Great Piece: Equine Athlete Psychology

[Riot]

Originally Posted by clambeau

unless you're reading something other than the link I posted, I don't think this guy is telling you who's gonna win...he's just putting into words what he's been observing in the Derby horses previous races. I'll read the darn thing again but I still wont see him giving anyone the Derby winner....

He's not charging anything for his opinion for cryin out loud.....cheez!!

Good grief. This isn't magic. All he's doing is accurately describing normal herd horse behaviour, that jockeys and trainers and exercise riders have known for years: some horses panic when surrounded. Some are aggressive and like to intimidate. Some won't run on out in front by themselves. Some don't like other horses coming up behind. Some stick to a buddy like glue and won't go ahead themselves. Some mentally dominate a challenger when they run alongside it. It's the very same physical things we do to horses, with our body motion, to gain dominance when we break them in a round pen when they are young.

It's no different than someone watching horses work in the am, and interpreting "how" the horse was feeling and acting during the work (aside from the time)

If someone has never ridden or trained horses, and doesn't know how horses think and act, I can see how it would be impossible to figure out what the guy was talking about.