Whipping Horses: They See Things Differently in South Africa

Arnold Hyde, the acting chief executive of South Africa's National Horseracing Authority, certainly has his opinions on whether or not whipping horses is cruel. He also realizes his viewpoint isn't what matters. What does is the public's viewpoint on a thorny issue with which racing throughout the world is struggling. Hyde's fear is that, especially among younger South Africans, the whipping issue is something that could cause irreparable harm to the industry.

So he decided to do something about it.

On Nov. 3, while the U.S. racing audience was focused on the Breeders' Cup, South Africa conducted an experimental race, a seven-furlong maiden event at Turffontein, where the jockeys were not allowed to carry whips.

“The idea was born at a meeting I had with stakeholders in our industry,” Hyde said. “We had a riders' representative, a trainers' representative and a representative from the Turf Club. We were having a discussion about getting new people involved in the industry and how we could attract the younger set into the industry. What might be the obstacle that might put off people from our great sport of horse racing? There was a consensus amongst the attendees that the use of the whip seemed to be a definite impediment when it comes to why people didn't want to get involved in horse racing. There was a definite negative connotation to the use of the crop. We thought we should be proactive and send a message out that would make a difference and a statement that we take horse welfare very seriously.”

That the South African race came on Breeders' Cup Day added a twist to the controversy that shed light on how the U.S. racing industry's views on whipping are not always in line with the rest of the world. Reviews of Christophe Soumillon's ride on Thunder Snow (Ire) (Helmet {Aus}) in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic were scathing because of the persistent use of the whip.

“Thunder Snow was said to be unharmed by his experience of running third in the Breeders' Cup Classic, in which the severe use of the whip by Christophe Soumillon shocked sections of the audience in Britain,” Chris Cook wrote in The Guardian. Cook went on to say that under British racing rules, Soumillon would have been banned for three to four weeks for his whip use and fined. Soumillon's ride attracted virtually no attention in the U.S. and he was not fined or suspended by the Churchill Downs stewards.

“There has been enormous criticism of Christophe's ride in the Classic where he went pretty hard at it, and of course, in Europe, he'd have been in big trouble,” trainer John Gosden said. “It was strange to a lot of people watching from Europe that the stewards in Kentucky had nothing to say about it.”

Whips have long been banned in Norway. The Australian harness racing industry announced that whips would be prohibited starting in September of 2017, but, due to complaints from drivers, dropped the ban. It was replaced by strict restrictions allowing only limited use of the whip.

“This is likely to mean that only an extremely limited wrist action will be allowed in racing,” Harness Racing Australia Chairman Geoff Want told the Sydney Morning Herald. “That would make the use of the whip in Australian harness racing among the most controlled in the world, and we will impose some of the heaviest penalties for misuse.”

The Australian Thoroughbred industry does not follow the same guidelines and has more lenient rules related to whipping.

In England, an innovative new series called Championship Horse Racing (CHR), which will involve team competition based on Formula One auto racing, will begin next year. The jockeys will be allowed to carry whips but cannot lift them up and strike the horse. They will only be allowed to tap the horse on the neck if they feel that is necessary for steering or corrective measures. Series founder Jeremy Wray admits the main reasons he went with these rules was because he knew how difficult it would be to get companies to sponsor teams if traditional whipping were to be allowed.

The controversy over Soumillon's ride is exactly the sort of thing South African authorities want to avoid in the future. Hyde and other industry leaders said they realized that an immediate ban of the whip was too radical an idea. Instead, they would begin a series of experiments. The idea behind them is to show that the sport is intent on changing its ways and to see what set of rules work best when it comes to finding solutions that ease the public's apparent distaste for whipping.

There will likely be several races conducted that involve anything from strict restrictions on the use of the whip to, again, not allowing jockeys to carry them.

“The modern day whips are a lot friendlier than the older whips, but there is still that perception that when a horse is being struck that it is possibly being abused in the eyes of the people outside the industry,” Hyde said. “Those people may not understand the industry, but if we are going to attract new blood we need to take this very seriously.

