign the Derby prospect, allowance runners, older horses and claimers.

Traits of a Winner: The Formula for Developing Thoroughbred Recehorses

Sports & Outdoors

Nafzger, Carl A.

Individual Sports

One of the pleasures of harnessing racing is that anyone can be licensed to train and drive their own horse. But to get into the real excitement of the sport, you must first pass the drivers and trainers test administered by the United States Trotting Association. Passing the test will be easy if you prepare for it using our new manual, How to Pass the USTA Driver and Trainer Test. This complete study guide gives you the information you need to apply for your license and prepare for the test. It includes the step-by-step procedures to apply for your license. The manual outlines what the USTA is really looking for before it grants a license and the things you will need to study. Best of all, the manual gives you 200 practice test questions and the correct answers. By using this manual, you will be prepared to handle anything the USTA examiner tosses your way. Pass your test the first time. Includes update with 1997 rule changes.

How to Pass the Usta Driver and Trainer Test

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Books by Russell Meerdink Co