People breed each kind of horse for a specific goal. In particular, they raise thoroughbred horses for racing. Besides the strong appearance and long legs, there are many interesting thoroughbred horse facts that you might want to know.
I have collected some useful information about this horse in the article. Scroll down for some amazing facts.
5 Interesting Thoroughbred Horse Facts
1. Thoroughbred horses originated in England in the 18th century.
All thoroughbred horses can trace their origin back to three stallions from the Middle East. These three horses arrived in England in the early 18th century. Together with the larger mares in England, they created the first thoroughbred horses.
2. Thoroughbred horses have many roles
Even though people breed these horses mainly for racing, I may find them in many other sports events such as dressage or jumping.
Many of the retired thoroughbred horses, also called OTTBs (off-the-track thoroughbreds), become driving, training, and riding horses.
>>> Check out: How much do Thoroughbred Horses weigh?
3. The world’s most expensive thoroughbred horse costs $16 million.
The Green Monkey (2004-2018), a racehorse, was born in American. It traced his ancestry back to Northern Dancer and Secretariat.
The Green Monkey was sold when he was two years old for $16,000,000 at an auction. This price is equal to about $20.3 million currently, 2020.
He did not do much racing. He was on the race track only 3 times during his career before retiring in 2008.
4. All Thoroughbred horses in each half of the Earth share the same birthday.
Regardless of which date a horse was born, its birthday will be January 1st in the Northern Hemisphere or August 1st in the Southern Hemisphere.
The birthday of the horses is based on their breeding season. This is a standard set in the horse racing industry. Based on this standard, they can decide whether a horse could join the race or not.
Thoroughbred horses are only allowed to enter the race when they are 2 years old based on this shared birthday. However, in some races, this standard is 3 years old.
>>> Read more: How tall are Thoroughbred Horses?
5. One of the racing legends of all time is Secretariat.
A horse that wins three races, including Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and the Belmont Stakes, in the same year will win the Triple Crown.
He gained this achievement at the age of 3, in 1973, after 25 years since Citation was the winner. By 2018, he was one of the 13 horses that achieved this glorious victory.
In Conclusion
There are a number of other interesting facts about thoroughbred horses. Thoroughbred horses not only have agility which is suitable for racing, but they also bring a lot of other interesting features. Hopefully, through this article, you’ll discover more about this kind of horse.
If you have any questions or comments about thoroughbred horse facts, please let me know. Thanks for reading.