“The next race has not been scheduled yet. There is a lot left to discuss. We have to take into consideration very seriously that there was the opinion presented by some jockeys that the crop is an important tool in their repertoire. We need to be mindful of that and come to a decision that involves all of the stakeholders and not make a decision unilaterally from the regulator's side. We also need to consider the confidence of the betting public. We need to consult all the participants and get to the best possible outcome. It is a work in progress and we will have more meetings on this particular matter to get to the best approach that suits everyone.”

The race itself was completed without any incidents. It was won by the Michael de Kock trained first-time starter Hawwaam (SAf) (Silvano {Ger}).

“This was a good initiative and we got some good mileage out of it,” De Kock told the Racing Post. “In any case, the whip rule needs to be looked at. They [jockeys] are better off without sticks – more of them get beaten with them than they would without them.”

Veteran South African jockey Piere Strydom both rode in the race and took part in the initial meeting where the concept was developed. He said that his horse, a 28-1 shot who finished 14^th out of 15, likely would have performed better had he been able to use a whip.

“I'm a jockey and I don't believe that the whip should be used that much,” he said. “So, I was happy to try it. But I must be honest, I don't think we can get away with no whips at all. I tried to get the horse to concentrate but he was taking no interest in the race. You try to jump out of the stalls and get into the race. He wasn't willing to do anything and the same thing happened down the straight–when I wanted the horse to respond, he gave me no interest. After the race my feeling was I still don't want to whip a horse but you need a whip on the side by the reins that at least you can give the horse a tap and encourage the horse to do something. I'm still not for the whip but you need something to get the horse interested, so that it knows that it is racing and he has a job to do and needs to get on with it.”

Hyde said he heard similar feedback from other jockeys, but believes there's a possibility that the horses involved were so used to being whipped that they didn't know how to respond when being hand-ridden and that the horses, just like the jockeys, will need to adjust if rules are changed.

Despite his feelings that his horses didn't try his hardest in the whip-free race, Strydom remains an advocate of change. He says that when he talks to people who are not involved in the sport, the first question they usually ask him is why are the jockeys allowed to whip the horses.

“A lot of jockeys are going to want to shoot me for saying this, but I feel we need to think forward and get away from the whip, but I don't believe you can away from it all together,” he said.

It was De Kock who presented the challenges the whip was causing the English-run Championship Horse Racing Series to Hyde and other South African industry leaders. CHR's Wray wanted to try something bold and different that might attract an entirely new audience to the sport. The whip, he knew, was a problem.

Championship Horse Racing will be made up of 12 teams, all sponsored by a major brand. Each team will include 40 horses that compete at the higher handicap levels and four jockeys. A team could be composed of horses from a single trainer or several trainers. Each race will be worth at least £100,000 and points will be awarded for every horse that finishes first through 10th. The winner will receive 25 points and the 10th-place finisher one point. The team that accrues the most points through the series will be named champion and earn additional prize money. There will be 48 races and they will be contested at tracks throughout the U.K.

The races will be run under rules the British Horse Racing Authority has already established for amateur races and for apprentice-only races called “hands and heels” rules. Jockeys will be allowed to carry a whip but they cannot raise it up to strike a horse. It can only be used for taps on the neck if the jockey feels a need to help steer a horse or correct something it may be doing wrong.

Wray said he believed that he would never land major sponsors if traditional whipping rules were allowed. He explained that name brands shy away from horse racing in the UK because they are wary of being associated with gambling and because of whipping. Obviously, there will be betting on the series races but Wray will attempt to distance it from gambling by prohibiting bookmakers from sponsoring teams. Bookmaking firms are among the biggest sponsors of racing in the UK.

