20 August 2020 

Respecting Racehorses

 for the

 Athletes

 that they are

You don't play cricket with a tennis ball; you don't wear thongs to kick a football; you don't start a boxing match without a mouth guard and you don't drive a car without putting on a seatbelt.

Same with horses, our equine athletes - we don't race them without proper shoes to protect their feet or pads to save them from the saddle.

But what about the whip - what do we do to save them from the effects of being hit by the whip?

Nothing.

Sitting on my couch day after day during lockdown watching racing on the telly I can see how racing might worry some people.

The whips flail frantically as riders try to extract every last ounce of effort from their mounts in the quest to win. Us oldies expect them to do that - we've grown up with it. But my 8 year old boy looks at it and says "why are they hitting the horses"? 

Hmmm. 

Well, it's obvious the horse that gets hit the most or hardest doesn't always win. Maybe the jockey is trying to please some unknown punter out there with me in tv land who has bet his last $2 on a nag that is only going to run a battling 6th.

If you follow racing like me then you know the ''fors'' and ''againsts'' about the whip - we've heard them all before.

The main issue now is that the prospect of not having the whip at all is quite real.

That seems absurd for the jockeys who risk their lives riding the animals at frightening speeds and those of us who've grown up with riders throwing everything, including the kitchen sink, at the horses in order to win. 

So, from the comfort of my chair I think I can propose a solution to this controversial dilemma.

I have an old sheet upstrairs and I'll go get it.

 I live near a Clark Rubber store - I'll click and collect a few metres of foam - and also handy to me is a Spotlight store - I'll get a cheap sewing machine.

 Oh, and across the road is a Paint Spot store -  I'll make use of their lifesize white horse which stands guard outside the shop.

Putting all that together with my ten thumbs and general lack of dexterity I've come up with this:

The world's first All-in-One Saddle Cloth and Protector for Racehorses - ta daaaa!

So here it is. 

A little longer than a normal saddle cloth but 2 layers thick encasing a piece of 25 millimetre thick foam that extends somewhere near the horses flanks.

This is the mouth guard, the box, the pads, the proper footwear,the seatbelt, the helmet for horses.

If you think I'm wrong then go and grab a wooden spoon from the kitchen and give yourself a good thwack on the backside. 

It'll hurt. 

Now stuff a good piece of 25mm foam down your undies and do the same thing - harder if you like.

 You won't feel a thing. You'll hear something but won't feel anything likely to cause the smallest yelp.

The foam absorbs all the power of the whip negating any glimmer of cruelty. A rider could hit 'til blue in the face - the horse wouldn't care one jot.

And with that disapperars all the controversy, the counting of whip strikes, breaking of Rules, animal cruelty. 

Vanished.

Now, if this were to become the norm my boy could ask the question again and I could answer him confidently - 

"they hit the horses because it looks like they're 'doing something'."

Perception is 99% of the rule.

RACEHORSES 1ST

All-in-One

Protector and Saddle Cloth

Designed to protect the racehorse from pain

 by absorbing the impact of the whip

 used by jockeys in a

 thoroughbred horse race.

Oh, and a few points: 

a normal saddle cloth is composed of about 1 square metre of material - the one above about 2 sq m and a bit.

it contains 2 rectangular foam inserts about 350 mm wide and as long as the cloth;

in many instances sponsors pay for cloths - with more advertising space available these would be easy to find!

wouldn't it be nice to lead the world with something innovative and widely appreciated?

Cheers,

Vin Lowe