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Originally Posted by Port Conway Lane
Apples and oranges.
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Not really, as a jockey can cause extreme pain and physical damage to the mouth, teeth, jaw and spine misusing a bit. You don't see this in the afternoon with professional jocks, but you can cringe watching some guys ride in the mornings, and at smaller tracks.
The point is that the equipment is about as safe as it can be, and the jockeys have a responsibility to know how to use equipment properly.
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Forget the bits for a second and you tell me how a jockey is supposed to whip the horse with just enough force to encourage him but not too much to injure or cause a welt.
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It's an easy thing to learn. All riders, all disciplines, learn and know how to use whips correctly. Jockeys are professionals. They are required by their job to know, too. And yes, they feel (know) exactly where they can, and cannot, strike a horse with a whip while riding. That's not hard, either. It's easy.
Remember [ Jeremy Rose ] hitting a horse in the eye?
If a horse returns with welts, let alone split skin, it is clearly the fault of the jockey.
When they blow it, when they misuse their equipment to the detriment of the living creature they are riding, they are fined. As they should be.
Nobody wants jocks not to have whips, that could be dangerous.