Quote:
Originally Posted by Dunbar
Would anyone disagree that at least 95% of using the crop is to make the horse run faster? Is it really that hard to tell in a stretch drive when a horse is being hit to straighten out and when the horse is already running straight and being whipped to run faster?
As longtime fans and bettors, we forget that to a casual observer, our "sport" looks like a bunch of guys beating the crap out of horses to make them run faster. Maybe, with education, we can convince newbies that the whipping doesn't hurt that much. Okay, then our sport will look like a bunch of guys scaring the crap out of horses to make them run faster.
Meanwhile, we're telling people that these horses naturally love to run. Apparently they don't love to run fast enough.
The bottom line is that whipping horses to make them run faster looks cruel. It's always going to be hard to increase interest in a sport that has something that looks like animal cruelty. If you took away the whipping, you'd still have a level playing field.
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Then they should ban the crops altogether....instead of giving the stewards the jurisdiction of judgement along with consistent rulings. Imagine your 20/1 speed on the lead hangs on to the wire by a head only to be taken down because a judge(s) determined the crop was used two times too many to better the finish....i will hold on to my betting dollars as far as New Jersey is concerned until I see consistency with the calls.