Fortunately I agree! I just have a very special annoyance for ignorant people on SM…yes, I end up annoyed quite a lot😅
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That was self defense, not abuse. The horse got dangerously aggressive and got physically corrected for it, there is nothing else to do in the moment. If the pony horse had been able to get ahold of him he would have been hurt a lot more, I am quite sure. The outrider lept both horses safe. And the colt seems fine with the barn staff so maybe it’s a once off incident, who knows.
There is a large contingent of people who spend too much time online looking for things to criticize. They are often wrong and the whole exercise is just self-serving in their need to feel smug and superior. I have a good friend who has gotten sucked into this since working at home and she no longer can enjoy anything in life as she is paralyzed with the need to not be judged or blamed. The only one doing the judging is her. It really is ruining her marriage and social life completely though.
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CBD? 
That jockey was getting there no matter what. He knew he had the horse! 
It was good of you to note the necessity of Maryland colors on the pauldrons. The attire could be improved with a state flag on the shaffron.
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She flips out on occasion and attacks innocent people. It’s your turn.
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There is more focus on about 3 minutes of excited, amped up horse trying to eat the pony and the outrider… and condemnation of the outrider… than an amazing tactical ride by Leon and awesome performance by said nibbler. Once RS got clipped up and was able to move forward he was fine.
Those who say this never happens unless the outrider instigates it or whatever - there is a reason stable ponies who take horses to the gate have leather “shields” on their shoulders.
Those who are so aggrieved by this - hate on me. I have a scar from being bitten on my calf by a young colt who was arguing with a pasture buddy and losing the argument. I went to rescue the sweaty, anxious guy, haltered him and clipped up to take him out of there. Pasture buddy was at that point nowhere near him and being held by someone else. As we went through the gate, he was trying to jig past me and I told him whoa softly and gave him a very slight check on the line - no shanking, no shouting. The colt dropped his head and walked forward calmly, then suddenly snaked down and grabbed my leg HARD. YES - I yelled. YES - I popped him one in the nose HARD at least twice - he finally let go - and I marched at him, backing him up about 20 feet. We paused. Settled. And walked on, halting and then walking on again a few times to make his brain was out of rage mode and he was tuned in. Pats for being calm and listening and relaxing… as my leg throbbed like a… well, it hurt like hell.
At the emergency room they kept asking me what bit me - and I said a colt… then realized they were probably thinking of a cute little fuzzy foal… so I changed it to stallion. Massive crush injury - skin barely broken - bruising, infection and swelling wrapped around my leg from the knee down. 25 years later - I still have a rippled, discolored purplish scar about the size of a cookie.
So yeah, I, Smoofox the Terrible (all 5’4" of me) viciously abused a 17 hand mountain of aggravated, upset muscle for about 2 minutes - maybe less. Shame on me.
The colt did not suffer from my evil cruelty, never reacted that way again and later went on to a successful show career. He was also gelded at some point.
I have been kicked and bitten over the years - and that bite was far worse than any kick.
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Really!!! @Fred? I never knew!! Amazing and awesome!! That song has been my light during some foaling seasons… sitting in the quiet of the darkened barn… waiting…
“You’ve no business buying a mare like that, but buy her if you must.”
He bit the end off his cigar and spat it in the dust.
"She’s old and lame and barren, too
She’s not worth feed and hay
But I’ll give you this," - he blew smoke at me -
“She was something in her day.”
"I recall her well ten years ago; she was a winner in her prime.
She was fast and lean and willing, but they raced her past her time.
And though she had the heart, her legs were gone,
And it wasn’t hard to see - they kept her at it
In the hopes of just one more small victory."
"She was shunted 'round from track to track, from Kentucky up to Maine.
They’d run her in cheap claimers, all doped up to mask her pain.
And if it’s my advice you want I’d say, the poor thing’s had her day
You’d be throwing good cash after bad. It’s best you turn away."
Well they led her 'round the auction shed, and the bidding started low.
“She’ll go for dog food,” someone said, “the market’s been that slow.”
But she raised her head and pricked her ears, and before the hammer fell…
She was mine.
My friend turned round to me “You’re soft-hearted - I can tell.”
“But she’s been shoved from pillar to post,” said I, "And always done her best.
