Racing Types
Throughbred Flat
The most common type of racing. Thoroughbreds race around a track on either sand or terf, vying to be the first across the line.
www/jnunan.com/images
Quarter Horse
Quarter Horses sprint on a straight line track for a quarter of a mile.
The physics behind both Quarter Horse racing and Thoroughbred racing are the same. Maximum speed is desired, and so is is acceleration, to get there. v=vo+at shows that in order to get this final speed, acceleration for a certain amount of time is necesary to increase the speed.
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Steeplechasing
Similar to Thoroughbred flat racing, but at intervals on the track hedges are placed for the horses to jump over.
The physics unique to steeplechasing is the projectile motion that the horse goes through as they jump over the hedges. To get over the height of the hedges, which is quite large, there has to be a certain amount of speed at which the horse takes off.

 
www.duninga.com/images/horse_jump.jpg
In a situation where a hedge is two meters tall and three meters wide:
  For time of half the jump:
  x=x
o+vot +(1/2)at^2
  2 m = (1/2)(9.8 m/s^2)(t^2)
  t=.639 s
  Complete time:
   .639 s*2= 1.278 s
  Initial vertical speed:
  x=x
o+vot+(1/2)at^2
  0 m = v
o(1.278 s)+(1/2)(-9.8 m/s^2)(1.278^2)
  v
o(1.278 s)=(1/2)(-9.8 m/s^2)(1.278^2)
vo=6.262 m/s
  Horizontal Speed:
  x=vt
  3=v(1.278)
v=2.347 m/s
  Total Initial Speed
  v=((6.262^2)+(2.347^2))^(1/2)
  v=6.687 m/s
  Angle at which the horse jumps:
  Tan x= (6.262 m/s)/(2.347 m/s)
  x = 69.454 degrees
 

  
hep.uchicago.edu/~covault/00/handour131a_05/projectile.gif
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