You’d think a love cover would hinder that, actually.
To complete the circle (though you’ve made it pretty implicit): dogs are predator animals. They will instinctively chase something that’s moving away from them (stick, ball, Frisbee). Greyhound racing relies on a mechanical “rabbit” that runs along the rail and that the dogs are nominally chasing after. I’m not sure if they could be induced to run a race without that (query whether in the early days of dog racing they used a decoy?).
Some horses will inhale while being saddled. All it gets them is a knee in the ribs and when they exhale, the girth is tightened. Some horses don’t. Equating it with “laziness” doesn’t work. When you’re expecting them to work, you want them to do something that profits you and gets them nothing. You want him to be pulling a wagon or jumping a fence, and he wants to be out in the pasture with his buddies. And, in fact, horses that are in the pasture are working in a way. The horses in the outer circle are sentries. They let the herd know when it’s safe and when to be cautious. The horses inside the protective zone are grazing - taking in calories so they can run away from predators and guard the herd.
As for jockeys - different horses and different races will require different weights. It’s in their best interest to be as small as possible to get the most potential rides, since a trainer isn’t likely to put a jockey up who is carrying more weight than is required. So you and your saddle weigh 115 lb. The first race requires your mount to carry 120 lbs - you get weights totalling 2 1/2 lbs for each side of your saddle. For the next race your mount has to carry 127 lbs - so you get different weights.
To get horses to run on their own might be possible - free lunging is often done where horses run and jump without riders. But they aren’t racing and they have no concept of strategy. And to get them all to go at once, you’d probably have to have something that spooks them into running, rather than a dog who chases prey.
StG
As I said, I’m not a horse person, have very little experience. I was quoting my friend who grew up on a farm, which is why I posted here for clarification.
As for the prey vs hunting animals, never considered that. Or the strategy aspect of racing. Thanks for the responses!
I hear that thoroughbreds are so modest, there’s only a square-foot hole in the sheets when they sleep with each other!
So, why don’t they train the dogs to chase the horses and they could race at the same time sans jockies. . . ?
And I’m sorry but the SUMO on a draft horse comment was hilarious to me. . . that’s exactly what they need in horse racing, maybe a sumo class or something. I might bet on that.
The other problem with turning a bunch of horses loose and chasing them is that in addition to keeping ahead of the object following them - a bunch of horses that don’t know each other will try to establish dominance by kicking/biting each other. Once they do know each other, they allow a lead animal to be in front - so the same horse would probably “win” a loose horse race.
And just to add to what StGermain said:
A lot of schooling horses (for general riding lessons) develop this habit, and a knee in the ribs is the usual cure! Often, you’d tighten the girth as much as possible, get on, and see if you can tighten it a bit more, and if not, you check it again in about 10 minutes after the horse has warmed up, at which point it has probably forgotten that it was supposed to hold its breath, and you can tighten it again. It’s actually pretty easy to tighten a saddle girth when you’re sitting in the saddle; maybe even easier than from the ground, because you can pull up on the straps rather than push up.
Horses are certainly smart enough to figure out that saddle=tight but Saddle + holding breath = not tight. They also figure out that bit-in-teeth = I don’t have to listen, and many will play with the bit while they are being ridden in hopes of being able to clamp down on it, or they’ll clamp down as you put it in their mouths if you’re not paying attention. I also knew one horse who had the annoying habit of randomly lying down and rolling over (saddle and all) when he didn’t want to be ridden anymore. It’s hard to prevent a horse from lying down if they really really want to, especially when you’re a 9 year old kid who weighs next to nothing next to him! They can be quite clever sometimes!
Instead of going on endlessly in a thread, read (the movie was good but you don’t need it for your OP) Seabiscuit. It’s a very good, entertaining read. You won’t be wasting your time. It will address the substance of your question and teach you more about horse racing and jockeys than you ever thought could be known to the uninitiated. Then, if you have more detailed questions, bring them back.
Bah! That is just bad training – someone has allowed them to get away with this, by stopping the ride at this point, thus teaching them that laying down & rolling over will get them put away.
A proper response would be to just get back on the horse (and reprimand them), and then continue & even extend the ride. So that they learn that this does not work, and does not get them an early end to the ride.*
I don’t know if they are quite clever, but the horse was clearly more clever than the rider in this situation!
*P.S. That the horse wants to end the ride is a sign of bad training in the first place. Most horses do not see going for a ride with their owner as onerous work, but rather as an enjoyable outing. They are often quite eager to do some activity with their owner. If they aren’t, they have had some bad treatment at some time.
