A few of the races this weekend have me thinking. Do horses lose their confidence after a string of losses? Do they even know if they won or lost? Do they care?
Two horses, Host and La Dolce Vita, have been losing races this year, but to very good horses. Sometimes, they have been pretty close to some nice horses in their division. Both were dropped down to a level where it looked like they could win this weekend. Not only did they not win, they didn’t even come close. They just ran with the pack. Do some horses just run with the pack, no matter what the competition? These two, and quite a few others I’ve seen, seem to support this notion.
What is interesting is that usually on their way up they could win races at this level. So it’s not like they never won before. It seems like running against tougher competition and losing time after time has either dulled their competitive edge or they have just become used to “running with the pack”. I’ve always wondered if horses really even know if they won or lost a race, and even if they do, do they care if they won or lost?
December 3rd, 2007 at 12:01 am
Do horses lose their confidence? I believe they do. I will cite a couple od anecdotes. Several years ago I was conversing with a TB trainer in Midway, Ky. He was telling me of a phenomema that he has witnessed repeatedly: An allowance level horse will compete very succesfully in allowance and handicap races. He told me that in fact he has witnessed, again repeatedly, that those horses can can come close to, equal or even exceed the track record for a race but when put in stakes company the horse will finish up the track either mid pack or near last and run a time far slower than he has run in the past on the same track at the same distance.
His answer as to why this has occured is that the stakes level horses are so darn intimidating and dominating that they will cause the allowance/handicap horse to lose even before they are loaded in the gate.
I have read that Mr. Whittingham instructed his staff to never let any of his horses look John Henry in the eye. I derive from that, if it is true, that Mr. Whitingham was concerned the his horses would lose the race even before they left the barn.
Does this behavior inidcate a lose of confidence. I believe that it does.
Another example: My personal mount is on OTTB which I jump. I can state first hand that after a poor showing over the fences that he definatly loses confidence and my couch and i have a training regimen to give him success over fences. And voila, his confidence returnes. My OTTB is no push over. He wasn’t cut until he was 13 and he has a strong macho kick ass attitude. So much so that your typical pleasure rider would be afraid of him.
So yes, I believe horses in most disciplines can lose confidence as a result of a poor performance or being intimadated into losing.
Apologies for the typos. Didn’t see a spell check.
December 3rd, 2007 at 10:08 pm
Interesting, thanks for the feedback.
December 4th, 2007 at 3:14 am
I’m sure you’re right. Horses aren’t machines, they are living breathing creatures with thoughts and emotions.
They will surely gain and lose confidence through their careers. They will recognize other runners - I’m sure I read once that Alysheba and Bet Twice would snort or neigh as they passed each other on the track. They will try to intimidate - that’s probably what Seattle Slew’s famed “war dance” was all about.
I also firmly believe this is one reason why all else being equal, a good older horse will usually beat a good three-year-old (apart from the older horse’s experience and physical maturity). The older horse will probably try to dominate the younger one, perhaps by subtle signals that even horse people may not see.
Thanks for the thoughtful post.
November 13th, 2008 at 1:37 am
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