Whip use in trotting racing–effects on speed change and finishing position
The whip is used in several equine sports. This is intensely debated from a horse welfare perspective and putting the equine sports’ social license to operate at risk. Trotting racing is one of the sports where whip use is allowed. The whip is used for making the horse accelerate (encouragement) and...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Animal Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fanim.2024.1416503/full |
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| author | Agneta Sandberg Agneta Sandberg Mirielle Melani Adam Flöhr Jenny Yngvesson |
| author_facet | Agneta Sandberg Agneta Sandberg Mirielle Melani Adam Flöhr Jenny Yngvesson |
| author_sort | Agneta Sandberg |
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| description | The whip is used in several equine sports. This is intensely debated from a horse welfare perspective and putting the equine sports’ social license to operate at risk. Trotting racing is one of the sports where whip use is allowed. The whip is used for making the horse accelerate (encouragement) and correction. The aims of the study were to investigate if finishing position among top three horses is affected by whip use, the effect of whip strikes on changes in speed at the end of trotting races and if whip strikes potentially comply with the training principle of negative reinforcement. Race videos were analyzed retrospectively, whip strikes were registered and compared with changes in speed, which could be read out of position data from the same races. The top three horses (n=48) in 16 races were studied. The number of strikes per horse ranged from 0 to 16, with a mean of 5.6. There was no difference in number of strikes received between horses in finishing positions 1-3, and whip strikes were most often followed by deceleration. Whip strikes followed by deceleration may be an example of negative reinforcement. Whip strikes to encourage trotting horses to run faster at the end of a race should be avoided from a horse welfare perspective. The safety aspects of whip use in trotting racing need to be investigated further. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9b962dd53b9048e3bda0f94fb05d7ba3 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2673-6225 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
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| series | Frontiers in Animal Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-9b962dd53b9048e3bda0f94fb05d7ba32025-01-07T06:43:34ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Animal Science2673-62252025-01-01510.3389/fanim.2024.14165031416503Whip use in trotting racing–effects on speed change and finishing positionAgneta Sandberg0Agneta Sandberg1Mirielle Melani2Adam Flöhr3Jenny Yngvesson4Horse Welfare Department, Swedish Trotting Association, Bromma, SwedenDepartment of Animal Environment & Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Skara, SwedenDepartment of Animal Environment & Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Skara, SwedenDepartment of Biosystems & Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Alnarp, SwedenDepartment of Animal Environment & Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Skara, SwedenThe whip is used in several equine sports. This is intensely debated from a horse welfare perspective and putting the equine sports’ social license to operate at risk. Trotting racing is one of the sports where whip use is allowed. The whip is used for making the horse accelerate (encouragement) and correction. The aims of the study were to investigate if finishing position among top three horses is affected by whip use, the effect of whip strikes on changes in speed at the end of trotting races and if whip strikes potentially comply with the training principle of negative reinforcement. Race videos were analyzed retrospectively, whip strikes were registered and compared with changes in speed, which could be read out of position data from the same races. The top three horses (n=48) in 16 races were studied. The number of strikes per horse ranged from 0 to 16, with a mean of 5.6. There was no difference in number of strikes received between horses in finishing positions 1-3, and whip strikes were most often followed by deceleration. Whip strikes followed by deceleration may be an example of negative reinforcement. Whip strikes to encourage trotting horses to run faster at the end of a race should be avoided from a horse welfare perspective. The safety aspects of whip use in trotting racing need to be investigated further.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fanim.2024.1416503/fullequinewelfarenegative reinforcementpositive punishmentoperant conditioningtrotting racing |
| spellingShingle | Agneta Sandberg Agneta Sandberg Mirielle Melani Adam Flöhr Jenny Yngvesson Whip use in trotting racing–effects on speed change and finishing position Frontiers in Animal Science equine welfare negative reinforcement positive punishment operant conditioning trotting racing |
| title | Whip use in trotting racing–effects on speed change and finishing position |
| title_full | Whip use in trotting racing–effects on speed change and finishing position |
| title_fullStr | Whip use in trotting racing–effects on speed change and finishing position |
| title_full_unstemmed | Whip use in trotting racing–effects on speed change and finishing position |
| title_short | Whip use in trotting racing–effects on speed change and finishing position |
| title_sort | whip use in trotting racing effects on speed change and finishing position |
| topic | equine welfare negative reinforcement positive punishment operant conditioning trotting racing |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fanim.2024.1416503/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT agnetasandberg whipuseintrottingracingeffectsonspeedchangeandfinishingposition AT agnetasandberg whipuseintrottingracingeffectsonspeedchangeandfinishingposition AT miriellemelani whipuseintrottingracingeffectsonspeedchangeandfinishingposition AT adamflohr whipuseintrottingracingeffectsonspeedchangeandfinishingposition AT jennyyngvesson whipuseintrottingracingeffectsonspeedchangeandfinishingposition |