Do racehorses go faster when you take a hold of their mouth?
I’ve heard that. (Sorry for the bit of an ignorant question).
My first horse ever, OTTB (oh, he was awesome) would do that. Someone told me that is what they are trained to do.
So, I guess to pull them up, it’s stronger hold and the jockey/exercise rider making their body more upright?
Tx.
Hi there SC!
Well, in theory, yes Its is hard to describe, but the biggest difference is the rider’s position. In the morning, when we are jogging or galloping, we are standing a lot taller over the horse and our stirrups are usually about 5 or 6 holes longer. When we go to work a horse we “get down over them” like jockeys and try to get them to take a hold on the bit (but not letting them grab the bit and pull us around). Often in races you will see an experienced horse allowed to relax on the backstretch, the jockey usually has a little slack in the reins and the horse is clocking around content with his/her position in the race, then around the turn they take a hold and sit lower over the horse, and of course after the wire the jockeys stand up in the stirrups and relax their hold on the reins, and once the pressure is off the horse slows. Most of the time in the mornings on easy gallops, I have a pretty snug hold on 'em, but there isn’t any pressure on them to run fast.
You are right about taking a hold of one off the track and them speeding up, they are probably expecting to be pressured and pushed. That is my unintelligent guess anyways.
Amazing how much our position effects a horse.
Well, I hope my post is understandable! It is hard to explain :lol:
“after the wire the jockeys stand up in the stirrups and relax their hold on the reins, and once the pressure is off the horse slows”
Thanks so much, dear Angelico ! Yes, it made sense. 
OK, I just learned you loosen up to slow up. I don’t think I quite realized that, although thinking about it - that is what you always see.
Now taking a hold when you go faster, does that also hold their gait together, prevent stumbling, drifting, clipping heels & all? Or is it more of just a go signal?
I very much appreciate your always helpful & kind answers.
Sonoma
Now you are giving me too much credit! I promise, I’ll prove myself dumb in another area 
Yes! You pretty much said it better than I could, it’s like jumping, you have the shorter rein and increased contact in case you need it. When the footing is really dry or loose it’s especially important to have a good hold on them.
Lol, emphasis on “in theory.” Lucky MAY pick up the pace, especially if we’re out on the barn track, and I think he knows what’s expected, but his response is definitely “Really? Seriously? Are you kidding?” (Old OTTB hit the afterburners the minute you touched his mouth.)
The horse does not ‘go faster when you take up the reins.’
You take up the reins when you want them to go faster.
It is a pavlovian learning response.
You relax, stand up, loop the reins when you are ‘finished’ (after the wire, or whatever) and want them to go slower.
Again, simple conditioning response.
Not ‘trained that way!’ on some sort of weird purpose.
Think about when you go to ask your little school pony to ‘trot on!’ What is the first instruction from your coach?
‘Shorten your reins!’
Same idea.
At any rate, if you are on an OTTB fresh from the track and they get quick on you and you grab hold to try to slow them down you are very likely to get run off with!
So the moral of the story is do NOT take a hold for more than a stride or two! Take and give, one rein then the other. Take to slow them down then throw the contact away. Basically it takes two to pull.
Anyway, they need to be re-educated in how to respond to pressure on the reins. That is why it usually takes an experienced rider to reschool them.:yes:
^^^^this is exactly right. It takes 2 to pull.
It is not a matter of strength, but of finesse. You will never out pull one, you must out smart them. I was never very strong, but was good at holding a tough one.
Was well known for being able to pony a dirty tough run off as well, which is even trickier, as you are on a horse next to them, not on them and they have no bit in their mouth.
How do you stop them mid-race (i.e. breakdown) when the adrenalin is going? Not trying to be gruesome, but it seems like it would be a very difficult thing to do yet jockies can get those horses stopped very quickly. Pulley-rein? Or do they have other tricks? I figure if you can stop that, you can stop anything.
Pulley rein, keep head up until horse is slowed down , or if all else fails, hope and pray the outrider is close by.
After crossing the wire when racing, most horses are tired, so that does not equate with dropping the reins to slow them down. It usually is a cue, but not every horse will respond to that. There are plenty of horses that will continue to want to go forward, and hopefully the jock is strong enough to pull them up.
As far as morning training, you will have your tough horses, no matter what. Some will relax when you loosen the reins, and some will run off. Same with lengthening your stirrups, works for some, others will leave you yelling for an outrider. Dropping the reins on some horses will not be enough to pull them up, sometimes (and often) it will really take some brute strength to slow these guys down.
Most racehorses are schooled as babies to take hold of the bridle. They learn to lean against a riders hands, the thought is to make them work a little harder rather than galloping around the track with their heads in the air. As they mature, some learn to gallop in a relaxed hold, while being fit enough to keep their fitness per say.
What you will see when watching a race is typically a horse early on will run with a longer rein, then the jock takes up the slack to push on the horse…so hands will change position from the withers to higher on the horses neck, cueing the horse and urging him forward.
To try and answer the question about pulling up a horse who’s injured, it does take strength, and if you watch tapes of races when a horse breaks down you will see the jock taking a hold and pulling back for all he or she is worth. Dropping the reins at this point would be counter productive as the horse will probably lower their heads and fall. There is really no “trick”…there may be some see sawing going on, but no different than trying to get a runaway horse to slow down. Of course the one rein stop is not going to work on a horse that has an injury, recipe for disaster.
[QUOTE=Eventer13;6202482]
How do you stop them mid-race (i.e. breakdown) when the adrenalin is going?[/QUOTE]
Adrenalin is present in both horse and rider. And when you notice your horse is off - alarm bells ring, no?! The rider pulls up for all their worth – saving the horse becomes the all encompassing goal. Doesn’t have to be a jockey on a racetrack. You take care of your baby no matter how old.
I think it can be confusing to explain. Racehorses do have brakes and it’s not just a loose rein chucked at them. You can slow down their galloping by pulling on the reins or drop to a jog by pulling on the reins. But, just like most horses, a loose rein usually means nothing major is going on. Gathering up the reins and taking a contact means something is about to start…lots of nonracehorses can get tense when you shorten your reins at a walk and want to trot off. That response is just amplified in the racehorse because the “something” about to happen has always been pretty darn exciting and explosive and the more intensive/fast the work or gallop, the more contact and control you need. So a much bigger reaction than your school pony who has figured out shortened reins mean “lets trot”. The racehorse thinks “they’re off!!!”. At that stage, without any leverage of short stirrups or big arm muscles, your pulls are pretty much ignored and the OTTB tanks off with you out of rudeness or excitablity, but not because he doesn’t know what pulling in a slow down way means!
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