They used her up, they wrung her dry; you’d think she’d earned a rest.
So if she does not naught but end her days beneath some shady tree,
I’ll have saved her from the knacker’s yard, and that’s good enough for me."
Well, that was near two years ago, she’s filled out some since then.
The more so since she’s been in foal, she eats enough for ten.
And this morn as I crept to the barn around 'bout half past three,
There stood nursing on still trembling legs, one more small victory…
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I actually bet on him just watching his jiggy self and conformation.
I suspect he’ll get many breedings because of this spectacular win. Most of the breeders will want race horses, and this guy delivered. I’m afraid no one will really care that he was aggressive towards the ponying horse. He won as a total surprise. End of story to racehorse breeders.
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Are breeders supposed to care about 30 seconds of aggression towards a strange horse?
It’s a snapshot in time that is in no way indicative of temperament.
People are really making too much of this.
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I was at the equine specialty clinic a week ago getting a pastern ultrasound on my 12.2 donkey that drives. We were chatting afterwards and sweetie cakes reached over and nipped my hand, I felt her teeth. With an open palm and extended arm I spanked the side of her nose, the sound echoed in the exam area. Donkey took one step away and stood there, quietly. The veterinarian, who is consulted nationally, said “Look at her, she knew she was wrong.”
While she’s not an adrenaline & testosterone filled 3 year old stallion coming off a race, the precious syndrome- being told one too many times how sweet you are- can be just as problematic and create dangerous behaviors that must be corrected.
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Oh dear, @SLW… you have joined me on the Naughty Bench.
Agreed.
Especially about the outrider being cruel… mean… abusive…
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My railbird friend and I have a longstanding tradition when we go to the races together. We put WPS bets on the horse with the longest odds in the field in the feature race… we would have done well on the Derby! 
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I love how Eric Reed can’t stop giving his whole team credit. He sounded almost as happy that the jockey would be known now as that his horse won, and in another interview I saw kept bringing it back to the barn crew and his wife. I hope this turns into more success for all of them.
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Since the whole internet is intent on making the outrider the big story I want to share my opinion on that. I do not have a problem at all with what the outrider did to protect himself and his horse. I do however think he should have just let the horse go once he started acting up like he was. Even before he put the lead rope on, just let him go. There was a rider on his back so he wasn’t running around uncontrollably if he let him go. Donna Brothers wasn’t getting anywhere near him on her pony so he didn’t need to hold him.
Edited to add, I didn’t mean to make it sound like the outrider was in the wrong for not letting him go, just that this is one of the few times when I think letting go would have been better. I actually got 24 hours in FB jail for bullying because I said the horse needed to be smacked so I obviously supported his decision to get him off of his pony by any means necessary
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Right, that makes sense, but maybe letting him go when he is attacking you may not have helped, he would still have kept coming at him, now loose to attack more, if the jockey could not control him either?
I do think you are right, the jockey may have taken over once loose and redirect colt to other task, we are forgetting there was a jockey on board.
It was a situation that was over the top, things were happening that normally don’t and hard to guess, even for the best pony rider, as that one surely is as he has that top job, even an experienced pony rider can be overwhelmed for a bit while trying to manage there.
In a way all this is taking away from the great race the colt and it’s jockey managed.
That was an amazing race. 
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I’m not really afraid! The guy pulled out the goods. End of story. His foals likely will not have that aggressiveness because that’s breeding and it won’t matter if they do if they can run like this guy did.
Can we go back to marveling at the fairy tale that was this race? I’m just enamored with the horse, his trainer, his jockey, his owner, his barn team, and the story. I’m super excited that it turns out I got a photo of him on April 29 when I was at Churchill during workouts. I snapped some terrible photos just to capture the moment and one of them is him! I grew up going to Canterbury Downs in MN with my aunt, who was an exercise rider and then an assistant trainer for a while. Even with all it’s problems, I love racing and the sometimes amazing stories that come out of it.
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Not only that, her user name is from her stallion, A Fine Romance (known as “Fred” from Fred Astaire), who is, himself, the son of the mare in the song. IIRC the mare’s real name was Two Bitters. There is a little bit of poetic license, but it is basically a true story.
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no but I would like to, do you know if there is a replay somewhere?
yes, actually I think I read exactly that.
