Average stride length and stride rate of Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses during ‘Sprint’ and ‘Classic’ races

The main factors influencing speed in athletes are stride length (SL) and stride rate (SR). However, conflict remains whether SL or SR is the key determinant of higher speeds. Quarter Horses (QH) generally reach higher speeds in their races than do Thoroughbreds (TB). However, the influence of SL and SR on this greater speed is unclear. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to compare SL and SR in QH and TB raced in short (sprint) and long (classic) distances. We hypothesized that QH have a higher SR in comparison to TB, and SR decreases as distance increases. Two race distances were analyzed for each breed: QH races of 100.6 and 402.3 m, and TB races of 1,207.0 m and 2,011.7 m. Data from twenty horses were obtained, consisting of five horses from each race distance (10 QH and 10 TB). Five individuals watched recordings of each race three times counting the number of strides taken by each winning horse. The SR was calculated using the average number of strides over a given race duration, and SL was determined by calculating the total number of strides over the distance covered. Speed was calculated dividing the distance by the time of the winning horse. The PROC Mixed Procedure was used to identify statistical differences between breeds, and between distances within the same breed. Results showed that although the SL of the TB was longer in comparison with the QH (P<0.001), the average SR in QH was higher than in TB (2.88 vs 2.34 + 0.03 strides/s; P<0.001). Further, QH classic distance demonstrated a faster speed than TB at either distance (P<0.001). In conclusion, QH achieve a higher SR in comparison to TB (between 14-20% more than TB), confirming the importance of SR in achieving high racing speeds.