Quote:
Originally Posted by NJDfan1711
On the one hand I strongly agree with you in that a jockey can be great based solely on his ability to "communicate" with the horses he rides on, as well as other intangibles like knowing when to make a move in a race - I believe these are a few of the reasons why Irad Ortiz has become one of the top jockeys in the world of late - but on the other hand I strongly disagree that whips are regularly overused by jockeys and that they should be eliminated completely. I think the great jockeys are the ones who are able to combine the intangibles discussed earlier, along means of physical force (i.e. a whip), when needed.
Also, there are many jockeys who rarely even make contact with the horse when using the whip - it's not uncommon at all to crack the whip and produce sound without striking the horse in order to stimulate the horse and get it motivated and responsive. Beyond that, whips have been re-designed over the years to make them less hurtful/impactful as well, making them more of a tool for command and control, rather than an instrument for abuse and intimidation.
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I also don't really disagree with anything you say.
We know more about whips than laypersons and perhaps we shouldn't veer too far to extremes..
I do know that you can't have Borel flailing away on a Champion like Rachel Alexandra in a big race, and you can't have Espinoza flailing away on a triple crown horse 30x like American Pharoah.
I mean, you can, but don't expect perceptions, even w/in the racing community, to cotton to that. Let's not even talk about outside of it.
I just want racing to survive so I can continue to enjoy it. Maybe adopt some euro or hong kong standards.
