It’s All In The Mind

[scallywag76]

I find the subject of sports psychology fascinating and there is no doubt that, at a given time, the state of mind of either an individual sportsman / woman or a team has significant part to play in determining the level to which they perform. However, how important is equine psychology as a governor of racehorse performance and how much is known about it?

The mental state of a horse may sometimes seem obvious when it displays traits that we might describe as wayward but what of the many horses that are less demonstrative?

‘That will have given him a nice little confidence booster’ or words to that effect are often used but is there any hard evidence that horses do gain confidence from a certain situation and as a result go on to repeat or improve their own level of ability?

Could it be that the recent Totesport Bowl at Aintree gave us some insights? Our Vic has not always seemed the steeliest of characters but came to Aintree having battled his way to victory up the Cheltenham hill and displayed some grit to get back up on the line. Kauto Star, having dominated the scene for some time, tasted defeat at Cheltenham and did little to erase that memory here. Exotic Dancer has, for the most part, seemed a shadow of the horse he was last season – have repeated defeats taken their toll?

If only Thommo could be taught to speak ‘horse’ and stick that microphone somehwere interesting for a change!

[cormack15]

I know where I’d like Thommo to stick his microhone (clue – he wouldn’t have to have anyone else around to accomplish the feat)

[Himself]

Confidence in all sports is very important.

When a jockey is lacking confidence it usually shows up in his performance. Likewise the horse, I would suggest.

Though, ability is a necessary component to success.

Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning

[cormack15]

Scallywag –

It is indeed a subject of great interest. Certain horses, for whatever reason be it either physiological or psychological, do seem to have an ‘attitude’ which is more conducive to racing. Most racing buffs would look at a horse like Katchit and attribute positive traits to him regarding his ‘gameness’ or attitude. The performances of a horse like Harchibald on the other hand would often draw the criticism that he was ‘ungenuine’. Some horse do indeed become serial losers or runners up, often when appearing to have the race(s) at their mercy. If you could unlock the keys to that puzzle you would find yourslef in demand globally.

Very interesting and largely untapped field of study. I’m sure half an hour with Aidan O’Brien or Henry Cecil would teach us a great deal about the realities of racehorse psychology.

Here is a link to an interesting discussion on the psychology of the horse. The section on ‘horse memory’ (claiming it is second only to elephants) is particularly interesting.

http://extension.missouri.edu/explore/agguides/ansci/g02862.htm

[Zoz]

Cheers for the link Corm – will look it over post-chat quiz!

It’s interesting the amount of people questioning Kauto’s psychological state after the GC – but he had been beaten I believe a few times over in France before coming over here and establishing the record he did. One thing that DOES stretch my imagination too far regarding racehorses psychology is their knowing the importance of the grade of race they’re winning, or indeed not winning!

[Author]

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