HOOD in horse racing

Question

hood   hello ma'am, in thoroughbred horse racing, i have seen few trainers add an equipment called HOOD, it covers the ears of the horse. may i know the uses of this equipment? on which horses to add this equipment?

Answer
Rohit,

I cannot tell clearly from this picture, but I would imagine that this horse is wearing the hood because he is wearing blinkers.

As you know, horses in racing can easily become distracted by the crowds and the noise and the other horses running behind him. Trainers will employ blinkers to limit the peripheral vision of the horse. They will often experiment with the opening.....sometimes allowing a bit of an opening so that the horse can partially see in back of him.

Sometimes this is used with younger horses and then later on the blinkers and hood are removed when the horse is calmer. They are also used because of the proximity of the other horses in a starting gate.

Trainer will also use them to aid in helping the jockey steer the horse....so that the horse can run straighter and be in more control. With more restrictions on their eye sight, they have a tendency to listen more to their riders.

There are ear covers for horses to protect their ears from flies. These are usually (in the States) just crocheted and not very large. If this hood is not used along with blinkers, I suppose it could be used to protect the horse's face from dirt flying into it, (including his ears) which would make a horse back off from running as fast as he can.

Mitzi
www.MitziSummers.com.