For as long as this debate has occasionally raised its head (and we must be talking well over three decades now), I’ve always wondered whether the trainers of the better horses in particular school their horses over a water jump at home, and if not, why not.
It isn’t as if the bigger training centres don’t have the resources (they appear to be able to knock up Aintree-style fences for their National aspirants readily enough), and a horse thought or shown to be good enough to go chasing at Cheltenham or Sandown is going to encounter a water – that can’t be swerved.
The safety of these jumps’ design should, rightly, never not be subject to continuous review, and a more tapered exit from the water – rather than a tray or lip that a horse can catch its hind legs on – is an absolute prerequisite as far as I’m concerned. Ultimately, however, there is a shared responsibility and accountability here – trainers as well as racecourses. I don’t believe it should all rest upon the latter.
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.