hard spun ..impressed..not really

Originally Posted by Kasept

P,

It's more than losing focus too.. There's the matter of distribution of weight. When a jock shifts his body or shoulders to sneak a peak, it changes the balance above and causes a horse a loss of fluidity or action that is measureable ultimately in lost ground. When you talk about losing photos by the width of a piece of paper, it becomes important.. Velasquez looked 4 times for Street Sense on and out of the turn.

The point is: "Ride YOUR horse.. don't try to ride your opponents."

Or as Woody Allen said in "Love and Death" (I think).. "My Uncle Vladimir, not a smart man, but, you know, wise.. always said, 'You can't ride two horses with one tuchas.'"

Oh it is very evident to me that weight shifting, even subtle, can make a large difference in a horse. I watched my wife many hours in dressage lessons and hunter-jumper shows (bored stiff). I was just thinking that maybe JV is so good that the horse might not feel JV's weight shift while looking around, maybe he has perfected it. I dont know, Im not a jock, and I know the guy is very good at what he does. So I am careful to question his tactics.