So you're driving down a country lane, passing a horse and rider wide and slow......

TBH most motorists would just think "effing horses, shouldn't be on the roads".

PS. The view of my non-racing, horse-riding friends is that in most cases of a horse spooking/veering off course is that they would be concentrating too hard on controlling it with reins and legs (the latter aid not available to jockeys because of stirrup length) to risk taking a hand off the reins to hit it with the whip.

I think in Flat racing the 'need to hit it to keep it straight' argument is a little overplayed. I watch a LOT of racing and to be honest, most horses who run off a true line are usually one of the following:

a) veering AWAY from the use of the whip - so if the jockey stops whipping, the horse stops running sideways across the track. It certainly used to be in the Rules of Racing that in the case of a horse veering off a true line, the jockey should put his whip DOWN and use the reins to straighten it out, or face a potential careless riding ban.

b ) inexperienced/green (a lot of two year olds/maidens wander about, particularly if they hit the front. You wouldn't expect a jockey to be leathering an inexperienced two year old to the point where he has run out of his quota of hits in the first place. If he did, then a lot of trainers will soon stop putting him up on their young horses and he'll lose a damn sight more income from that than from a couple of whip bans.

c) dog tired and 'rolling' - in which case hitting it will achieve nothing; the horse is already giving its all.

The exception would be in jump races - which is one of the reasons why, as stated earlier, I feel jump jockeys will be at a disadvantage under the new rules. A horse might start to move away from a rival looming up beside it to make space for itself at the jump, or it might be focusing on something else and need a light "oy, concentrate, there's a fence coming up" tap to keep its mind on the job. I think it should have been incorporated that a slap down the shoulder with the whip, without the hands being lifted from the reins, on the approach to a hurdle/fence was still acceptable. That doesn't have the same visual appearance as "beating the poor horsey's backside with flailing whips" spectacle, which is the image racing is trying to avoid.

depends if the rider on said spooked horse exceeded their quota
Any more than 7 absolute no-no

Thanks for the reply Jezebel, forgot about the length of the stirrup which considering I have actually riden all be it only once was a bit of an oversight.

Agree 100% re the jumps though (I'm much more a NH fan anyway) but assuming some sort of rule is here to stay which I'm sure it will be what amends would you make to give 1) the jump guys a more level playing field and 2) the run in at Cartmel and Aintree is quite a bit longer than some other courses so however many strikes after the final fence is just a shambles

me3

In your case the horse veered because you had probably shown zero consideration, i.e drove by too fast,with your stupid fat exhaust blowing and your cd player belting out shlt rap music at full blast.

you did - sorry !