TB Racing - whats with the whips?

HorseGirl18

HorseGirl18

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just been wondering, why do they beat their horses to the finish line in racing? i no they want to win, but in other sports, that would be classed as cruelty to animals. im not a newcomer to horses or racing, but ive always wondered it!

not trying to get at anything, i just wondered why, really.

thanks for any responses, i'm wanting to learn something new!
 
Quite a lot of it is just whip twirling and they don't make contact. Also the whips they use are well padded and not particularly painful, (trust me, I've had jockeys fool about and smack my arse with them more than once) I'd rather give three good smacks with a race whip than one with a schooling whip. Those things are evil!
 
jesstickle said:
Quite a lot of it is just whip twirling and they don't make contact. Also the whips they use are well padded and not particularly painful,
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gosh! you can tell that im not 'in there' with the racing industry!

have they been taught that twirling the whip is some sort of sign?

but the other thing is, i watched a video of a jockey training on a stimulated horse, he was really whacking it, so does everyone just 'twirl' their whips?
 
Well they don't beat them, they are asking for extra effort in a rhythmic and controlled manner
The idea is to ask for extra effort and get them to speed up and or extend the stride.

Modern UK whips are cushioned and any jockey marking a horse or not allowing time to respond will be penalised.
The UK whips have "chips" so that the actual hits on the horse can be counted, there are BHA rules about number of hits.
Often the actual action of the whip rather than the hitting has the same effect.
Lots of effort has gone in to the welfare aspects.
 
http://www.thepja.co.uk/Whipoffences.aspx

Here are the rules. Enjoy :)

Not really twirling, that is the wrong word but you'll often see whips swung back and forth without making contact. Either to show the horse the whip is there or to try and persuade it to run straight. Other people who know more than me will be along shortly I'm sure to explain! I was just the stable lass!
 
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To make them go faster generally!

May also use it to move them over as they can't exactly use their legs for steering.

I use a racing whip for jumping - it is padded but it still hurts (i've tried it on myself!) but is nothing compared to a schooling whip or a jumping whip.

Would you consider lots of pony club kicks any better - I would rather a whip I think rather than a kick in the guts.
 
i see what you all mean, and its obiously not as harsh as i thought it was. thankyou! more stories please, this is very interesting!
 
The whip is also used to steer the horses, in that the jockey has the whip on one side of the horse to stop if drifting across. The horse goes away from the whip (without the whip hitting it), or certainly doesn't cross its line.
This does 2 things. It allows the jockey to steer the shortest course/line they want and also keeps them from interfering in the running path of any other horse (that is when you have a Stewards enquiry into "interference").
 
Pampered Ponies said:
The whip is also used to steer the horses, in that the jockey has the whip on one side of the horse to stop if drifting across. The horse goes away from the whip (without the whip hitting it), or certainly doesn't cross its line.
This does 2 things. It allows the jockey to steer the shortest course/line they want and also keeps them from interfering in the running path of any other horse (that is when you have a Stewards enquiry into "interference").
Click to expand...

This /\/\/\ was what I was trying to explain. Badly! lol
 
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