I tried searching for this answer but these were too many to sift through
I just noticed on one of my horses I had two comments and I don’t know what they mean
X refused to run at all
X refused to rate at all
I think I did know one of them but because they’re so similar I got thrown off lol
Refused to run indicates low natural energy.
Refused to rate means they’re not rateable. 
Oh very interesting, I haven’t seen the refused to run one before
Rate means listen to the jockey doesn’t it? As in might need a F8…
I’m writing this all down so I don’t have to harass you again, hopefully 
Yes, rating is when the jockey says “hey, let’s slow down and run behind horse X”, or “let’s speed up and run ahead of horse X” - if the horse isn’t ratable and doesn’t like that idea (e.g. its most preferred running position is on the lead and the jockey wants to sit midpack), then it will waste energy fighting the jockey instead of listening.
Thanks Shanthi
What about moderately rateable? What if a horse ‘hates his equipment’ but is only wearing a saddle & bridle? When a horse spooks badly do you add blinkers or shadow roll?
someone should post what usually works in response to the comments.
Then you sometimes get lucky if the horse cooperates, and sometimes get unlucky. You can try a figure 8 (which helps ratability, but only if the horse likes wearing it).
Then he wants to wear something in addition to saddle/bridle. You can hate the lack of something as well as the presence of it.
You can try, it can also be a sign of immaturity (horses who aren’t used to the track will spook more).
No offense intended, but the game won’t play itself for you. 
Some common sense/trial and error is meant to be applied.
Oh rats! LOL!!!
Just reading … Great answer Shanthi - but was hoping you we’re gonna tell us the magic formula )
I know it won’t play itself for you, but a primer for newer players would probably be helpful. Like ‘if your horse spooks, try a shadow roll’ and other stuff. It’s at least a starting place for people. When the horse hates his equipment, but isn’t wearing any, I assume it’s having one of the ‘moments’ my 8 month old daughter has ‘I HATE EVERYTHING! AHHH!’ LOL
There are some handy bits on the FAQ under race entries. What I usually do is search the forums for previous discussions about equipping
No, then the horse just hates the fact that he’s dying to wear X (blinkers, shadow roll, whatever magic combination) and is instead wearing nothing.
I wouldn’t say that anyway, though. Spooking, bolting, and fighting the jockey are random “special” events that can happen during a workout. They can happen to any horse, regardless of age/immaturity/equipment/etc - they have a greater chance of happening in certain scenarios (spook for immature, bolt for high energy, fight for high energy/low ratability), and the chance can be lessened if they happen to be wearing (and liking!) the equipment that helps with that (B/SR/F8, nothing can really help with high energy ). The advice of “try a shadow roll” applies to any horse, regardless of whether they spook or not.
Jumping on this topic to ask another, related question.
I think I read somewhere that jockey comments with regards to equipment (X hates his equipment vs X loves his equipment) are pretty trustworthy. Is this true? The reason I ask is that I have several horses who’ve gotten the “X loves his equipment” comment, only to receive the “X hates his equipment” during a later workout, even though they’re wearing the same equipment, being worked out by the same jockey and are even sometimes at the same track. One time this happened in a time span of mere days. Do the preferences for equipment change as a horse ages? Or are the comments simply related to how well a jockey knows the horse?
Finding out what works for each horse is often a case of trial and error. Failing that I usually find selling to another stable often brings about marked improvement
Preferences for equipment don’t change.
This.
This topic came up at a good time!
Romantic Memory apparently hates everything, bar her jockey, she seems to like him well enough! Other than her first 4 workouts she has had Joseph Birdsong on for the ride since she was a 3yo.
6/2/2015 - Loves no equipment (Okay so she did apparently like something for a brief period)
1/4/2016 - Hates no equipment (Fickle filly!)
1/9/2016 - Hates blinkers
2/29/2016 - Hates shadowroll
3/19/2016 - Dislikes wraps (Less hatred maybe?)
3/21/2016 - Hates F8
7/5/2016 - Dislikes No Whip (More less hatred!)
9/18/2017 - Hates Blinkers, Shadowroll and Wraps
So what do we make of this? Obviously hating her equipment hasn’t hurt any! More of an experiment for me now to figure out what the heck she does like! Obviously the comments about hating blinkers and F8 came only after a couple days of training with the equipment so maybe try those again? She likes her jockey and he does know her like the back of his hand. Oh goodness now that I’ve said that she’ll take to hating him too! >:D
I would give her another whirl with no equipment. Depending how well the jock knew her last year/earlier in the season, he could be lying.
I make my decisions only after I’ve gotten a comment at least twice AFTER the jockey says he knows the horse “like the back of his hand”, because they can still make mistakes at any point. If they know the horse well, it’s more likely that they will be correct, but I like to make sure they meant it (by repeating it).