Tails

Tails can tell a tale.

By: The Player

Earlier, I wrote an article dealing with the ears. Now, we will travel to the other end and deal with the tail.

While to most casual observers at the track a horse‘s tale is simply a beautiful appendage or an elaborate flyswatter, some of us know better. A horse‘s tail actually serves many purposes. It is a major part of temperature regulation for the horse, it protects reproductive organs and aids balance and hindquarter alignment. Most importantly, it is used by horses as an important avenue of communication.

All you need to do is sit on a fence post for a few hours and watch a group of horses interact to realize that they communicate through body language and that the tail is as important to them as our tongue is to us. Tails speak of readiness to aggress, protectiveness of the pack, interest or reluctance to mate and even discipline actions to youth.

In fact, woe to the handler who ignores a horses tail. Any horse person worth their salt will tell you that if you are holding a horse and his tail begins to swish back and forth aggressively, he is being asked to do something that is either irritating him or causing him difficulty. In his tail swishes aggressively and his rump muscle tense and bunch, watch out, he is about to deliver a wicked kick.

Tail positions also reflect the immediate attitude a horse has to racing. If a horse is interested in racing, his tail will be slightly raised and completely off his hind, normally at least a couple inches.

If the tail is a notch beyond raised, and is literally arched, this signals a peak performance is about to be displayed. Often, this peak signal will be accompanied by the tail flaying up and down. This is a sign that the horse feels like he is the pack leader and is signaling his dominance to the others. Never bet against the pack leader.

Now, onto the opposite side of the coin. If the tail is flush against the horse‘s hind, he is not having the best day of his thoroughbred life. He is likely to run lackluster.

Further, if the tail swishes left to right and back again, with high frequency, this is a bad sign as well. Horses with side swishing tails are not totally there in the racing moment, In other words, they have less than full motivation to run.

Rarely, if ever, you might see a horse with a pinned tail. It almost looks as if it is tucked between his legs. As with dogs, that is a sign of fright. Don‘t ever bet on frightened horses.

Failing to look from ears to tail before races will most certainly cost you hard earned wagering dollars.

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.