Newbie to racing forum with question about the "pony" horses at the track

[jengersnap]

[QUOTE=Carolinadreamin’;4098909]
OK, dumb question here. What’s with the flowers and other stuff woven into their manes? We saw so many different styles, especially in the Kentucky Derby.[/QUOTE]

Many pony people take great pride in their horses turnout. You see a lot that have their manes done up and gleaming tack for big races, particularly when they know they’ll be on national TV. Not so many do up manes at lower levels or for day to day ponying, but they still pull manes and keep them neat and trimmed, brushed to a gleam, great weight and shod.

[QUOTE=up-at-5;4098963]
What was the white tape or rope or whatever it was in some of the TB’s mouths? I noticed a few had it.[/QUOTE]

I’m going to guess you’re asking about the toungue tie, the purpose of which is to keep the toungue down and from going over the bit. It is said some horses risk “swallowing” their toungues without one but I’ve also read that is physically impossible and I’ve never witnessed an incident so…

[Linny]

Tongue ties keep the horse from getting the tongue over the bit. Some even “swallow” the tongue. (Not literally, but it can block respiration.) The ties are usually just cotton fabric, like a torn piece of a sheet. They cut them off right after the race.

On Belmont S. day the ponies all go out in green and white pom poms. I have a collection of the pom poms that I started gathering for my son when he was a baby.

[Acertainsmile]

[QUOTE=Seven-up;4098903]
Did Funny Cide ever pony horses in the races, or did he just work in the mornings?

He’s gotta be one of the most famous pony horses.[/QUOTE]

I’m about 99.9 percent sure that Funny Cide never ponied a horse in the afternoon. I just cant see Barclay or Robin risking that!

[Linny]

I love Larry Jones’ fast round palomino. There are a couple of ponies at Churchill that I’d love to ride.
The pony riders work very hard. Most are out there very early for training hours and then “do up” and get ready for the PM chores. I also have had the chance to see pony riders schooling their mounts in the morning. Those horses are trained.

[Patty_Stiller]

This was my personal pony at the tracks in California .‘Buzzing Rabbit’ was his quarter horse name.We called him Buzzard. He was a vintage 1970 model. He was always a ‘pony’ and did that from age 5 to 25. got him from a broke trainer for an overdue shoeing bill of 360 bucks. Yep. He was 19 when we got him and the best horse I have ever owned .
He worked as a pony (lightly) for us until he was 25, and then lived a retirement life with me doing a little very light trail riding until age 30, then totally retired on a friends private farm until he passed quietly away at 33.
This ‘unsung hero’ helped start and train more young thoroughbreds in his life than anyone could count. He had been kicked, bit, had colts jump on top of his saddle etc, and never blinked.
These hard working, underpaid track workers are privately owned by the pony riders or the trainers.

[up-at-5]

[QUOTE=Linny;4099477]
Tongue ties keep the horse from getting the tongue over the bit. Some even “swallow” the tongue. (Not literally, but it can block respiration.) The ties are usually just cotton fabric, like a torn piece of a sheet. They cut them off right after the race.

.[/QUOTE]

Thanks, I’d never seen those before.

on a side note:
I have a little 3yr old TB at home, 15hh, who has been called a “runt” by some…hmmm, not much smaller than MTB:lol:

[Larksmom]

sometimes size DOESN’T matter!

I seem to recall in Eventing, Marcus aurelius competed in '78 at the World Championships. He had only one stop.
The Brits had a ‘pony’ [hony?] in Show Jumping before that. His name was Stroller. Very good.
And of course, in racing, I think Northern Dancer was very small.

[Carolinadreamin]

On Belmont S. day the ponies all go out in green and white pom poms. I have a collection of the pom poms that I started gathering for my son when he was a baby.

How cool!

[Linny]

@Larksmom;4100366

I seem to recall in Eventing, Marcus aurelius competed in '78 at the World Championships. He had only one stop.
The Brits had a ‘pony’ [hony?] in Show Jumping before that. His name was Stroller. Very good.
And of course, in racing, I think Northern Dancer was very small.

The great Thodore O’Connor was pony sized and a champ as well. Most track ponies aren’t “ponies” by the stick. The term is an age old abbreviation of “pony horse” meaning a horse used to pony another horse. To “pony” of course means to lead a horse from the back of another. What many non racing regulars don’t realize is that the pony riders are in fact leading the racehorses. They are holding a shank and they are largely responsible for managing the racer.

BTW, did anyone see the pony ride for MTB rubbing his nose before the race yesterday.

[Halfhalting]

I did notice that !!! He rubbed his nose for quite a while, and both the pony rider and MTB seemed very at ease and happy with each other. I love seeing kindness like that.

