Ready for fallout...

Taliesan

Well-Known Member
Joined
9 March 2014
Messages
210
Location
Hinckley
Visit site
I have one horse who is incredibly whip shy. When I first got him three years ago I picked one up in the school to use as a lunging aid. Never have I had a horse run away from me so quickly - all I did was pick the thing up off the school fence.

In the past three years I have never once used a whip near him or even thought about it. About three weeks ago in the school we were doing our usual lap on foot around the arena before I hopped on. Jack had a jolly demeanour with his ears forwards and was generally pretty happy about life. I saw a short whip on the floor in the middle of the school and I bent down to pick it up and put on the outside of the arena so it wasn't trodden on.

Jack's expression went from happy to visibly distressed in a split second. His ears went back, he looked anxious and he turned his head away from me. Granted it was less extreme than his initial reaction all those years ago but he still clearly finds whips very aversive. I honestly didn't expect him to get so upset about me simply picking one up to move it out of the way.

I've seen a lot of incorrect whip use in my time and I think they are very easy to use to excess in moments of anger and fear.

For many they are an indispensable tool and they is absolutely fine - people can train their horses in the manner that works best for them and the horse, everyone is an individual after all.

They are just not something I will ever use with either of my horses.
 

Annagain

Well-Known Member
Joined
10 December 2008
Messages
15,506
Visit site
I carry a schooling whip out hacking. it's handy to stick out to the side to keep cars away from you. I've never used it on either horse. There was a time when I first had Arch and he was testing / lacking trust in me so was napping. I went out armed with two schooling whips and prepared to use them to back up my leg if necessary but he sensed my determination, behaved perfectly and we've never had a problem out hacking since. At competitions it was a different matter - he would nap terribly going into arenas so I carried a normal whip. I never used it as a lead would have the desired effect on him and once he was in he was generally ok. The only time I used it was at a TREC competition so a big open area and he was napping away from the start. He went up with me. I'm used to rearers as my old boy would rear out of pure excitement and it never bothered me but this felt different and dangerous. He got a few good cracks - along with a lot of leg - to get him going forward and then did his round nearly perfectly with no more napping. He's never reared with me since. I don't carry a normal whip on him at all now.
 
Last edited:

Snowfilly

Well-Known Member
Joined
23 September 2012
Messages
1,678
Visit site
I use it for engaging hindquarters and brain! A tickle behind the leg as a third level request - gentle squeeze, harder squeeze and stick - and I've swung one alongside a galloping horse to keep it straight, when racing in a group.

I never hack out without one, and it's normally a schooling whip. I've used it for opening gates, hooking branches out the way, flicking flies away, poking a friend riding alongside me, keeping cars away, threatening a loose dog and once in a blue moon, to suggest that actually it'd be nice if we walked on a little bit and stopped napping and sulking.

Aside from my hi viz, it's my most essential piece of hacking gear, so everything I ride needs to get comfortable with a whip in the school.
 

Keith_Beef

Novice equestrian, accomplished equichetrian
Joined
8 December 2017
Messages
11,376
Location
Seine et Oise, France
Visit site
I learned to ride as an older adult.

Me too, I started lessons well after I'd turned 40.

My observation is that all the horses I have ridden have probably at an early stage been frightened by or taught to respect a whip - my carrying a whip affects the behaviour of a horse.

Totally agree with this.

There's one horse that I frequently ride in my Sunday lessons, who is a right lazy bugger for most people. He's capable and energetic if you know how to get him moving, and I've found out that the way to do this is to carry a dressage whip, use it once just as a light tap behind the leg when asking him to speed up his pace or to transition from walk to canter, and then from time to time when he seems to get lazy just move it into his field of vision to remind him that it's there.

With all the other horses I ride, I use a crop to touch behind my leg, but I've missed a few times and tapped my boot, and the sound has had a good effect, too.

