ASSETS OF AN ATHLETE
What allows one athlete to outperform another?
(1) Inherited assets such as skeletal design, the cardiovascular system, muscle composition and cellular function.
(2) Controllable factors such as training, nutrition and mental health
The athletic assets of a horse can be ranked as to the quality of each (say out of 10,). The approach of ranking a horse’s assets help explain away the mystique of the horse’s performance or lack of it.
NOTE – This is a way of thinking, there are not exact numbers that you can specifically apply (YET). However, understanding that the SUM total of all factors/assets equate to the ultimate potential and type of the athlete is valuable knowledge.
For example:
A) Have you ever wondered why a fantastic moving horse could never win a race? He probably had a small heart. And why that small filly with a poor action won five races, she had a large heart that could compensate for the stride weakness.
B) Black Caviar and Makybe Diva would both score 99, yet they would not score 100, simply because neither could excel at the others perfect distance.
The E-Trakka blanket displays heart rate, speed and stride length that represent how efficiently a horse is travelling at any moment in time. If a horse has a high peak speed but poor recovery (when fit) then they were born with the gift to run but were not born with a good cardiovascular system. The opposite can occur; you can have a horse with the best recoveries but no speed (needs more ground). When you get both, they are the elite competitive horses