I agree! The one time it happened to me, it was during the cooling-down period at the end of the lesson. I was letting him walk quietly, with the reins somewhat slack (though I still had contact), and the next thing I know he’s down on his knees. Since I was about 10 years old (I think… no older than 11), no amount of pulling on the reins made much difference, given as he was a 16-3 hand monster. So I jumped off, but held onto the reins, and with the help of my instructor (and a kick in the ribs to the horse) we got him back on his feet. I was then told to get right back on and make him trot and canter for 5 minutes, and then do another cool-down. My instructor at the time didn’t know where or when this habit began; it was relatively new, but he’d done it to more than one rider. This was in Germany, and since I spoke no German and her English was passable but limited, I don’t think we got into any specifics about it. The other riders in that lesson did find it pretty hilarious, though; apparently the WTF? look on my face was priceless!
You can’t summarize the parts about jockeys for me? I’m not going to read the book – the movie was bad enough.
So far I know more than before, but I still don’t quite get how the weights are determined for a particular race.
As Cicero indicates in post#5, there are basically two types of contest. These are (a) weight-for-age races and (b) handicaps. For an example of a weight-for-age race, click the link given by racer72 in post #2 and scroll about halfway down.
You will see the 12 runners for the Breeders Cup Classic to be run tomorrow. The horses are listed in draw order i.e. the number of the stall from which each animal starts. You’ll note that some horses are set to carry 126 lb, which comprises (a) the weight of the jockey plus (b) the weight of his clothing, saddle, girth, pad & saddle cloth plus (c) lead pieces to bring the weight to 126 lb should the total of (a) and (b) come to less than 126 lb. All horses carrying 126 lb are aged 4 years old and upwards.
Some horses have 121 lb to carry. These runners are all 3 years old. The 121 lb is arrived at in exactly the same way as described above. The reason 4-Y-O horses must give 3-Y-O horses 5 lb is because of the race conditions. These assume that the average 4-Y-O has this amount in hand over the average 3-Y-O at this time of year and over the distance of this race (10 furlongs).
The 126 lb/121 lb weights are really quite arbitrary. It could be changed to 131 lb/ 126 lb or 133 lb/128 lb without affecting the outcome of the race. It’s just that most jockeys can ride at 121lb without too much of a problem so that’s what it is.
The above describes the conditions of a weight-for-age race, where a horse’s previous form is totally ignored in framing them. Now, let us pre-empt the outcome of the Breeders Cup Classic by giving a possible result, where Curlin beats Go Between 2 lengths with Tiago 3 lengths back in third, all horses carrying 126 lb.
These three horses can now be handicapped by applying the principle that over a distance of 10 furlongs a length is equal to 2 lb. In other words, Curlin is a 4 lb better horse than Go Between (2 lengths x 2 lb) who in turn is a 6 lb better horse than Tiago (3 lengths x 2 lb). Therefore if Curlin, Go Between, and Tiago were to be entered in a future handicap race where previous form is taken into consideration, Curlin would be allocated, say, 126lb while Go Between would get 122 lb and Tiago would carry 116 lb. In theory, the three horses would now run a dead heat because Curlin’s superiority (and that of Go Between over Tiago) is nullified by having to carry more weight. That’s the nature of a handicap.
In the real world a dead heat very rarely occurs. A different track, changed underfoot conditions, a horse being ridden differently, a horse on the upgrade, a horse deteriorating - all these and other factors conspire to produce a definite result rather than the handicapper’s ideal of a dead heat.
Naturally, the allocated weight in a handicap comprises jockey plus his accoutrements and lead pieces to make up any shortfall, as previously described .
The weights will be determined by the conditions of the race and will be either set by the handicappers or for weight for age they will depend on the horses age and sex.
here’s today’s Moonee Valley field’s
race 8 is weight for age and the weights are 59kg for 5yo and up, 57.5kg for 4yo, 49.5kg for 3yo, with fillies and mares getting 2kg off.
race 2 is a set weights race with 2yo colts & geldings getting 55.5kg and 2yo fillies getting 53.5kg.
race 4 is a set weights with penalties race with the weight being determined by what races the horses have won.
race 9 is a handicap with the weights determined by the opinions of the handicappers.
for set weights with penalties here are the conditions for some Malaysian races
this is Australian racing but I presume it is similar in the US.
You’d think that after year after year of that, the vovelty would wear off.
Wait, what?
Thanks, everyone. I think I get it, finally.