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Stirrups too short?! Tongue in Cheek!

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Guest 2Admin2
17 minutes ago, poundforpound said:

How does that story relate to his stirrup length ?, other than that you want to drag everyone down for reasons only you understand.

Tongue in cheek you sensitive soul.  My word we are sensitive at the moment.  All there big full moons causing you problems?

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Guest 2Admin2
10 minutes ago, poundforpound said:

You changed the title retrospectively after I posted, because yet again you showed you’re bitter and twisted about anyone and everyone who’s made it in Racing.

 

 

FFS it was tongue in cheek!  Everyone is laughing even Jason.  Thankfully neither horse nor jockey were hurt.  

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Guest 2Admin2

Actually it reminds me of the time I was mainsheet on a yacht out of Port Nic.  The bowman went forward on starboard and we went suddenly to port.

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Tongue in cheek? Maybe in this example but maybe not so much. I’ve driven draught horse, ridden show ponies, hunters, gallopers and in point-to-points and don’t in any way consider myself a world authority but I’ve watched this scenario for some time and like others am increasingly frustrated by postponements and abandoned meetings for seemingly trivial reasons in some cases. Yes, I know all about safety first but while racehorses travel at speed there is no more danger there than kids from 5 or 6 years of age riding showjumpers jumping maybe 100 hurdles in a day in a restricted arena and against the clock, or ODE cross-country courses which are never abandoned regardless of the weather.

So ! 40-50 years ago it was rare to find a jockey who stood over 5Ft 3 ins. Nowadays it’s rare to find one under that and some are getting up around the 5’9” – 5’10” mark. Therefore they are naturally heavier than their former counterparts. Coupled with the fact that they ride much shorter and on tippy-toes their centre of gravity is much higher than yesteryear which must effect their balance, especially in a split-second situation of a horse slipping. One of the first things we ever learnt on horseback was gripping with your knees. We rode bareback for years before we were considered competent enough to ride in a saddle. We then had pennies under our knees to ensure gripping with the knees was the most important thing in riding for obvious reasons. Not one jockey grips with their knees these days. In fact, because they are heavier their saddles are little more than a sliver of cardboard and their knees never even touch the saddle pads. This brings me to “hands and heels”. No such thing as a jockey kicking their mount these days. You simply cannot kick with your heels or move your lower leg unless your knees are fixed and this never happens. Sometimes heels move slightly but, as they ride so high, they do little more than rub against the girth or number cloth. Then we have this tippy-toe thing. Don’t tell me this was instigated as a safety measure because that’s B/S. Put your feet right home, grip with your knees, kick the horse and ride him out to the finish. This round-arm whip action isn’t helping the balance of a horse one bit. I think Terry Mosely is the only one I see these days riding with his feet right home. Maybe CJ some times. Look back at pre-2000 videos and see Peake, Andrews, Skeltons, Hughes and Mudford hunker down and drive to the finish in true hands and heels fashion. I’m not saying todays jockeys aren’t good judges of pace and can feel how much a horse has under them, I’m saying that these postponements are not all down to poor track management. I believe ‘over-reaction’ is a factor also. In every aspect of life today, everyone is responsible but no-one is accountable. If jockeys were better ‘riders’ the odd slip by a horse wouldn’t have such far-reaching connotations. I think the industry is sadly getting soft.

 This is just MHO.

Just as an aside I seem to recall a pic in the old Hoofbeats magazine of Ngati and Steven Proud probably about 15 or 16 year old apprentices. The caption referred to Ngati being, in today’s terms, about 35kgs wringing wet and his boss had to carry his saddle and lead bag because he could barely manage it making minimum weight which was probably about 48kgs at the time. Many may ask “what the hell is a leadbag?” Those were the days.

 

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4 hours ago, Blue said:

Tongue in cheek? Maybe in this example but maybe not so much. I’ve driven draught horse, ridden show ponies, hunters, gallopers and in point-to-points and don’t in any way consider myself a world authority but I’ve watched this scenario for some time and like others am increasingly frustrated by postponements and abandoned meetings for seemingly trivial reasons in some cases. Yes, I know all about safety first but while racehorses travel at speed there is no more danger there than kids from 5 or 6 years of age riding showjumpers jumping maybe 100 hurdles in a day in a restricted arena and against the clock, or ODE cross-country courses which are never abandoned regardless of the weather.

So ! 40-50 years ago it was rare to find a jockey who stood over 5Ft 3 ins. Nowadays it’s rare to find one under that and some are getting up around the 5’9” – 5’10” mark. Therefore they are naturally heavier than their former counterparts. Coupled with the fact that they ride much shorter and on tippy-toes their centre of gravity is much higher than yesteryear which must effect their balance, especially in a split-second situation of a horse slipping. One of the first things we ever learnt on horseback was gripping with your knees. We rode bareback for years before we were considered competent enough to ride in a saddle. We then had pennies under our knees to ensure gripping with the knees was the most important thing in riding for obvious reasons. Not one jockey grips with their knees these days. In fact, because they are heavier their saddles are little more than a sliver of cardboard and their knees never even touch the saddle pads. This brings me to “hands and heels”. No such thing as a jockey kicking their mount these days. You simply cannot kick with your heels or move your lower leg unless your knees are fixed and this never happens. Sometimes heels move slightly but, as they ride so high, they do little more than rub against the girth or number cloth. Then we have this tippy-toe thing. Don’t tell me this was instigated as a safety measure because that’s B/S. Put your feet right home, grip with your knees, kick the horse and ride him out to the finish. This round-arm whip action isn’t helping the balance of a horse one bit. I think Terry Mosely is the only one I see these days riding with his feet right home. Maybe CJ some times. Look back at pre-2000 videos and see Peake, Andrews, Skeltons, Hughes and Mudford hunker down and drive to the finish in true hands and heels fashion. I’m not saying todays jockeys aren’t good judges of pace and can feel how much a horse has under them, I’m saying that these postponements are not all down to poor track management. I believe ‘over-reaction’ is a factor also. In every aspect of life today, everyone is responsible but no-one is accountable. If jockeys were better ‘riders’ the odd slip by a horse wouldn’t have such far-reaching connotations. I think the industry is sadly getting soft.

 This is just MHO.

Just as an aside I seem to recall a pic in the old Hoofbeats magazine of Ngati and Steven Proud probably about 15 or 16 year old apprentices. The caption referred to Ngati being, in today’s terms, about 35kgs wringing wet and his boss had to carry his saddle and lead bag because he could barely manage it making minimum weight which was probably about 48kgs at the time. Many may ask “what the hell is a leadbag?” Those were the days.

 

CWJ still rides with his foot in, as do Bowman and Pike across the ditch.

Karen Parsons makes her apprentices ride with their feet in, both Comignahi and Jogoo are riding well.

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Guest 2Admin2

I'd like to know what difference it makes to a horses chance.  

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