Race Horse Men "recaptures the vivid sights, sensations, and illusions of nineteenth-century thoroughbred racing, America's first mass spectator sport. Inviting readers into the pageantry of the racetrack, Katherine C. Mooney conveys the sport's inherent drama while also revealing the significant intersections between horse racing and another quintessential institution of the antebellum South: slavery.

A popular pastime across American society, horse racing was most closely identified with an elite class of southern owners who bred horses and bet large sums of money on these spirited animals. The central characters in this story are not privileged whites, however, but the black jockeys, grooms, and horse trainers who sometimes called themselves race horse men and who made the racetrack run. Mooney describes a world of patriarchal privilege and social prestige where blacks as well as whites could achieve status and recognition and where favored slaves endured an unusual form of bondage. For wealthy white men, the racetrack illustrated their cherished visions of a harmonious, modern society based on human slavery.

After emancipation, a number of black horsemen went on to become sports celebrities, their success a potential threat to white supremacy and a source of pride for African Americans. The rise of Jim Crow in the early twentieth century drove many horsemen from their jobs, with devastating consequences for them and their families. Mooney illuminates the role these too-often-forgotten men played in Americans' continuing struggle to define the meaning of freedom.

Exotic Betting at the Racetrack is unique as it covers the efficient-inefficient strategy to price and find profitable racetrack bets, along with handicapping that provides actual bets made by the author on essentially all of the major wagers offered at US racetracks. The book starts with efficiency, accuracy of the win odds, arbitrage, and optimal betting strategies. Examples and actual bets are shown for various wagers including win, place and show, exacta, quinella, double, trifecta, superfecta, Pick 3, 4 and 6 and rainbow pick 5 and 6. There are discussions of major races including the Breeders' Cup, Pegasus, Dubai World Cup and the US Triple Crown from 2012-2018. Dosage analysis is also described and used. An additional feature concerns great horses such as the great mares Rachel Alexandra, Zenyatta, Goldikova, Treve, Beholder and Song Bird. There is a discussion of horse ownership and a tour through arguably the world's top trainer Frederico Tesio and his stables and horses in Italy.Related Link(s)

Exotic Betting at the Racetrack is unique as it covers the efficient-inefficient strategy to price and find profitable racetrack bets, along with handicapping that provides actual bets made by the author on essentially all of the major wagers offered at US racetracks. The book starts with efficiency, accuracy of the win odds, arbitrage, and optimal betting strategies. Examples and actual bets are shown for various wagers including win, place and show, exacta, quinella, double, trifecta, superfecta, Pick 3, 4 and 6 and rainbow pick 5 and 6. There are discussions of major races including the Breeders' Cup, Pegasus, Dubai World Cup and the US Triple Crown from 2012-2018. Dosage analysis is also described and used. An additional feature concerns great horses such as the great mares Rachel Alexandra, Zenyatta, Goldikova, Treve, Beholder and Song Bird. There is a discussion of horse ownership and a tour through arguably the world's top trainer Frederico Tesio and his stables and horses in Italy.Related Link(s)

Horse racing in America dates back to the colonial era when street races were a common occurrence. The commercialization of horse racing produced a sport that would briefly surpass all others in popularity, with annual races such as the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes growing to rank among America's most celebrated sporting events. From the very onset, horse racing and gambling were intertwined. As the popularity of racing and betting grew, so, too, did the controversies and corruption. Yet, despite the best efforts of social reformers, bookmakers stubbornly plied their trade, adapting and evolving as horse racing gave way to team sports as the backbone of their business. In Sports Betting and Bookmaking: An American History, Arne K. Lang provides a sweeping overview of legal and illegal sports and race betting in the United States, from the first thoroughbred meet at Saratoga in 1863 through the modern day. The cultural war between bookmakers and their adversaries is a recurring theme, as bookmakers were often forced into the shadows during times of social reform, only to bloom anew when the time was ripe. While much of bookmaking's history takes place in New York, other locales such as Chicago, Las Vegas, and Atlantic City-not to mention Cyberspace-are also discussed in this volume. A comprehensive exploration of the evolution of bookmaking-including the legal developments and technological advancements that have taken place over the years-Sports Betting and Bookmaking is a fascinating read. This informative and engaging book will be of interest to anyone wanting to learn more about America's long history with gambling on horse racing and team sports.

