And, of course, it varies horse to horse- is it Samba Rooster who absolutely can't be ridden with a whip? There was some three-year-old prep this spring where I remember Jerry Bailey saying if the horse didn't think he was getting to run off with his rider, he wouldn't run at all. And I remember Johnny V saying Gomez's advice to him before last year's Belmont was not to use the whip on Rags and it was neat watching JV trust that and just wave it at her as she was battling Curlin down the stretch. But I just think it's dangerous to take it away in all circumstances- Eight Belles went towards the rail in her races and scraping the rail would be a lot of damage to a jockey's leg at 35 miles an hour. I agree; set up stricter rules to limit usage, but don't take it away.
On the personal anecdote side, I was working with a trail horse trying to get him to yield and walk sideways. No amount of rein or leg did anything. I finally took a stick and touched, literally just touched him, with it and he did the most perfect sideways steps you ever saw. And this horse HATED the whip under any other circumstance. So go figure. I guess, as humans are the ones with the better reasoning ability, it's up to the riders and trainers to be flexible and figure out what makes the individual horse tick, rather than expecting it to be the other way around.
So where do we go to start our movement for stricter regulation of whip usage?
