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A few questions…
– Why use cheek-pieces instead of blinkers?
– Why use a visor instead of blinkers?
– What exactly is an eye shield?
– Why are horses fitted with tongue ties?I’d genuinely be interested to know, why one is favoured above the other. Input from people who work with horses and know about these things would be especially appreciated. Thanks.
The tongue tie is used for two reasons.
One is to stop horses putting their tongue over the bit.
Secondly and more commonly it is to position and hold the tongue for optimum airflow. as some horses allow the tongue to partially obstruct their airway. It is particularly used on horses who have Dorsal Displacement of the Soft Palate, as part of a strategy often in conjunction with surgery or cauterisation of the soft palate.
Shhhhhhhhhhhoooosh
You should never mention the cheeky cheekpieces, otherwise everyone will want in on the action.
Shhhhhhhhhhhoooosh
You should never mention the cheeky cheekpieces, otherwise everyone will want in on the action.
It’s not like they’re not easy to spot. Not unless there’s a variation of thoroughbred with mutton chop sideburns that I’m not aware of.
Shhhhhhhhhhhoooosh
You should never mention the cheeky cheekpieces, otherwise everyone will want in on the action.
It’s not like they’re not easy to spot. Not unless there’s a variation of thoroughbred with mutton chop sideburns that I’m not aware of.
Quite a few trainers use brown ones now which are much less obvious.
Of course the cheekpieces now have to be declared, but it wasn’t always so, and miraculous improvements were often credited to the surprise fitment of cheekpieces..
More recently you could declare with a visor and change to blinkers or sheepskin cheekpieces without further notification.
Maybe that is still the case?An eye shield is a blinker with the cup over each eye made of mesh rather than a solid material. So the horse has almost full vision, but his eyes are protected from kickback, hence the use of an eye shield in AW racing.
My trainer fitted a tongue tie on my current hurdler, Langley, after noticing that he was swallowing his tongue whilst riding upsides in work at home. We hoped this explained why he had cut out and dropped away quickly in his first two races. But he ran even worse!
I did own a horse many years ago that won by six lengths the first time he wore blinkers – he was a 4-y-old maiden prior to that race – but with hindsight I’d say now that he won because we’d found the right race and ideal conditions for him and that the blinkers probably made no difference at all.
Much of the time, I reckon headgear is fitted as a sign of desperation, an acknowledgement that the it’s better to try something, anything, to improve your chances of a win. And if the horse does happen to win, the trainer will be very reluctant to go back to running without headgear.
AP
It’s not like they’re not easy to spot. Not unless there’s a variation of thoroughbred with mutton chop sideburns that I’m not aware of.
"With the cheekpieces and that noseband on, he looks like he’s eating a sheep"
– Eddie Williams, Point-to-Point commentator
Add my thanks for the posting of the Johnston headgear article, btw.
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.
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