How do the class and gender inequalities found in horseracing affect the working practices of women within the industry? Drawing on the work of Bourdieu and his concepts of field, capital and habitus, this book shows the inequalities that are prevalent within the world of racing, both historically and currently, by illustrating the classed and gendered nature of racing and how it has developed since the eighteenth century when it was the sport of the aristocracy. Using research obtained through her year-long ethnographic study of a racing yard, Deborah Butler demonstrates that the racing field is an arena of power conflicts, and that men and women who work in racing acquire a contradictorily gendered racing habitus. This is achieved by learning certain elements in a formal setting but mainly informally, by 'doing', developing practical skills and participating in a (gendered) community of practice. For female stable staff this means adapting their behaviour and working practices in order to be accepted as 'one of the lads'. This book will appeal to both scholars and students of the sociology of sport, the sociology of work and gender studies.

Rider and trainer Christian Baier has been educated in horses and equitation all over the world. In his work to develop an international rider and trainer education and certification system, he realized the equestrian lexicon lacked a practical reference that brought all the classical "arena tracks"-patterns and figures used in training the horse in a schooling area-together in a simple way that is easy to understand. The arena tracks guide the rider in how to safely work the horse within a specific space in an organized way. They are also an integral tool in the conscientious trainer's development of the horse's body and conditioning. For the instructor, arena tracks are an important tool for communicating with the student. Ultimately, these classical tracks are at the foundation of everything we do in an arena with a horse, from the beginner rider just off the longe line, learning basic navigation around the ring, to the most experienced rider working a horse at the highest level of international competition. Even jumping courses consist of a combination (or variation) of arena tracks strung together from start to finish marker! In these pages readers not only find handy quick-reference sections on the correct arena tracks for training and riding, but also a unique collection of over 50 select exercises for using them in the development of a sport horse on the flat and over fences. Putting the arena tracks into practice is the basis for correct systematic training and education in both dressage and jumping. Baier shows the reader exactly how, with distinct sections devoted to clear illustrations of where to go and fundamental explanations for what to do. Progression in ability and understanding of both horse and rider is the goal, with tracks featured from simple to most complex, and the sections dedicated to cavalletti and jumping moving from the very first time riding over a pole to advanced exercises and courses at a very high level. The exercises shared in this book, used in combination with a working knowledge and understanding of the classical arena tracks, can lead to huge leaps in the growth and advancement of horse and rider-sometimes even after years of feeling "stuck." Arena Tracks is a fabulous reference for all riders to keep in the barn and for any instructor dedicated to teaching the classical art of riding, as well as being a much-needed learning tool for equestrian federations, associations, and schools worldwide.

It is generally assumed that anthropologists do their research in remote and uncomfortable parts of the world--places with monsoons, mud huts, and malaria. In this volume, social anthropologist Kate Fox has taken on an altogether more enjoyable assignment, the study of the arcane world of British horseracing. For Fox, field research meant wandering around racetracks in a pink hat and high heels (standard tribal costume) rather than braving killer insects and primitive sanitation. Instead of an amorphous racing crowd, the author finds a complete subculture with its own distinctive customs, rituals, language and etiquette. Among the spectators, she identifies Horseys, Addicts, Anoraks, Pair-Bonders, Day-Outers, Suits, and Be-Seens--all united by remarkable friendliness and courtesy. Among the racing professionals, the tribal structure includes Warriors (jockeys), Shamans (trainers), Scribes (journalists), Elders (officials and stewards) and Sin-Eaters (bookies). Fox includes witty and incisive descriptions of the many strange ceremonies and rituals observed by racegoers--the Circuit Ritual, Ritual Conversations ("What do you fancy in the next?"), Celebration Rituals, the Catwalk Ritual, and Post-Mortem Rituals (naturally, a horse never loses a race because it's too slow)--and their special codes of behavior such as the Modesty Rule, the Collective Amnesia Rule, and the Code of Chivalry. The Racing Tribe is also a refreshingly candid account of anthropological fieldwork, including all the embarrassing mistakes, hiccups, short-cuts and guesswork that most social scientists keep very quiet about.

The gear illustrated and described in this book is made of rawhide. However, leather thongs and plastic string can be worked in the same manner. The illustrations are clear, and detailed drawings show from beginning to end how to make the articles of gear the horseman uses to "work or show" his horse to best advantage. Bridles, hackamores, hobbles, reins, reatas, quirts, and riding crops are just a few of the articles that can be made by following the illustrations and instructions.

Included in the volume is a section titled "How to Make a Western Saddle, " by Lee M. Rice. He explains each step in making a western saddle, with text and drawings.

