Zito's thoughts on whips

[jcs11204]

Originally Posted by hockey2315

No. She was already blowing by Indian Blessing when he dropped it. And that's not a valid anti-whip argument.

no whip's... zito also said using just the hands requires more skill, and thats how it should be

[hockey2315]

I respectfully disagree with Mr. Zito.

[jcs11204]

Originally Posted by hockey2315

I respectfully disagree with Mr. Zito.

why ? how could it hurt to have no whips ?

[hockey2315]

First of all - I don't get the whole "requires more skill" thing - since most jockeys aren't that skilled I don't really want to be betting on them without a whip. For horses that drift, don't switch leads, etc. the whip is necessary.

[jcs11204]

Originally Posted by hockey2315

First of all - I don't get the whole "requires more skill" thing - since most jockeys aren't that skilled I don't really want to be betting on them without a whip. For horses that drift, don't switch leads, etc. the whip is necessary.

chirp to them.

[hockey2315]

nope.

[jcs11204]

i dont know ? ? ?
i dont get it, i dont see how in anyway it could hurt the sport, and it has to be good for the horses.

[2Hot4TV]

It doesnt matter' but I vote for no whip. As far for not changing leads,,,,,,,,,,,,so what.

[the_fat_man]

Originally Posted by hockey2315

First of all - I don't get the whole "requires more skill" thing - since most jockeys aren't that skilled I don't really want to be betting on them without a whip. For horses that drift, don't switch leads, etc. the whip is necessary.

One needn't watch many races before realizing that whips are more the cause rather than the remedy for these things. More horses duck in and out because of excessive whipping than are straightened out by whipping. Poster boy for this would be Sky Dragon. More horses come off the correct lead in the stretch because of excessive whipping than are induced to change to the correct lead by the use of the whip. Take the whip away and herding becomes less frequent and more obvious (to the stewards). Have seen many cases where jocks get so involved with whipping that they miss the point: getting their horse to the wire in as straight a route as possible. Lear's Princess getting beaten up by Coa and losing two Grade 1's as a result would be a nice example of this.

Of course, if you took the whips away then jockeys would actually have to learn how to do basic things: like keeping a straight path and taking a turn correctly.

[hockey2315]

But isn't that an issue of mis or overuse? Not necessarily the whip itself?

[jcs11204]

Originally Posted by hockey2315

But isn't that an issue of mis or overuse? Not necessarily the whip itself?

who is to judge mis or overuse ? you could argure that it happens every single race

[freddymo]

Originally Posted by the_fat_man

One needn't watch many races before realizing that whips are more the cause rather than the remedy for these things. More horses duck in and out because of excessive whipping than are straightened out by whipping. Poster boy for this would be Sky Dragon. More horses come off the correct lead in the stretch because of excessive whipping than are induced to change to the correct lead by the use of the whip. Take the whip away and herding becomes less frequent and more obvious (to the stewards). Have seen many cases where jocks get so involved with whipping that they miss the point: getting their horse to the wire in as straight a route as possible. Lear's Princess getting beaten up by Coa and losing two Grade 1's as a result would be a nice example of this.

Of course, if you took the whips away then jockeys would actually have to learn how to do basic things: like keeping a straight path and taking a turn correctly.

Good points...I would like jocks to be gven 3 cracks period. 3 shots across the hide is plenty to wake them up and get there attention to try harder.

[paisjpq]

sort-of off topic but we had a standardbred filly who was a total bitch....talented but ornery. she won her first 4 races with ease, was second in her elimination heat in some summer series....anyway, the final rolls around and at the head of the stretch she was sitting second and had plenty of steam left, the driver smacked her once (first time in her life) with the whip she immediately went off-stride and ended up last. After that night she would go off-stride whenever she saw it raised.

When I trained horses off the track I always had better success wearing spurs rather then carrying a stick...they could see the whip and were always waiting to get hit with it, it was hard to get them to focus on anything other than what was in my hand.

banning whips isn't really practical IMO, but limiting use would help a lot.