Ears

All those in favor of running, say “EAR.“

By: The Player

Past performances are a wonderful tool to tell where an individual horse HAS BEEN, but they fall short on telling you how a horse feels immediately prior to a race.

A friend of mine who is an excellent trainer told me in conversation last week that he can always tell how his horses feel by looking in their eyes. That is undoubtedly true, but not real helpful to a handicapper. It‘s tough to see those eyes in the TV tube as the horse hits the race track.

One thing you can see is each horse‘s ears. That is correct, their ears. But what the heck do ears have to do with running? It‘s simple, really. A horse can telegraph how he is feeling by what his ears are doing. Let‘s look at some of the simple ear “tells.“

The only place I want to see a horse‘s ears as he enters the track and begins to warm up is PRICKED and pointed STRAIGHT AHEAD.

When a horse‘s ears are pricked and pointed forward this tells you that he is in the moment. He is not overly sore, annoyed or distracted. Pricked ears are the sign of a ready horse. Sure, if the horse hears an unfamiliar noise or if the jock or pony boy attempts to communicate with him, his ears are likely to flicker and move toward the unexpected sound. But they quickly snap back to attention when he identifies the sound.

Again, pricked ears show a sharp and ready horse. It is the only ear position I am interested in playing. I don‘t care how good a horse‘s past performances are. If his ears are not pricked and forward; I am not betting. The present is a stronger indicator to me of performance than is the past!

If the horse‘s ears are not pricked forward, it is not a good sign. If they are PINNED BACKWARD, it is a very bad sign. Pinned ears are a sign of anger. Angry horses normally leave too much on the track prior to loading and are not good bets. Ears that are pinned and flush against the head are a sign of extreme anger or displeasure. Something isn‘t right. For whatever reason, he does not want to be there in the moment. Most racehorses are not dumb. They can be aware that they are in pain and are about to be asked for breakneck speed with 120 pounds on their back. It would anger you or I, and it sure as hell can anger them. If you see pinned ears, you are very likely to see other signs of anger such as heavy kidney sweat, breaking out and lathering on the neck, extreme tail movement side to side, etc.

Avoid betting on horses with ears pinned back. They rarely run winning races and never run to their past performances.

A second negative ear position is often called FLICKERING ears. Flickering ears are ears that move back and forth or side to say, changing position, often. Flickering ears are a sign of distraction. The horse‘s attention is not on the task at hand. It could be soreness, the presence of hidden mucus interfering with breathing, general lethargy. The flickering is indicating that he is having a hard time paying attention. He is not in the moment and probably cares nada about the upcoming race. Normally, these horses appear listless as they enter the track as well. They nuzzle the lead ponies mane, not interested in getting separation and running off.

They are just not good bets. Avoid betting on any horse with flickering ears.

An advanced case of lethargy is rarely seen but happens now and then. It is evidenced by FLOPPED ears. The ears actually appear droppy, with little or no life. Not surprisingly, the horse normally also appears the same. A drop eared horse will normally hang their heads lower and have less energy picking up their feet as they move.

Obviously, this is as bad a sign as pinned ears. You should never bet on horses with droppy ears.

While the above discussion of ear position might seem funny to you. Go ahead and laugh. Then tell me how well you performed an important task the last time you were feeling hurt, ill or angry.

A sharp, ready horse may not be fast enough to win a given race. But fast enough horses exhibiting extreme signs of anger, lethargy or soreness won‘t be motivated enough to win a race either.