Enhance Part of the Rider Equation

Depth of divets. Left click this enlarge for a clear view of divet depth. They'll be deeper yet near the inner rail. Get a few more horses out there and this looks like an egg carton.

Freeze framing the inside rider between the 1:41 and 1:53 mark gives superb look at what the rider actually sees and does. Let's say this differs substantially as to what we see from the ground with riders going by or what shows from the vids on race day with the field moving down the back stretch where everything looks nice and smooth and coordinated. The below vid fairly clearly shows that from on top things are quite a bit more precarious than they look from the ground.

At the beginning of this vid btw the horse is throwing its head undoubtedly because the rider is trying to switch to right lead to start out on the backstretch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ONzp3xU4qU

What is the inside jock doing in that short window there is for watching closely. His hands on the reins are glued to the horse's neck and the only hand motion visible is caused by the horse's moving neck. Otherwise the hands look motionless to me, and I'd think the snug reins merely hold the bit taught in the horse's mouth. The horse "takes" the bit at speed meaning it is stationary in the mouth moving only in tandem with the motion of the horse's head.

Is the jock doing anything with his fingers to "round on the bit". I doubt it. Is the jock doing anything with the rythm of his arm motion--up and down, maybe--in terms of rounding on the bit. If he is, I'm unable to see it.

What looks to me is happening, this rider is motionless and glued on the horse. Any motion that appears in the vid is caused by the horse with some motion in the rider's thighs and calves in terms of absorbing concussion.

I view this rider's position on the horse as pretty good, but less than perfect. Watching this gives a lesson in rider selection. Ideally we'd like this rider's butt just a tad farther back for purpose of centering over the center of gravity. But, this jock is unable to do that due to his body build. He has to maintain a slightly forward position because if he crouched more than he is his thighs would be unable to comfortably absorb the concussion and keep him steady. You can only crouch to a certain extent and still have the flexibility necessary to maintain your position. In a practical sense this means, everything else being equal, we want shorter lighter riders. This rider is a bit taller and heavier than the ideal, but is riding about as well as he can for his body style.

In terms of what this jock has done to "enhance" the horse's performance from the 4.5f, this to me is just a normal jock rider that differs a bit from what I do.

Thus I'll give my own thought process as we go around, some of which likely comes from my own lack of experience, since jocks probably do habitually what I must think about.

From the 4.5f among all the other things which includes primarily maintaining correct riding technique to stay out of the horse's way, I am calculating the coming lead change past the 4f. And, at this lead change here is where I differ from the average track rider.

I know--in this typical warm up to the work that the horse has warmed up insufficiently on it's left lead. Why is it that injuries mostly occur on the left front? This is it. The jocks never warm up the left front. On the pony horse the horse is always forced to gallop on its right. In a 6f race, how amazing is it that most of those horses have not taken a single stride on their front left leads until they hit the turn just past the 4f? And, the minute they switch many jocks are urging their horses at that point. Is it any wonder we get front left leg injuries?

Thus, past the 4f at the lead change to the left front I plan to restrain the enthusiasm of my horse and make him take a 3 or 4 easier bounds to warm up that left. Any spurting in the final turn will--for my mount--come after the 3f when I am more comfortable the left lead has today had at least a few bounds of work.

The competitive spots on the race track therefore, for my horses, will be the entire back stretch but particularly late, a little relaxing when the horse first hits its left lead into the final turn, and respurting at the 3f to the wire. Two turn races we can warm up the left on the club house turn and begin our spurting at the 4f if we have a conditioned animal and that would be our strategy.

For the present 2m gallop w/o with the mythical horse getting to the 4f will be a little different than it would be at racing speed. At the slower speed the rider does have more effect on the gallop and efficiency and optimal stride. At 2m gallop there can be some rounding of the bit, holding the horse together in doing such, and this is certainly a focus with each and every stride as we get past the 4f into the turn. The horse will still be full of enthusiasm at this point, and I am trying to hold him steady to the speed. This requires stride by stride rider concentration instead of being up there thinking about the lovely chick you met at the bar the night before.

Take note that each and every stride gets a different motion from the horse to the rider. I am fighting the horse buffeting me about with it's galloping while trying to avoid being a hindrance, and at 2m speed, trying to "improve" the stride. How we try to improve differs with the horse.

Late in the final turn around the 2f we start trying to hold the horse together. Most horses are pretty strong in the first half of their gallops. For important reasons to be discussed at some point that primarily involve weight and carrying tremendous weights for distance, strength both muscular and cardiovascular will generally start to flag around the 2f pole. Most horses will at that point by their enthusiasm carry a strong gallop past the 2f. However, my experience is that after the lead change to the right that most do automatically just before the 3/16th, after a few bounds in the stretch on the right lead serious fatigue commences.

I am anticipating all this as I near the 2f. One thing I would like to do with every horse-- and have never to date succeeded--is, into the stretch--to keep the horse on its left lead a couple two or even three strides longer and thus change to the right at the 3/16th or even beyond. By my thinking, near the wire therefore, the horse will have done less strides on its right lead and be stronger late race.

Unfortunately in a practical sense the beasts just ignore this and change automatically as soon as they're able going into the stretch likely due to fatigue on the left lead. Let's remember that the left lead both in bone and muscular terms received an improper warm up, and so, it's hardly a surprise they quickly fatigue on the left (provided you understand the physiology of warm up and its effects).

I've tried a lot of things to get a later lead change into the stretch. First, I do absolutely nothing to signal a change to the right, and, I might actually try to whip or urge the horse a little faster to continue on its left. I might hold the neck and head a little to the right to make changing harder. But, my beasts almost always automatically switch much earlier than I want.

Once the switch to the right lead is made the rider is looking at a long straight away with potential traffic, and we want to negotiate this at steady speed to maintain this 2m clip workout into the Clubhouse turn finishing at the 5f. Long way to go yet right there at the 3/16 pole. Lot can happen.

Horse's seem to have maximum concentration around the lead change and a few bounds past, and, without proper signals or other stimulation there is a tendency for the horse to float along instead of purposely gallop late in the stretch. My aim is to catch this relaxation on the horse's part and exert any proper urging by whip or voice exactly when necessary. A brush of the whip on the horse's front right shoulder will generally get a burst of enthusiasm for the next two or three strides. I also use voice to let the horse know I am with him and monitoring him--and this is another reason why I am a bit mystified by the almost total lack of voice in the jock cam vids. I tend to be chirping at my horse at appropriate times and from my experience I believe they actually relate to voice and understand. "Good boy" means something to the horse trained to understand that command.

On around the Club House Turn to the end of the work, next post.