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Letter of the Week

Twice shy

Why do riders have whips?
First of all, horses are “dumb animals”, but some are smarter than others. If you can’t outsmart a horse you shouldn’t have one.
I broke in more than 500 horses in my life and I rode most of them (in my later years I employed a test pilot).The modern horse breaker is a far cry from the olden days of Breaker Morant. Morant and his team would boast that they broke in 20 horses in a day. The modern horse breaker might say that they broke in one horse every 20 days.
One of the most important tools in the education of a horse is the whip. Most horses have minds of their own and it is all too easy for a horse to develop bad habits.
For instance, if a horse tries to buck, crow-hop or duck out a gap you need to give it a slap down the shoulder or backside to let it know that this is not acceptable.
The next time the animal tries this on, you don’t have to hit it again. Merely waving or showing it the whip will suffice.
Sometimes a horse will refuse to go forward or through a gap. A couple of taps with the whip is usually enough encouragement.
Similarly, if the horse refuses again, a wave of the whip will do the trick.
To remove the whip would put riders at a big disadvantage.
Modern jockeys’ whips are a far cry from the old days.
They are made from soft, foam-covered leather as opposed to a whalebone shillelagh.
I’ve heard many a rider over the years say they feel naked without a whip.
By and large the whip argument comes down to perception. I’m sure we all know an act of real cruelty when we see one and it’s a shame to be pandering to a noisy minority.

Michael Lillie
Ballarat (Vic)
Today's Racing
Friday 29 March
Saturday 30 March
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