Getting The Horse Around The Race Track

Everything that happens at the race track boils down to rider skill and the relationship of this characteristic of "skill" to the variables that dictate race horse survivability. Riding race horses is a delicate driving job where any veer of the steering wheel in the wrong direction can be a career ender. The rider is the proximate trainer of the animal, and it is untrue that you can throw "anybody" up there and have your horse survive as a race horse.

Those are merely general statements. Get down the specifics of what is being referred to by taking an imaginary trip around the track, and let's say today's work is a typical two minute gallop.

Introduce this by noting that almost every experienced rider understands the trainer giving this direction: " warm him up and take him a mile at a two minute clip." The rider gets a leg up and off they go. The trainer will then typically go on with mucking their stalls. The exception to this would be if the owner is present in which case the trainer will accompany the horse and watch the gallop noting at the end how perfectly everything went, just as planned.

For our rider--and let's assume we got lucky today and the horse's jock showed up for the work--the ride begins immediately with the adjustment of the tack. Does the rider insist on blinkers, a shadow roll, martingale, draw reins, a ring bit, every piece of equipment known to man and woman? I give 'em what they want. Security blanket type stuff and it avoids the repeating mantra after finish of the ride: "this horse needs this and that"...equipment--even when u already know it otherwise. If e.g. you want a horse going without blinkers, probably need to find a jock that is other than wedded to blinkers.

Then there's that tightening of the girth thing. Be assured that the maximum degree of tightness that the girth allows will be got by most of these riders, no matter whether the horse is a skinny 15'2" filly or a 16'3" behemoth using the exact same girth. The lesson of this story is that if you want the 16'3" horse to be comfortable out there--as opposed to strangled--by its girth, you dam well better have a girth properly measured on the non-adjustment side so that when the rider adjusts to maximum tightness--well--maximum tightness will be a perfect fit because of the way the trainer fastened the girth on its off side. Fooled many a girth tightening maniac that way in my days. Will saddles fall off or slip? Rarely on most horses, although we need be more careful with the skinny tucked up horse.

On with the trip, next post.

Training: These are the days of the fast dropping sun. Week ago I looked at the clock at 3 min. after 8 p.m. and it was still slightly light. Same deal last night and it was 7:28 p.m. And, I've been fooled by this 3 nights in a row now. They closed a bridge downtown and have had 30 min traffic delays getting to the farm. + the lost front right shoe--3.5 inch nails--and waiting for the new box of farrier supplies. To make long story short, we've been unable to gallop the last three days and two of them were off due to the surprise lost shoe. By the time I tacked it back on last night, all I could do due to light was riderless, and, of course, 1st thing that happens there is the older horse jumps both fences and I'm in there throwing clods at the lazy one by himself. Finally got a little fast work at the end. Racing him has very faint hopes right now. Thinking more of maybe finding some far away 6 year old eligibility.