Training failure among yearling horses.
OBJECTIVE
To compare financial returns between pinhooked yearling horses (ie, bought and trained for approximately 5 months with the goal of selling the horse at "2-year-olds in training" sales) that had mild or severe training failure and horses that had planned versus nonplanned training failure.


METHODS
40 Thoroughbred pinhooked yearling horses.


METHODS
During the period from September 1998 through and April 1999, 20 horses had mild training failure (1 to 11 days lost), and 20 horses had severe training failure (13 to 108 days lost). Horses were assigned to these 2 groups on the basis of frequency distribution (median) of days lost during training. Horses were also categorized on the basis of type of training failure (planned vs nonplanned training failure). The outcome of primary interest was financial return. Median financial returns were compared among groups by use of the Mann-Whitney U test.


RESULTS
Median financial returns for horses that had severe training failure ($1,000) were significantly different, compared with horses that had mild training failure ($24,000). Analysis of results also indicated that median returns were significantly different among horses that had planned training failure (-$2,000; eg, horses with radiographic abnormalities detected during routine prepurchase examinations that required surgical treatment, resulting in days lost during training), compared with horses that did not ($10,000).


CONCLUSIONS
Training failure has an economic impact on revenues in pinhooked yearling horses. Lameness, planned training failure, respiratory disease, and ringworm were common and important causes of training failure.
Hernandez
J
J
Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville 32610-0136, USA.
Hawkins
D L
DL
D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005431:Florida; D006736:Horses / Q000502:physiology*; D007794:Lameness, Animal / Q000191:economics*; D008297:Male; D010805:Physical Conditioning, Animal / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000191:economics; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000191:economics / Q000662:veterinary*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric