Derby day is this weekend!!!

U.S.A.
1. Heart pounding nerve wrenching speed races that are run in the right direction.
2. Baseball
3. Football

Euros
1. Very long rather dull races with picket fences that are run in the wrong direction.
2. Cricket
3. Rugby

Now choose
This is not a very hard decision.

Right dog and I am sure that if someone offered you a gift of a $100,000 horse or a $50 Million dollar horse, you would pick the $100,000 horse because it had wider talent.

What is "The Greatest"...what does that actually mean, does that mean the horse is fast and can do tricks? or does it pertain to being the best at what it was trained to do in an event that is viewed by most as the pinnacle of horse racing events.

The marathon is interesting and so is the strong man contest but they have nothing to do with "The 100 yard dash" and since the 100 yard dash draws more interest than the other two...then "The Greatest" is the fastest man in the 100 yard dash. Not taking anything away from the marathon man or the strong man it's just that they have their own events and they are of less interest than the fastest man in the world. There is a lot of talk about the speed and agility of the cheetahs, the leopards and such...but there is little talk about how far a grasshopper can jump.

Some automobiles are built for rally racing and some are built for the Indy 500 racing...there is a lot of talk about the Indy 500 winner even though the race is run on just an oval and little talk about some rally winner...now you could stir up some controversy as to which driver has more skill...but who cares...the Indy 500 is the event of interest and the driver is known as the driver of speed.

In the states we have Gold Cup boat racing in which boats will attain an average speed of over 149 mph and horsepowers of over 3,700 and is the most dangerous of sports because of the extremely high ratio of drivers killed...it is run on an oval course and is lefthanded. We have the derby's which are run on ovals lefthanded. We have the Indy 500 on an oval lefthanded. Olympic runners run lefthanded. Air speed races are run lefthanded, even Merry-Go Rounds are lefthanded. Yes I guess that Alaskan dog sled races are run flat and straight...but who cares! If they go around then they go counter clockwise, Even in Britain two thirds of your race courses have switched to counter clockwise racing.

I can tell you that Chip Hanauer won 11 Gold Cup boat races...but I cant even tell you who won one North American outboard boat drag race...in fact I never even heard of the North American Outboard Drag Race until a few days ago, but I witnessed many Gold Cup races as did the majority of boat racing fans because it is the prestigious boat race.

Just because you drive on the wrong side of the road doesn't mean your horses should run the wrong way around a track Which way is the best side to drive on? try driving on the right side of the road for a couple of weeks dog, and you will see that the rest of the Brit's are going the wrong way.

In Britain I can understand why you judge greatness of your horses if the horse can run both ways...because you have two different running tracks...but in the United States we don't need to do that since all the race courses here run the correct way.

Think lefthanded dog and you will be accepted by more fans.

Look mate, all of that is all well and good, but think about this.

Anyone who has progressed beyond beginner level of horse riding is well aware that horses are as left and right handed as people. There is no proper way as you claim. So there is every possibility that somewhere in the US there is a horse that is capable of going even faster than your current hero, if only it got to run right handed. You will never know. Your fastest horse could be one of your also rans and you are missing it. direction of running can make a tremendous difference. Of course a truly great horse will do both. But again, you will never know.

I'm not sure how much sense this makes to an American audience. I see alot of bad general riding over there (films/tv) and I have US friends who confirm that that is how they ride. Specifically, the attitude seems to be kick it in the ribs and yank the reins. To anyone trained in the European style this seems quite brutal (I express no personal opinion, I am merely reporting what I have seen and heard). There is no way anyone who rides like that can understand balance and coordination in the horse, you have to be in tune with the horse, that is a sympathetic rider, in order to feel those things. When you feel those things you understand their importance. You can then interpolate that information to race horses and understand its importance.

Let me tell you about one hour of riding I had. I am not good enough to be let loose on highly trained dressage horses, well not normally. But one day at the riding school I was attending I was allowed onto such a horse for a full hour's lesson. It was a total dream. Because the horse could interpret the very small movements you make when you prepare to give it a riding aid, the experience was like it was reading my mind. I thought of what I wanted and the horse did it it. In the process I learnt more about equine balance and coordination than the whole of the rest my riding career. I cannot put aside that experience. And those lessons do apply to any horse, including race horses. So forgive me if I keep arguing, I just can't ignore what I have learnt.