From the leading authority on the subject, "Saddlery" is a comprehensive account of the range, scope and variety of articles available, all put in perspective within the context of their use.For many years a standard recommended book for examination reading, this completely revised, enlarged and updated edition will guide the student and horse-owner through the bewildering variety of saddlery, horse equipment and clothing, describing its construction, purpose and correct usage by means of the uniquely informative text, clear line illustrations and new colour photographs.With every conceivable aspect covered, and now including information on the use of synthetic materials, new bitting systems, the developments in saddle fitting, innovative riding aids and Western riding (and much more), this is the definitive guide to equipping horse and rider for every eventuality.

Robin Oakley brings alive the colourful world of those who ride and train jumping horses. With elegant production and gripping images The History of Jump Racing chronicles the social and economic changes which have brought the sport's ups and downs-like the development of sponsorships and syndicate ownership, the near loss of the Grand National, the growing domination of the Cheltenham Festival and the growth of all-weather racing to meet the bookies' demands for betting shop fodder. Pace and colour is provided by stories of the horses who have been taken to the heart of racing crowds, like the Irish-trained hurdler Istabraq and Best Mate, the three-times winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup for England. Famous rivalries and memorable races are re-lived and key victories revisited in portraits of and interviews with the owners, jockeys and trainers who have dominated the sport. The emphasis will be largely on the past fifty years-from Arkle to Tony McCoy-but a significant introduction by Edward Gillespie encapsulates the past history of what was previously known as 'National Hunt Racing' and sets the stories in context.

Each year on the first Saturday in May, the world turns its attention to the twin spires of Churchill Downs for the high-stakes excitement of the "greatest two minutes in sports," the Kentucky Derby. No American sporting event can claim the history, tradition, or pageantry that the Kentucky Derby holds. For more than 130 years, spectators have been fascinated by the magnificent horses that run the Louisville track. Thoroughbreds such as Secretariat and Barbaro have earned instant international fame, along with jockeys such as Isaac Murphy, Ron Turcotte, and Calvin Borel. The Kentucky Derby: How the Run for the Roses Became America's Premier Sporting Event calls this great tradition to post and illuminates its history and culture. Rising from its humble beginnings as an American variation of England's Epsom Derby, the Kentucky Derby became a centerpiece of American sports and the racing industry, confirming Kentucky's status as the Horse Capital of the World. James C. Nicholson argues that the Derby, at its essence, is a celebration of a place, existing as a connection between Kentucky's mythic past and modern society. The Derby is more than just a horse race -- it is an experience enhanced by familiar traditions, icons, and images that help Derby fans to understand Kentucky and define themselves as Americans. Today the Kentucky Derby continues to attract international attention from royalty, celebrities, racing fans, and those who simply enjoy an icy mint julep, a fabulous hat, and a wager on who will make it to the winner's circle. Nicholson provides an intriguing and thorough history of the Kentucky Derby, examining the tradition, spectacle, culture, and evolution of the Kentucky Derby -- the brightest jewel of the Triple Crown.

In his own words Bob talks of his early life, his path to becoming a professional jump jockey and how it felt being at the top of his game only to have it come crashing down with a life-threatening diagnosis. The depths of despair going through the radical new cancer treatment he was offered and the heights of joy with that famous Grand National victory. This new biography also looks at the whirlwind adventure his life has been since that glorious spring day at Aintree and examines the tremendous fund raising efforts of the Bob Champion Cancer Trust. Today Bob is the face of that Trust, the UK's most successful small cancer fund that has been responsible for raising almost GBP15Million, money which has allowed research efforts that have all but eradicated testicular cancer death and furthered new research enquiries into prostate cancer. For the first time Bob shares his thoughts on his life so far, the highs, the lows, injuries, illness and of course just what it felt like to win 'the ultimate test of horse and rider.'

Bill Hartack won the Kentucky Derby five times, and seemed to hate every moment of it. ""If only Bill could have gotten along with people the way he got along with horses,"" a trainer said. His tragic, impoverished upbringing didn't help: his mother was killed in an automobile accident; the family home burned down; his father was murdered by a girlfriend; and he was estranged from his sisters. Larry King, his friend, said it was just as well the termperamental Hartack never married, because it wouldn't have lasted. Hartack became one of racing's most accomplished jockeys. But he was inveterate grouch and worked at giving the press a hard time. At 26, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Whenever the media tried to bury him, he would win another Derby. At the end of his life, he was found alone in a solitary cabin in the Texas hinterlands. Drawn from dozens of interviews and conversations with family members, friends and enemies, this book provides a full account of Hartack's turbulent life.

