Horse Racing

[Jeanneclaire]

I was watching the racing results after the news tonight when they show you a race - usually one of those "chariot/buggy" type races. I thought I heard the commentator say something to the effect of the horse "prend le galop" and being disqualified. I then watched the race and, not knowing much about horses or racing, deduced that they can only trot in these races. Am I right?

[Dick Smith]

I'm no expert, but the racing you saw is called 'trotting' - and there is a clue there! The horses are not allowed to gallop, in other words they have to keep one (or more - dunno) hoof on the ground at any time, and of course galloping is when all four feet leave the ground.

[LEO]

[quote user="Jeanneclaire"]I was watching the racing results after the news tonight when they show you a race - usually one of those "chariot/buggy" type races. I thought I heard the commentator say something to the effect of the horse "prend le galop" and being disqualified. I then watched the race and, not knowing much about horses or racing, deduced that they can only trot in these races. Am I right?[/quote]

Yes you are correct ,

from start to finish the horses must "trot" , any other movement disqualifies them .

Leo

[Jeanneclaire]

Must be a nightmare for the arbiters/stewards. A bit like race walking where you have to keep one foot on the ground at all times. I watched those horses and while I think I understand what a trot is, I also thought I saw one or two break into a canter or would it be a gallop!?

[Dick Smith]

Trotting: to go at a gait between a walk and a run, in which the legs move in diagonal pairs, but not quite simultaneously, so that when the movement is slow one foot at least is always on the ground, and when fast all four feet are momentarily off the ground at once.

Canter: A smooth gait, especially of a horse, that is slower than a gallop but faster than a trot. [may involve having all legs off the ground at the same time]

Gallop: a fast gait of the horse or other quadruped in which, in the course of each stride, all four feet are off the ground at once.

So from that it should be fairly clear from the pattern of movement of the legs whether or not the horse is galloping. In a gallop the legs move in pairs (ie both fronts at the same time) and in a trot they move in diagonal pairs.

[cooperlola]

You forgot pacers, Dick, a "trot" where the legs hit the ground simultaneously on one side and then the other.

 Canter starts with (if you're doing it right), the inside hind leg followed by the outside hind and inside fore together, outside fore, then a "period of suspension".  A horse said to be "on the wrong leg", begins with the outside hind, meaning that the pair which hit the ground together involve the outside fore which is why this is deemed to be incorrect (ie the leg inside the curve is taking the horse's whole weight on its own which is more strenuous for the animal when carrying the weight of a rider).

As far as trotting races are concerned, yes, a horse is disqualified if it canters or gallops.  It's mainly a safety issue, to keep the pace of races under control - a load of race horses with sulkies attached to them, galloping round an oval track would be a nightmare.  However, when I lived in Malta such "go as you please" races did exist there.  The most hairy looking form of racing I have ever witnessed!

Just to renew the France theme, canter in french is petit galop and gallop is galop, although when I've had lessons over here, the "petit" is rarely used by instructors - galop seems to cover both.

[Miki]

Dick,

As a young man, one of our family friends had "trotters" or rather

horses that went trotting (mostly in Wales). The Son (who I was with

last Friday, funny enough) was often the jockey (they sit in sulkies

don't you know !) and on the occasions I and other friends went along,

although one always had a good time, it is the most frustrating (well

for me anway) thing going, when you need a horse to catch up but know it

mustn't break in to a gallop to do so. And even when you have

won,  there is always the chance of your horse having being disqualified

for galloping !!

If you watch it on the TV or in a  PMU bar, the

disqualified horses are put on the screen, along with any warnings given

out. We have a local track in Saint Malo and one near Le Mont St

Michel. Whenever we have been in Normandy at a weekend, we always seem

to be behind a trailer with a horse inside and a sulky on the back.

Give me plain and simple over the sticks or flat races any day. Saint

Malo has race days when there are 2 flat, 2 obstacle (as they call

jumping !) and 2 trotting races. And yes, it is very hard to come out

with your shirt still on yer back !! Mind you, the site of a good

trotter in full motion is quite a beautiful sight (especially if I have

backed it.....sadly, rare indeed !)

[Dick Smith]

It's something I've always fancied seeing - I prefer my racing to have wheels and an engine, but this looks good! It seems to be derived from Roman chariot racing, or at least has a lot of similarities, such as the extreme lightweight 'chariot' (although the Romans stood up) and the gait - I firmly believe that Roman races were 'trotted', otherwise horses couldn't race 300 times a year, which some did. Or am I wrong there? In some Roman races people ran alongside the chariots, so they can't have been galloping in those. Also - you would have trouble cornering four horses at a full gallop, even if you were Ben Hur!

[Loiseau]

Better get down to the Vendee next summer, Dick, and see the chariot-racing at the Puy du Fou daytime thing!
http://www.puydufou.com/
Click on "Gladiators", and then run the video.

Angela