LGCT 2018: It’s a ball game!

LGCT 2018: It’s a ball game! 3

As the greatest riders and their horses soar through the Longines Global Champions Tour (LGCT) 2018, we stop to analyze a common denominator among the top performing horses of the season: testosterone.

With fourteen events so far and only three to go, the LGCT 2018 is currently conveying interesting results regarding the horses with highest scores. Stallions and mares make up 85% of the top performing horses (62% stallions, 23% mares). Why is that? “Testosterone” is definitely major influencer.

Testosterone is a hormone secreted primarily by the testes in the stallion and the ovaries in the mare. It’s know as the male sex hormone, as it is responsible for libido, strong musculature, and the stallion-like behavior which leads to a more competitive physique and psyche.

A curious coincidence also relates the LGCT season and a stallion’s fertility season. Stallions, like mares, have a greater reproductive performance during the warmer months of the year. This means that on average, testosterone, peaks between the months of April and September. Interestingly enough, these “productive” months coincide with the majority LGCT season (April-November).

With these fun facts in mind we’re eager to observe the results of the last three events and the top horses’ performance. Will stallions remain the higher percentage of winning horses at the LGCT? Or will their competitiveness cease as their testosterone productivity decreases?

Stay tuned for the final analysis! But for now, it’s definitely a ball game.

By: Alexia Thermiotis

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