[AusRace] Use of the whip in horse racing

[Tony Moffat]

Thorough discussion on whip use - the author doesn't conclude if the use of
the whip should be stopped, or not - others do that.
The  subjects linked to this piece are interesting for some - 'milkshakes'
for instance.

It may be necessary to cut and paste this link

https://theconversation.com/10-reasons-to-stop-whipping-racehorses-including
-new-research-revealing-the-likely-pain-it-causes-149271?utm_medium=email&ut
m_campaign=The%20Weekend%20Conversation%20-%201785017320&utm_content=The%20W
eekend%20Conversation%20-%201785017320+CID_fc72490d7251fd3814a611275c2eb3a5&
utm_source=campaign_monitor&utm_term=10%20reasons%20to%20stop%20whipping%20r
acehorses%20including%20new%20research%20revealing%20the%20likely%20pain%20i
t%20causes


For a while way back I had a neighbor who was a jockey - he now drives a
truck in FNQ.
I first really got to know him when a girl he knew fell out of my nectarine
tree, then she walked into my pool!

'Buzz', the jockey, couldn't see over the side fence, but he knew when my
kids were in the pool, as did the neighbourhood to be fair,
And certainly when we had bbq he was there often although he scootered
around to do this.

He left school to be a mailman, with a trolley down the main road, not on a
bike, not yet.

He also delivered telegrams, including those to the pine mill on the
outskirts of the town, and once he returned a horse he found to
the horse people next to the mill. They told him he was tall enough to be a
jockey which was a first, for him.

Those same horse people then got him an introduction to a man at Bullaring,
a breaker and it was there Buzz learnt to ride, and whip them, and within
a year, not yet 17, he was apprenticed and rode in his first race and won
his third ride. 

Buzz said he was instructed, told, to use the whip and he would be
criticized if he didn't. He also spoke about easing, which doesn't occur,
but is seen
often when the majority of the field finish in a clump about 6 lengths back.

He was moderately successful for several years and had handsome friends, his
21st show had more ponytails than St Hilda's graduation, and these on the
boys.

His father bet on his rides and recommendations and they moved house and by
age 25 it was finished. Weight, loss of favour, speculation, dis-interest,
whatever caused him to leave the industry and travel for a while. 

Cheers

Tony


-- 
This email has been checked for viruses by AVG.
https://www.avg.com