For decades Peter O'Sullevan was one of the iconic sports commentators, providing the sound track for half a century of horseracing as he called home such legends of the sport as Arkle, Nijinsky, Red Rum and Desert Orchid. His rapid-fire commentary seemed to echo the sound of horses' hooves, and it was not long before he became known as 'The Voice of Racing'. But in addition to his legendary status as a TV personality, Peter O'Sullevan was also a notable journalist and much-admired writer, and it is a measure of his standing both within and beyond the world of racing that his compulsively readable autobiography Calling the Horses, first published in 1989 and reprinted eight times, reached the top of the SUNDAY TIMES non-fiction bestseller list. The most recent edition of Calling the Horses was published in 1994, and the twenty years since then have brought many fresh episodes in the ongoing Peter O'Sullevan story, including the last racing days of his great friend Lester Piggott in 1995, his commentary on the 'Bomb Scare' Grand National of 1997, and his retirement from the BBC. He also describes setting up the Sir Peter O'Sullevan Charitable Trust, which has raised over GBP3.5 million for animal welfare charities, as well as offering his appreciation of a new generation of racing heroes, including jockey AP McCoy, who has come to dominate jump racing in a manner unparalleled in any sport, and the wonder-horse Frankel. The heartening news for the legions of Peter O'Sullevan fans is that, despite his years, his enthusiasm for racing is undiminished, and so are the elegance, fluency and wit which infuse his writing style. This new and extensively updated edition of Calling the Horses is a very remarkable book by a very remarkable man.

"His lordship's Arabian," a phrase often heard in eighteenth-century England, described a new kind of horse imported into the British Isles from the Ottoman Empire and the Barbary States of North Africa. "Noble Brutes" traces how the introduction of these Eastern blood horses transformed early modern culture and revolutionized England's racing and equestrian tradition.

More than two hundred Oriental horses were imported into the British Isles between 1650 and 1750. With the horses came Eastern ideas about horsemanship and the relationship between horses and humans. Landry's groundbreaking archival research reveals how these Eastern imports profoundly influenced riding and racing styles, as well as literature and sporting art.

After only a generation of crossbreeding on British soil, the English Thoroughbred was born, and with it the gentlemanly ideal of free forward movement over a country as an enactment of English liberties.

This radical reinterpretation of Ottoman and Arab influences on horsemanship and breeding sheds new light on English national identity, as illustrated in such classic works as Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels" and George Stubbs's portrait of "Whistlejacket."

This is the second edition of the classic on the history of British horse racing. It provides a detailed and far-ranging social and economic analysis of the major changes in British flat racing, in particular in the period between 1830 and 1939. Four major themes are explored. Firstly, the changing character and structure of the sport. Secondly, the morality of racing, which was a corrupt sport par excellence for much of the nineteenth century. Thirdly, on four categories of participants in racing jockeys, trainers, owners and breeders. Here, the author assesses whether or not these could make money out of racing. Fourthly, the book examines gambling and its important symbiotic relationship with racing. The televised, sponsored, carefully governed sport today is a vastly different affair from that of the 18th century. Then racing was a free, social event, the highlight of the entertainment calendar for the bulk of the local community. By the late 19th century most race meetings were highly commercial enterprises, requiring payment from all spectators, many of whom had travelled some distance to attend. The excitement and historical interest of these meetings is well captured here."

To develop a harmonious partnership with your horse, whether you have ambitions in the competition arena or not, you need to develop a two-way communication system that is clear to both of you. In this new paperback edition of The Building Blocks of Training, Debby Lush, international dressage rider and senior instructor at the Training the Teachers of Tomorrow Trust, offers practical assistance in developing such a system, a progressive and logical one that is firmly rooted in classical training. The ultimate aim is to enhance the horse's mental and physical capabilities and so allow him to move easily and happily forward from the earliest simple steps to the more complicated efforts required further up the competition ladder. With step-by-step guides to every aspect of schooling from lungeing to lengthening (touching on the foundations to move on to the more advanced movements), and with troubleshooting sections to identify why things are going wrong and how to solve them, this book will be invaluable to countless horse and rider partnerships.