[Acertainsmile]

Most pony people actually use a “pony strap or lead strap”, just a thin piece of leather that is slipped thru the bit, then they are handed off to one of the gate crew who loads the horse, and returns the strap after the break. Occasionally there will be a bad actor who goes to the post with a chain over his nose. (Had one of those!)

[pinkdiamondracing]

[QUOTE=jengersnap;4098764]
Not dumb! We have a “pony girl” (lady actually) who we pay to pony our horses in parade. She has a few horses, and in general we do not have to ask for anything special other then accompany our horses on the track, warm them up and hand them over to the gate crew. If she is committed to more then one horse in the race, she will decide which one she needs to personally accompany (usually the tougher one because she will know the horse better), and hand the other over to either someone who works for her and is using another of her ponys, or give or trade off with another pony person to take that race and she’d pay her for it or help out in another race.

There are times though that a pony person will know a horse is particularly tough and choose to use a particularly gutsy pony from their string, or a trainer may request the pony ask permission to accompany the horse in the saddling area or in the walking ring to keep them calm(er). Or a trainer can forego a pony altogether and leave the jockey alone in post parade. I personally find that cheaping out unless the horse absolutely is worse off with the pony, as a pony person can usually regulate the warmup easier and help the jockey and horse not do too much pre-race.

And lastly, some trainers do send their horses out to the track in the morning with a pony to exercise so they may meet there as well. Sometimes without tack, sometimes with, sometimes with a rider, often this all happens while starting the horse into race training or coming back from injury.

Hope that helps![/QUOTE]

I was going to post, but you’ve pretty much covered what we pony people do in a nutshell.
I will add that being a pony person is NOT as easy as it looks-- I have had horses flip over backwards, climb up in my saddle, and one even tried to breed my pony ( who incidentally was a gelding).
It is sometimes a thankless job, one of which doesn’t pay well, no insurance if you get hurt and a lot of times, we mostly are freelance contractors,so getting your money out of trainers can be difficult. I had a pony bill that took me over six months to collect from a very BNT.
It’s a tough job, but there are times I wouldn’t trade it for the world, like when the cheer goes up coming out of the tunnel @ Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby- which I have worked twice-- or on Bluegrass Day @ Keeneland when the atmosphere is a little like a civilized Mardi Gras.

[kookicat]

Very cool! We don’t have pony horses over here, so it’s really interesting to learn about them.

What breeds are they typically and how are they trained?

[EquineRacers]

Some of those gorgeous ponies, are ex racehorses! Its takes a good horse with a great mind to be a good pony horse. They must be tough enough to be pushed around by the racehorse and not chicken out, trained enough to neck rein well, sound enough to take a few horses, and honest enough not to do anything stupid while your working! LOL

I’ve had to help out poning when I worked for Salary at a couple barns and the pony was horrible! It would hit the breaks and try to go behind the horse I’ve poning, or it would take off and start hogging, and even sometimes it would spook and try to wheel to the right. HORRIBLE PONY!

Outrider ponies need to be even better! Very far and few inbetween make great outrider ponies. They need to be quick off the line and have awesome handling!

[jengersnap]

[QUOTE=EquineRacers;4103116]

Outrider ponies need to be even better! Very far and few inbetween make great outrider ponies. They need to be quick off the line and have awesome handling![/QUOTE]

All our outriders horses are thoroughbreds. I love trail riding with them, so sensible! Well, most of them. Heh heh. They all run down the beach and up hills nicely.

[EquineRacers]

I get beat up more when I pony horses then when I gallop them!

[twofatponies]

Do the outriders run the whole race, following behind the pack? I never noticed them, but I assume they don’t get shown much in the TV coverage.

[Linny]

Outriders take positions around the track and ride to the rescue of imperiled riders and catch loose horses. They don’t follow the pack around. In a 2 turn race usually one or two work by the gate then one rides up behind the race to the turn and the other goes up the homestretch to the “turn for home.” Their ponies are usually TB’s that were too slow to race or are retired.
Others are of assorted heritage. I’ve seen everything from QH’s to Saddle bred types. They need a very willing attitude, to accept training and to tolerate some wacky things. Really good ones take alot of the onus off of the rider because they learn to “work” the TB like a broke cow horse works his herd.

[Seven-up]

[QUOTE=Acertainsmile;4099478]
I’m about 99.9 percent sure that Funny Cide never ponied a horse in the afternoon. I just cant see Barclay or Robin risking that![/QUOTE]

Yeah, I went back and researched a little bit after I made my post, and apparently Tagg used Funny Cide as his personal horse in the AM. So he wasn’t a pony horse but a stable pony. I got my ponies mixed up!

[imissvixen]

I was wondering what kind of saddles the pony riders use. Is there a specific brand that people like?