Ken McPeek

[bdw0617]

trained the horse that spooked and hit the rail in the bourbon stakes at keeneland dropping JL.

At first i thought he might have saw something that hit the track, but on review, it looks like he spooked when he was hit with the whip, which was the first time he was ever hit with a whip in his life apparently.


http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/ ... z1aORxtOnd

“He’s a really good horse. He’d never been hit (with a crop) in his life. He’s so fast (that) we’ve never even had to lay a stick on him. I think he was shocked. Julien rolled the stick over and hit him right-handed, and the horse was just shocked. That scared him over the rail.

I mean make no mistake I don't profess to be Monty Roberts or antyhing, but i would think that's part of getting a horse ready for the races, no different than schooling a horse, you have to get a horse used to being hit with the whip (I would think). I mean it's not they thought he never was going to have to use the whip on the horse ever.

Sadly this seems like something that could have been easily avoided.

[winds]

Always, when my horses were going on in their training, I always had the rider carry a stick, move it around, switch hands, and yes, even tap them with it so they would get used to it. To avoid a situation like this. Poor JL, probably shocked him with the reaction and he got hurt to boot.

winds

[zinn21]

Most of the time a horse running continues to run when introduced to the whip for the first time. A few shy and this horse apparently reacted in that manner. My guess is this is one of those details that falls under the radar on occasion. And the better the horse the less likely to introduce the whip to him/her in the morning. Sort of a perfect storm for "Murphy's Law"..

[Shammy Davis]

When McPeek said that on air, the first thing I thought of was you endangered your jockey by not giving him that information. Here Comes Frazier and Julien were lucky that neither suffered serious injury because of this omission. The second thing I thought was any good training program (no matter the discipline) includes introducing a horse to the whip. I wasn't impressed with McPeek's comment one bit. The last place you want to introduce a horse to the whip is during competition.

[Georgerz]

The horse did get seriously injured: a compounded fracture of the hock.

[Shammy Davis]

Georgerz wrote:

The horse did get seriously injured: a compounded fracture of the hock.

Oh, my goodness. That is horrible. I didn't think to follow up on it because all the TVG commentators were saying that VET reports indicated no serious injury to the horse.

Thanks for letting me know. I think even less of McPeek now. There is no excuse for putting a valuable horse and his rider in such a dangerous situation. Socializing young horses with whips and crops is basic training 101 in all equine disciplines.

[Shammy Davis]

Follow-up.

Here Comes Frazier has a comminuted or “multi-piece” fracture of the right hock (tibia bone), not a compound fracture as previously thought. There is also a line on the big bone just below the tibia which is the talus bone. The veterinarians haven't been able to determine if this is a fracture or crack or not. Another X-ray will be taken in a day or so.
Read more: http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/ ... z1aVLlNMMe

[Patuxet]

Unfortunately Yahoo headlined the story and video. Just what the sport needs -- another jolt of negative image. You can bet PETA will try to make hay with it.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/post/Vide ... =top-wp260

[Sailor Kenshin]

trained the horse that spooked and hit the rail in the bourbon stakes at keeneland dropping JL.

At first i thought he might have saw something that hit the track, but on review, it looks like he spooked when he was hit with the whip, which was the first time he was ever hit with a whip in his life apparently.


http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/ ... z1aORxtOnd

“He’s a really good horse. He’d never been hit (with a crop) in his life. He’s so fast (that) we’ve never even had to lay a stick on him. I think he was shocked. Julien rolled the stick over and hit him right-handed, and the horse was just shocked. That scared him over the rail.

I mean make no mistake I don't profess to be Monty Roberts or antyhing, but i would think that's part of getting a horse ready for the races, no different than schooling a horse, you have to get a horse used to being hit with the whip (I would think). I mean it's not they thought he never was going to have to use the whip on the horse ever.

Sadly this seems like something that could have been easily avoided.

Sad indeed.

I stumbled on a program featuring an Australian horse trainer working in the USA. A couple brought him their Paint horse---cute as anything, but zero respect for the owners, because they were coddling him.

Once the trainer got hold of the horse, he turned it around. The horse was willing and smart but needed correction, not coddling.

I know he's not a race horse trainer but I imagine the same concepts apply. Race day isn't the time to introduce a whip

Don't even get me started on PETA.

[wilf]

Very strange actually, I have watched the video a couple of times and saw no use of the whip when the horse ducked in , he did give him a tap just before but it seemed that the horse was green under pressure and of course the temporary rail was in use ,it sure looked ugly though!

[madelyn]

Only the horse really knows what happened and why.

[Crystal]

a horse can duck in for any reason at any time.. or bore out at anytime.

Agreed racehorses (actually ALL HORSES) need to be taught respect.. Be the horses TRAINER not his best friend.

* One thing that made me angry about John Lyons and Bright Zip (his blind Appy riding horse) was on the cover of his book John is seen sitting on top of Bright Zip, who is laying completely flat out down.. And there is a Brown Bear standing up approaching them with in 10 feet. Yeh it was a trick bear (whatever) and it is supposed to signify the Complete Trust this horse has in John...

No Effing Offense, but if my horse and I are out snoozing in the woods and a bear approaches us.. I want my horse to wake the hell up and run like a bat out of hell away from the bear.. Not lay down and play dead. *

Off topic, but oh well it leads me back to desensitizing your horse is STEP 1 FROM BIRTH!! Touch that baby with everything from plastic bags to clippers, get a halter on them asap, and don't treat them like a baby human.. it's a horse..