This book advances current literature on the role and place of animals in sport and society. It explores different forms of sporting spaces, examines how figures of animals have been used to racialize the human athlete, and encourages the reader to think critically about animal ethics, animals in space, time and place, and the human-animal relationship. The chapters highlight persistent dichotomies in the use of and collaboration with animals for sport, and present strategies for moving forward in the study of interspecies relations.

The Science of Equestrian Sports is a comprehensive study of the theory and practice of the rider in equine sport. While most scholarship to date has focused on the horse in competition, this is the first book to collate current data relating specifically to riders. It provides valuable insight into improving sporting performance and maintaining the safety of both the horse and the rider. Drawing on the latest scientific research, and covering a wide range of equestrian disciplines from horseracing to eventing, the book systematically explores core subjects such as: physiology of the rider sport psychology in equestrian sport preventing injury biomechanics and kinematics coaching equestrian sport the nature of horse-rider relationships This holistic and scientific examination of the role of the horse rider is essential reading for sport science students with an interest in equestrian sport and equitation. Furthermore, it will be an invaluable resource for instructors, coaches, sport psychologists, or physiologists working with equestrian athletes.

Final Calls to Absent Friends is a collection of newspaper columns and personal reminiscences in tribute to numerous jockeys, horses, and people related to horse racing.

This book surveys the practice of horse racing from antiquity to the modern period, and in this way offers a selective global history. Unlike previous histories of horse racing, which generally make claims about the exclusiveness of modern sport and therefore diminish the importance of premodern physical contests, the contributors to this book approach racing as a deep history of diachronically comparable practices, discourses, and perceptions centered around the competitive staging of equine speed. In order to compare horse racing cultures from completely different epochs and regions, the authors respond to a series of core issues which serve as structural comparative parameters. These key issues include the spatial and architectural framework of races; their organization; victory prizes; symbolic representations of victories and victors; and the social range and identities of the participants. The evidence of these competitions is interpreted in its distinct historical contexts and with regard to specific cultural conditions that shaped the respective relationship between owners, riders, and horses on the global racetracks of pre-modernity and modernity. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of The International Journal of the History of Sport.

There are many factors in day-to-day living that might cause your horse stress, many of which could be eliminated with just a little attention to detail. First, though, we need to understand what stress consists of, the mechanics of it, and what actually happens when we and our horses are subjected to it, both in the short and the long term. Investigations into primary and secondary causes of stress, strategies for coping with stresses when they occur, and practical advice on developing plans for preventing the occurrence of stress in the first place are all covered. There is advice on stress-free care and management as well as riding technique and training. Conditions and diseases related to stress are discussed, along with stress-busting treatments and techniques.

The historical horse is at once material and abstract, as is the notion of the border. Borders and frontiers are not only markers delineating geographical spaces but also mental constructs: there are borders between order and disorder, between what is permitted and what is prohibited. Boundaries and liminal spaces also exist in the material, economic, political, moral, legal and religious spheres. In this volume, the contributing authors explore the theme of the liminality of the horse in all of these historical arenas, asking how one reconciles the very different roles played by the horse in human history.

Schooling the horse is not just about riding - many problems or misunderstandings between horse and rider can, and should be, sorted out on the ground before attempting to ride at all. This book explains how to school your horse from the ground, starting with fundamental techniques, and gives progressive exercises to work through. It explains the importance of stretching work, how to establish a correct outline, and how to build strength and suppleness. Remedial work is also included to improve crookedness, unbalance, and stiffness, for example. Also covered is the use of training aids where necessary, and schooling over ground poles and cavaletti, as well as jumping the horse on the lunge. Observing your horse working without a rider gives you valuable insight as to the correctness of his paces, how his muscle development can be improved, and his general attitude and willingness. When your horse is moving beautifully on his own, there is no reason why he cannot do the same with you in the saddle.

Red Rum's classic win in the 1977 Grand National is the stuff of sporting legend. Red himself became a national treasure, and his charismatic trainer - the redoubtable Ginger McCain - became a sporting hero. While the public adored Ginger, there were those who sniped that he was a one-horse trainer. All that changed 27 years later when, in a thrilling race, Ginger won his fourth National with Amberleigh House, equalling the record of Fred Rimmer. Once again Ginger had taken the sporting world by storm. In the 70s, the popularity of Red Rum and Ginger almost single-handedly saved the great race when there were plans afoot to turn the track into a housing estate. Ginger himself is a remarkable individual - charming, forthright, not afraid to speak his mind and a hugely entertaining raconteur. This is his story, at times funny, sad, exciting and always captivating, told in his own inimitable style.