Birthday for horses

[Hermione]

Why is Bathurst calling Race 1 on Wednesday night "The Horse's Birthday Pace"? Thought Oz horses celebrated on Sept 1st?

[gutwagon]

Standardbreds 1st sept, most other breeds 1st Aug.

[Triple V]

Danny's just getting old and forgetful.:rolleyes:

[Don Corleone]

In Aust it's 1 Sept - In NZ 1 Aug. Why they aren't the same I don't know.

[Triple V]

The change came quite a few years ago (Standardbreds 'birthday' moved from August 1st to September 1st and so the breeding season, as in when mares could start to be served from September 1st to October 1st) as a result of a very wide ranging study into Standardbred fertility rates that wascarried out by a lady Vet (from VIC if I recall correctly).
It highlighted for sure and certain that which most breeders already knew to be the case, it is infinitely easier to get mares in foal later in the season. The proponents of putting mares under lights & so on aren't happy with it (as in October 1st being the start date)... but it is what it is. For all the trouble you have to go to I think lights are a bit of a wank, as for that matter is the whole 'early foal' thing.
My experience is that mares are a damned sight easier to get in foal as the daylight lengthens in combination with ever increasing/warmer temperatures and that really early foals tend to spend a lot of their energy keeping warm as opposed to growing and foals born a little later in the season do just as well if not better at times insofar as their early growth rates are concerned.

[Danno]

Further to Jamies post, if my memory serves me the change was implemented as far back as the late eighties, I have an old retired mate in the paddock here who was a 1990 foal and it was certainly in then.
I also seem to remember there was significant research/evidence brought forward to indicate that the racetrack performances of August foals compared to September/October foals was less than what a lot of people had been thinking, probably due, as Jamies says, to foals not doing so well due to the colder temperatures.

[Triple V]

G'day Dan,
It's something I didn't take much notice of at all until a mate of mine in the US mentioned the really early foals over there spend more of their time & energy just keeping warm than they will do exercising and growing.
He sees heaps of foals every year & has often said the differences between the really early ones & those born later on in the season come weaning time are imperceptible. I think he's right on the money.
Something I read a little while back now which I didn't know (as in the exact point it happened) was that a horse doesn't expend a significant amount of energy by way of keeping itself warm as opposed to growing and /or maintaining its body weight up until the ambient temperature drops below 8 degrees celsius. I'm pretty sure it was John Kohnke who wrote it. We've managed the feeding regimes of our weanlings & mares accordingly this season & as of earlier today they look really, really good. Can't wait for Spring, they're going to look like Toffee Apples.

[Hermione]

So putting covers on horses so that feed isn't used up keeping warm is a bit of a red herring? Seldom go under 8 degrees here.

[Triple V]

No Emma, I reckon to the contrary, the rugs are great. I should have mentioned that.
We were not initially in the habit of rugging them through Winter but we did a couple of the older girls last time around and they certainly appeared to have gotten a big benefit from it and so we did them all this Winter. They just look great. It certainly gets below 8 degrees overnight sometimes where our mares are although it is rarely if ever that cold during the day. The rugs have made for a much better result coming out of Winter. We could do the same with a much bigger feed regime I guess but I reckon we'd have quite uneccessarily burnt a large % of it up just keeping them warm, that as opposed to heavy canvas numbers & changes to the feed composition & a fairly moderate increase in amounts being fed. It worked so I'm pretty pleased. It's not a rocket science type of thing I know but nevertheless, a very Happy Camper here.