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Originally Posted by Jeff P
One other thing I watch for is leg strength. Some riders can't stay crouched for the entire race and have to stand up/lean back a little. My belief is this causes their weight to be distributed in such a way as to slow the horse.
This becomes most noticeable (to me) when watching head on replays.
I also watch the rider's elbows during head on replays. A rider who is "on his belly" (low crouch) through the stretch will have his body closer to the horse's neck than those who can't maintain a crouch. Riders who are crouched will have a wide wing span to their elbows. Riders who lose their crouch and either stand up or lean back tend to have narrow wing spans to their elbows because they are further away from the horse's neck and must therefore extend their arms forward (which straightens the elbows.)
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These examples show different techniques. Watch riders in europe, they raise up at the end of the race to push a horse on. In the US some riders raise up in the early stages as a signal to the horse to relax and not use up precious energy fighting them to slow down.
