The majority of horses are bought privately. You could contact a blood stock agency who will look for and arrange the sale of horses for you. If you want to find a horse yourself, you could look in magazines and newspapers for horses for sale. You could also contact your state association for breeders in your area. A second way to purchase a horse is through a public auction. You can get a catalogue of horses to find the ones you are interested in and then inspect them at the open barns before the sale. The horses are sold one at a time to the highest bidder. The third way to acquire a horse is in a claiming race. Horses entered into this kind of race can be purchased for the price stated in the race conditions. After filing a claim, the horse is yours once it leaves the starting gate, but any money won in that race goes to the previous owner. One final way of acquiring a horse is by breeding your own. By doing this, you can select the specific blood lines you want and you raise the horse yourself. However, breeding and raising your own horse takes a tremendous amount of time, money, and commitment. From the time you breed the mare until the horse is old enough to race, you have already spent four years, and a lot can happen in that time.
If you are not quite ready to commit to sole ownership of a horse, you could lease a horse. Here you pay all the expenses, but you also reap all the rewards. You do not officially own the horse, so it is not as great a commitment. Another great way to get involved is through a partnership with an experienced owner. That way, you can get your feet wet by sharing expenses and revenues, learn about the business, and still have the thrill of victory.
With a race horse, it is important to have correct conformation, but it is possible to have Arabian breed characteristics along with an athletic build. Overall balance is very important, and when you look at the horse, all the “pieces” should fit together proportionally. Ideally, the horse will have a prominent wither with a long, angular shoulder which allows for more freedom of movement and a longer stride. The forearm should be long and muscular in relation to a short, flat cannon bone. The pastern should not be too long or too short and have an angle similar to the shoulder. When viewed from the front, the legs should be parallel, and when viewed from the side, they should be relatively straight. The horse should have a wide chest and deep heart girth to allow room for greater heart and lung capacity. The hip should be long, but not flat, and the hindquarters should be well muscled. The hind leg should be similar to the front with a muscular gaskin, short, flat cannon bone, and properly angled pasterns.
A wide variety of blood lines have been successful on the racetrack. Polish, Russian, and French bred horses have been successful because these countries have been breeding for racing for over 100 years. Crabbet line horses (bred by the Crabbet Stud in England) have also been successful, and some Egyptian lines have proved themselves as well. Often, people breed a combination of lines.
Unfortunately, there is no 100% accurate test to see if your horse is racing material. If you choose to put your horse in training, usually a trainer will have an idea of his ability within about 90 -120 days.
No, only registered purebred Arabians are eligible to race in the United States.
