Quote:
Originally Posted by castaway01
The main thing with the whip is the bad optics of it, especially in 2018. The rest of it gets too complicated to really interpret---some guys look like they're abusing a horse but aren't hitting that hard, others really are overboard and dirty but don't get caught, some horses respond to it while others stop. In all, the game would be better if there was no whip, just because it's another thing the stupid little humans involved are doing to the horses, mostly to cover their own riding mistakes. Still, because "whipping" is seen by many bettors as "effort", that's never going to happen.
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I realize that it's a minority view but I agree that the whip should be banned altogether. Without the whip the advantage would go to the horses that are more competitive and run on their own courage. What's the downside with that?
I know a lot of jocks don't want to give up the whip but IMO that is because they are very sensitive to the unfair criticism that they are not true athletes but mere passengers on the horse. They want to be seen trying. They spend years learning how to use the whip and don't want to give it up.
There is also the argument that the whip can be an aid in steering horse out of trouble but the fact is that more trouble is caused by horses swerving to avoid the whip than it ever prevents.
There are also moral problems with the whip. T-Breds are very competitive animals who sometimes keep running on 3 legs and a stump when they break down. Kent Desormeaux tells of one race when his horse was slowing so he laid into him with the whip. It sped up briefly and then dropped dead of a heart attack.
I can tell you that when I ran track in college when I was in agony from fatigue in the stretch if the coach had come up behind me and hit me with a whip he would be going home with the whip where the sun don't shine. Too bad horses cannot do the same with their riders.