“We can now go talk to new brands and say we have listened to them and that their two biggest concerns have been addressed,” he said. “I had a meeting this morning with a leading 'telco,' one of the biggest in the world, and if we hadn't dealt with these two issues we never would have had that meeting. There are huge sponsorship dollars potentially out there for racing but these companies just draw a line through racing because of those two factors, gambling and whipping. I understand this is about perception, but it's a perception you have to listen to. Racing needs to stop saying these whips are air cushioned, the horses can't even feel it. That's not the argument. It's about the perceptions people outside the sport have. I'm not going to argue with a big brand who says I have the choice of sponsoring this sport or that sport and I'm not going to sponsor your sport because you hit your animals and our customers don't like that. I'm not going to tell them they're wrong.”

Wray said one leading U.K. trainer said to him, “Jeremy, you don't understand. We whip horses to frighten them to go faster.”

Wray says he would like to eventually bring his concept to the U.S., but if he does, he's likely to meet more resistance from American-based riders than he has from European jockeys. With some states enacting rules that limit the use of the whip or require jockeys to take a pause between strikes, the U.S. racing industry can't be accused of being blind to the issue. The whips now being used are also said to be gentler on the horse than whips from previous eras.

But, as is the case with so many issues that horse racing grapples with, the sport has moved at a slow pace on the whipping problem and the new rules are, for the most part, not very strict and include only minor penalties to those who cross the new lines. Unlike in South Africa, there doesn't appear to be any serious movement here toward solving what is clearly a dilemma for the sport.

“Absolutely not,” Hall of Fame jockey and Jockeys' Guild Chairman John Velazquez replied when asked if he could see the day when U.S. racing went whip-free. “I think it would be totally wrong if they ever tried to do something like that. I don't think the race can be run without the whip. There are horses here and there that don't like the whip but you still carry it to make sure that you can tap them on the shoulder and keep their mind on running. You need the whip to encourage them, to get them to run their best. We have changed the poppers on the whip to make them smaller and it doesn't really hurt the horses or break the skin. It's more to encourage the horses, to let them know when you need it that they need to run to their best. Its like being in the wild. A lot of horses don't want to pass other horses. They are followers and if you don't encourage them to do something they're not going to pass horses. It's part of nature. It's a very complicated situation, but I just don't see it coming to the states any time soon.”

As for Soumillon's ride on Thunder Snow in the Classic, he struck the horse 18 times in the stretch, each one a sharp right-handed crack, many of them coming in rapid succession. Barbara Borden, the chief steward for the Kentucky Racing Commission, said she found nothing wrong with Soumillon's ride.

“The stewards review every race and pay attention to every aspect of the race,” Borden said. “There was nothing about his ride that sparked our interest concerning his use of the whip. There was nothing that he did that violated any of the regulations we have.”

While the man-on-the-street might likely be appalled by the sight of Soumillon beating away at Thunder Snow, Borden is not wrong. Her job is to enforce the rules and there is nothing among Kentucky racing regulations that Soumillon violated.

The rules that cover what a jockey can and cannot do in Kentucky regarding whipping include these:

Section 15. Use of Riding Crops. (1) Although the use of a riding crop is not required, a jockey who uses a riding crop during a race shall do so only in a manner consistent with exerting his or her best efforts to win.

(5) A riding crop shall only be used for safety, correction and encouragement.

There is nothing that covers how many times a rider can hit a horse, when they can hit a horse or whether or not they need to give a horse a chance to recover after being hit.

Should a jockey be allowed to forcefully strike a horse with a whip 18 times within the matter of 30 seconds or so? In Kentucky, as well as many other states, the answer, currently at least, is yes.

There are not many within the South African racing industry who would agree with that.

“I wouldn't rule it out,” Hyde said when asked if someday South Africa would join Norway as the only countries banning all use of the whip. “I'd be quite hesitant to give a timeline on something like that. I'm looking now at how whip use is being considered internationally and the direction that it is taking. There is definitely a trend that is being followed. If it doesn't happen that we have completely whipless races, I certainly think you will see more restrictions and stricter control of the whip. I don't think that's even debatable. Internationally, that is the way that the movement is going.”