Pinhookers

[Rick Ransom]

My wife mentioned that if you want a good opinion of how a horse looks you should ask a pinhooker. I thought she was setting me up for some kind of joke involving illegal activities around ATM machines or something. It turns out a pinhooker is someone who buys horses with the intent of reselling them for a profit and not to race. So if they aren't a good judge of horse flesh they're out of business pretty soon. Am I the only one who didn't know this?

[Dick Schmidt]

Rick,

Well, the term only goes back about 100 years, so maybe you just missed it. Mostly they buy 1 year olds, many times break them and then sell them as two year olds. You're right, it takes a good eye.

Dick

[Tom]

I believe Jerry Bailey is a pinhooker on the side. I think I saw that on of the live racing shows during the fluff segments. I know several jocks and agents at Finger Lakes do this also. When your ride 1,000 pound animals with little tiny ankles at 40 mph for a living, it is a good idea to have a second career.
Tom