Are there races for 2 year olds or are they too young to race? I’m really excited about my first 2 year old and was just wondering if they are ever allowed to race? thanks!
Checked the race schedule. They don’t start till spring (March-ish). You need to be careful with the babies–they’re more prone to injury, I think.
Some 2 year olds are also basically just big babies. Some aren’t mature and ready to race at 2, especially so early in the season. You might want to check your 2y/os birthdate- if they are born late in the year (summer), they are more likely to mature later. Ditto what Cat said on them being more injury-prone. In real life, horses are still growing (and now this is on FF, too!) at two, so they aren’t fully matured and basically, their bones aren’t as sturdy.
Yea I agree with both Taylon and Cat. I am not going to race my 2 year old this year until later in the year or maybe not at all. hope this helps!
As people have noted, races for 2yos don’t start until April. In the meantime, you can use workouts to get familiar with your babies, so that when they do hit the track, you’ll know (better) what they like (dirt/turf, etc).
2yos are more likely to be immature, and thus need more recovery time between races…one race every month/2 months should be fine, however. Some 2yos last year successfully ran every 2-3 weeks, though that is rare.
Hrm… does not racing a 2yo at all until they’re 3 help them? I hadn’t really thought of that, but it makes sense… or is it a little OCD?
It all depends on the individual horse and when they mature. If they mature fairly early on the maturity scale, they will do well as a two-year-old. If not, they won’t run well, because they won’t be able to combine their mental and physical games when they run. Watch for things like their height changing and how early in the year they were born as indicators to their maturity, though those two things are by no means the only indicators.
Okay, that’s cool. I’ll consider that from now on. 