[drivingpairs] Re: chariot racing tv story
- From: "Laura Crews" <barnrats@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: drivingpairs@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 02 Dec 2002 09:04:47 -0500
Greetings all--
I watched the long-awaited chariot racing show last night. I applied to be
in it more than a year ago, but alas didn't make the final cut....
Anyway, I have always wondered just how you hitch two horses to a
two-wheeled chariot with a pole.... obviously there is a method, since the
chariot was a VERY successful vehicle for a few thousand years! The show
was no help at all in that department. My husband was out and missed the
show, and my VCR wasn't working properly so I couldn't record it.
Fortunately, they will run the story again later this week. (It turns out
that a power outage messed up the VCR and Wayne had to re-program it from
scratch -- something I DO NOT and WILL NOT understand how to do. Give me my
simple barn tools and turn me loose outside, away from technology, thank you
very much.)
I was horrified that the four people they selected for this thing had NEVER
driven ANYTHING before! One guy (the one who won) had no prior horse
experience! The other guy worked with TB race horses in some manner, and
one woman was into showing and the other woman was an eventer. They trained
for TWO WEEKS. This is from never having been in a horse-drawn vehicle to
"racing." TWO WEEKS!!! The show followed the four drivers over the course
of the project. The non-horsey guy, I think, plainly had the best attitude
all along! No prejudices, you know. He was into various sports and is "an
adrenaline junkie" I think they called it. The whole thing was a totally
new experience for him and he just ate it up with pleasure.
The drivers who did have horse experience were "weirded out" by the strange
sensations of being BEHIND the horses.... etc..... The eventer woman's
horses "stalled" [sic] at the starting gate and she could not get them to
move. Judging from her nervousness and obvious discomfort at being behind
the horses instead of on top, I think she panicked and was unable to bring
herself to ask them to start moving, much less running. The two women were
a bundle of nerves throughout the whole thing. I'd be scared to be driving
anywhere near them! Just my opinion...
Anyway, these drivers trained with no whips and no gloves. They held the
reins like they were riding, and they also complained of aching hands and
heavy reins.... imagine that...... They wore helmets and protective vests,
yet no gloves until the actual "race." The horses were Spanish horses of
whatever breeding (the project took place in Spain as well.) They ran cones
with about a meter and a half clearance, and STILL trashed them. According
to the show, the first time all four of them ran around the track together
at the same time was during the actual race..... no dress rehearsals or
trial runs (???)
The show's narrator explained that the positioning of the driver is vital,
since if he steps too far forward in the chariot, the pole will hit the
ground, and if he steps to far to the rear, it'll flip the horses up....
hello..... what's wrong with this picture? I ask again: how do you hitch
them, exactly?
When they did do the actual race, the horses loped along briskly. Most were
pulling away from the pole and weren't moving together -- one trotting, one
cantering, even on the straightaway..... The race was on a left track, and
the winning pair consistently cantered with the near horse on the left lead
and the off horse on the right lead, even around the turns..... they eased
up into a hand gallop for the last straightaway. My 12-hand ponies easily
could have outdistanced those horses. Man, what frustration!
Oh well.
Laura Crews
Country Roads Farm Welsh Ponies*
Virginia
*and Fancy Rats
"My furs are not in storage or draped across the bed,
They're hanging from the cage door, waiting to be fed."
"Horses very rarely display the extreme strength that they are blessed with.
It is truly awesome when you see it. You want it pointed in the right
direction."
Anyone who would release an animal into the wild to fend for itself should
themselves be put out in the wilderness with no food or water. If they
survive, then they know how the animal feels. If they don't survive, then
they have improved the human gene pool....
Remember: STUPIDITY IS A SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASE!
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