Norwegian-Swedish Coldblooded Trotter stallions had much longer careers—with higher earnings—than geldings and mares. That is probably related to the fact that these horses can be bred via artificial insemination, unlike Thoroughbreds, the researchers said. | Photo: Micke Gustafsson/Kanal 75/Wikimedia Commons

Researchers from around the world are conducting studies and learning more about how Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds deal with workloads, how feeding and management can affect their performance, and what factors might influence their career length.

But what about local racing breeds? Those produced for Quarter Horse racing in the U.S. or for Icelandic pace racing in Iceland? Or how about the coldblooded, draftlike trotter bred for harness racing in Norway and Sweden?

Studying health and welfare in local racing breeds has great importance, especially as people become more attuned to animal well-being, said Brandon Velie, BSc, MSc, PhD, researcher in the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, in Uppsala