blinkers

Question
hello name is luis. my question is whats the best way to tell if my needs blinkers. she works good with them she has been race with them twice an also did well. am just not sure if i should keep running her with them. you think it will make a big difference if i take them off.another question is, is their any way i can get a horse to get concentrated on the race more than her surroundings?

Answer
Hola Luis,

Race training  is far more of an art than most people think. Why did your mare have blinkers in the first place? There are some trainers than seem to like to use blinkers on all horses.  That isn't always needed.  However, any horse that is paying more attention to the surrounding than the race might be helped by blinkers. I had a Thoroughbred who ran very well until he got to the grandstand, and then it seemed that he wanted to slow down and look to see who was watching him;=0  Blinkers were just the ticket for that particular horse. But I knew from morning works that he was a looky lou.   

The risk you would be taking if you take the blinkers off your mare, is that if she has raced well with them on, she may behave as though a race is an entirely new experience without blinkers. She will be seeing things she hasn't noticed before. You might see how she performs in morning works without blinkers and take it from there.

See you in the winner's circle.

Lynne Curtis
"Common sense isn't."