This book astounded me. It takes a very simple approach to training horses, and is surprisingly close to some of the "natural horse care" mantra that is going around today. Said "natural" approach is usually ridiculed by the "serious" trainers, who pump their horses full of drugs, scope them every other day, and advocate the purchase of yearlings who possess early speed but break down in six months.

Burch's methods are straightforward and matter-of-fact. This book would be useful to anyone training a sport horse, whether it be for racing, endurance, or eventing.

Impossible that present day horses would beat any horse trained by Preston Burch. Just read the exercise prescriptions in this book and be blown away. I certainly was. Here is carefully controlled training by a trainer understanding that his horses are participating in an athletic event. This is a book about conditioning equine athletes and also contains every other aspect of training and caring for thoroughbred race horses in a well written book by an individual who apparently understood the great care required. I held off reading this fearing it was dated, but what a pleasant surprise to find the extreme if succinct comprehensiveness here, every aspect is covered by a fellow who tried to do everything correctly. This is Ivers before Ivers, and one does wonder whatever happened to trainers like Max Hirsch and Preston Burch.

If every owner had a trainer like Preston Burch, there would be a lot more owners.

This is a cornerstone book for a racing library. There is a large amount of fundamental training information in this simply written little book.

The sections on conditioning schedules are invaluable. The degree of conditioning Burch afforded his horses is probably unmatched today.

Read this book, and then end it to your trainer (if he can read).