One horse that I used to ride, but who has been sold on by the school, was much worse, lazier and more stubborn; there were only three of us who could get him to canter. One instructor told me to give him a couple of really hard whack with the crop right on top of his dock. I thought this a bit harsh at the time, and I think I missed and just hit his rump, but it woke him up a bit.

That same horse also had a bit of a tendency to want to return to the centre of the arena to join any horses that were standing around, and so the instructor told me to use hold the crop against his neck "like a sabre", to help push his head and shoulders back out in the direction I wanted him to canter.

I've only very occasionally used the "sabre" since then.
 

Tarragon

Well-Known Member
Joined
31 January 2018
Messages
1,781
Visit site
I think that there is a perception problem with the name - it is called a whip, but that doesn't mean that we should "whip" the horse with it, which immediately makes you associate the action with a punishment!
Do you stable your horse? If we renamed a stable to "Cage", so instead of bringing the horse in at night into their stable, we said that the horse was "Caged" at night - everyone would be up in arms.
 

tiahatti

Well-Known Member
Joined
19 October 2018
Messages
1,802
Visit site
My rescue mare would panic if she even saw a whip, on the yard if someone had put one down with their stuff, or if anyone else was carrying one. So no I didn't ever use one. I don't like to swell on why she was so afraid!
 

Hormonal Filly

Well-Known Member
Joined
24 April 2013
Messages
3,222
Visit site
As a few others have said, I use a schooling whip when out hacking especially on my own due to the fact hes green. If he sees something scary, turns into a dragon and won't budge. A tickle on his bum without my hands coming off the reins works far better than kicking the crap out of him with my legs.

A friend of mine refuses to carry a whip as its "cruel" yet have witnessed her kicking her horse as hard as possible to get it to go past something scary?! A tickle or tap with a whip is much more pleasant..
 

alexomahony

Well-Known Member
Joined
12 January 2015
Messages
760
Visit site
I've always said if we could see bruises on horses, I'd expect we'd all be quite shocked. I imagine there are many with bruises bums, sides, flanks.

I carry a short whip on my Connie out hacking as he can be very nappy just sometimes needs a bit of leg back up, but I usually hit my boot to make a noise rather than him, however he got a bit of a wallop on Sunday as he was napping so much we nearly went backwards down a ditch - he needed to move forward and quickly! It was necessary but I still feel bad about it now, it is a complete last resort.

Schooling, I use a long whip the first few transitions to make sure they're clean and sharp, after that I drop it and we school as normal without unless he is learning something new or I need to remind him that he has back legs (example, during changes)
 

Orangehorse

Well-Known Member
Joined
25 November 2005
Messages
13,204
Visit site
I ALWAYS carry a whip. As an additional aid, to fend off cattle, to fend off cars and who knows, my horse might go to kick another horse, or something anti social which needs a swift correction. I've never known my horse harbour resentment should I use it (although he did try to bite my feet when I tried some spurs!).

I witnessed someone give her horse a real few hard whacks for something - basically bad manners - and he never tried to do that again.

What about ground schooling when the whip takes the place of the leg aid.
 

Orangehorse

Well-Known Member
Joined
25 November 2005
Messages
13,204
Visit site
Over here we have 'Hands and Heels' races for amateur and conditional jockeys. They HAVE to carry a whip for safety purposes, they can use it down the shoulder to keep the horse straight if it is veering to one side and they can use it if they feel a horse back off of a fence. They can NOT use it behind the saddle, they can't take their hands off their reins to use the stick. In a finish they can show the whip - flick it forwards into the horses line of vision but they are not allowed to hit the horse with it. The stewards are watching carefully and any jockey using the whip inappropriately during the race will be told off.

I personally would love to see this implemented in all races over here, not just boys races.

There is a track in America I think that trialled a few days of whip free racing, it might have been South Africa actually. Either way it went down well with the public though some of the finishes were a little messy on green horses that were learning their job.


The use of the whip in racing is well controlled in Britain, which is how it should be. When we look at a race on TV we are seeing the side view where is looks as though the horse is being hit, but mostly the jockey is not making contact.
 
Top