So that is the basic problem with your comment about being accepted by fans. I am not simply a fan. I am also an experienced rider, and sadly mere fans do not have the necessary experince of horse movement to know what they are talking about.

So, yes, somewhere in the US there may be a greater horse, and you will never know. Are you really happy that that might happen?

One other thing, commentators on US racing (your commentators) frequently refer to horses not changing leading legs when they enter the stretch. And this is said as a criticism. In other words they are implying that leading with the right leg is more normal, which is of course the wrong leg for a left hand bend. If left was really correct there would be no need for a horse to change legs in that way, it implies that just as with humans most horses are right legged and would therefore be better suited to running right handed.

Totally different question. I have heard, so it may be wrong, so don't shout at me, but I have heard that some US jockeys only know how to race ride and are not more general riders. Is that true?

Is that why your race horses are ponied to the start? Our horses are cantered to the start unaccompanied. This rarely causes a problem, even for that one race a year where the start is 2 miles 6 furlongs away, in a different county, and reached by riding over open heathland, not the safe confines of an enclosed track.

Just curious. I'm sure many of your jockeys are more general horsemen and could do the same if they so desired. But like I said, I have heard that there are others who would not be able to do this, and that story could be wrong. Heresay is a terrible thing.

Well dog it appears that your experience with horses is much greater than anyone on this forum...to my knowledge the only experience here is going up to the betting window. What you say makes sense, but the problem here about a horse that might even run faster in the other direction will go on deaf ears, because we only run them in one direction and so there is no need to look for a opposite direction speed runner. However what you write is very interesting. It appears that you have had some nice rides and know a lot about horses. If what you say is true then I guess that it would make sense to have one or two clockwise tracks here. Hehe it would be interesting to see the bettors using the form and then betting them in the opposite direction.

Nice rides? Let me tell you about two of them.

The term counter canter means cantering around a turn leading on the wrong leg. An athletic horse can do this no problem. One day I was in an indoor school on something that had more in common with a cart horse. Not athletic and absolutely no coordination. I wasn't supposed to be doing a counter canter but one momentary lapse of concentration and I gave the command the wrong way round. First I knew about it was when the damn thing got it's front legs crossed and fell on it's side, me with it. Hilarious in retrospect, but we could both have been injured, and if that meant a broken leg for the horse that would have been a bullet from the vet. But if you ever need a graphic illustration of the importance of leading with correct leg that would be it.

I once part owned a horse with the wife and a friend. This horse was a complete bitch. Dumped all three of us more times than we can remember. One day I was on my own in the woods. Mistake. The horse spooked and dived off the track into the woods. Think branches. Think branches at horse head height. So there I am, arms round it's neck hanging on for dear life trying to duck the branches. Eventually we come to a ditch, the horse jumps it and a branch wipes me off. The horse bogs off. So I pick myself up and trudge back to the stables with bits of grass and twig sticking out of my clothes and hair with the intent of organising a search party. When I got there, everyone took one look and doubled up in laughter. "Where have you been? The horse came back twenty minutes ago!". Being a family forum I merely point out that the air was blue with what I said and shall refrain from repeating it.

Very entertaining post RacingDog...lol. Thanks for sharing the information (counter canter) and your story. I use to ride western style many years ago and loved every minute of it.

ps We don't KICK them (a gentle quick squeeze works) or YANK the reins (that's in the movies) We are actually taught to hold the reins loosely. A well trained horse responds nicely to gentle rein commands. We do ride English style as well here in the US.

__________________
Real poker players don't cry....

The FLOP determines how good your hole cards are!!

visit me at http://www.myspace.com/tzucanow

Thank you for that Cat.

Well you see how stereotypes happen. Films have a lot to answer for. A friend in TX says when she was a kid that was exactly how she rode, kick and yank. But then she never had any proper training in any style of riding. I know it's not like on the movies for most people, I was, coughs, clears throat in embarrassed fashion, just on the wind up looking for a bite.

But I am interested as to where this thing of race horses being ponied comes from. As I said, I have heard less than complementary rumours which I am loathe to believe. But, seriously, apart from literally one or two problem horses, it just doesn't happen anywhere in Europe. Cultural differences are endlessly fascinating, so if anyone knows the real answer I would love to hear it.