Headgear Worn By Racing Horses

There is a lot of special equipment that racing horses need to wear to be able to be their best

, and some of it is special head gear. Most of the head gear is used to improve the horses concentration during races, and some of it is for the protection and well being of the animal during this important time, too. The most common parts of head gear that are worn include blinkers, visors and cheek pieces. Not only that, but you will commonly see a tongue strap worn by these racers, too. Blinkers are fitted to a horse to help it focus concentration on the race. They are like cowls that are fitted to a cloth on their heads, and these can be either full cup or half cup versions. Overall, these blinkers reduce the horses vision from being able to see at 180 degrees down to around 30 degrees.

Visors are kind of similar to blinkers except that the cowl has a hole or a slit in it on the side to let the horse only really see the other horses that are at its side. There is some question to how genuine a horse is if he needs blinkers to race well, but there is no doubt that in many cases they really do improve a horses performance. This is especially true with the first time that racing horses race. The more experienced horses that have been racing for a while seem to not really be affected any more with the blinkers and visors.

Cheek pieces, also known as French blinkers, have become a popular type of head gear for racing horses. These consist of two sheepskin bands that are attached to the side of the horse bridle. This also is used to restrict the horses side vision and also to help it concentrate and focus on the race.

Tongue straps are fitted over the horses tongue and these are used to stop the tongue from lifting up during the race and restricting the air flow for the horses breathing. Trainers will usually use these for their racing horses if they suspect that the horse has had a problem with this in previous races they have run. Even though these straps have been used for a long time for racing horses, it really has only been in the last ten years that they really have become necessary to have trainers declare that the horse is wearing one of these tongue straps.

by: Phoenix Delray

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