Now, Im not a rider, a long story really, but I can’t ride horses, so this might be a silly question, but we were watching the Travers this weekend, and one of the horses, I think Ministers Bid but dont quote me, was totally acting up. I’ve seen plenty of races and am used to horses not loving the gate, but this horse was beyond freaky crazy when it came to getting in the gate. In fact his jockey had to jump off at one point. So, my question really is, how do you guys that ride handle a horse that is that jumpy and seemingly wild? Is it about building trust, which a Jockey that sees the horse once or twice would not have built?
It’s mostly about not riding racehorses. 
They are, to put it mildly, psychotic. They are stuck in their stall for 23+ hours a day, and are told to run as fast as they possibly can for as long as the jockey asks when they do get out of their stall. Small wonder that, on race day (when they know they’ll be running, and there’s the excitement of the other horses, crowd, etc) they don’t really want to get into a tiny cage and stand still.
If a horse is that jumpy/wild and it isn’t a racehorse (or is an ex-racehorse, like mine ), generally you’d lunge it before getting on, so that it has time to buck/rear/be silly without you on its back.
Well, for me, it’s not so much trusting the horse as trusting myself. If a horse is acting up, I pretty much assume it has no concern whatsoever with my well-being. Most of the time they seem to stop caring about THEIR well-being. If I feel like I can stay on while the horse misbehaves, I stay on and try and get it under control. If I don’t feel confident that I can handle it, I bail. I’m willing to stay on scarier horses now because I have the experience to know what to do, but there are still some I wouldn’t want to mess with.
Thanks, I was just curious. I could easily see being those beauties being the craziest, since most of them are trained to run until they beat everyone else 
Some horses just have issues with the starting gate. Once it’s race time and the horse starts throwing a major fit like that it’s not really about correcting the problem more so then just getting the horse in the gate. Often the jockey will get off and won’t get back on untill the horse is standing quitely in the gate in case the horse flips over backwards when he’s agitated.
It’s just like horses who have major issues with trailer loading. In the end you have to fix the underlying problem - their ground manners. You have to get the horse respectful on the ground and make sure you can maneuver them safely on the ground and that they won’t run you over before you can start to fix problems like them not wanting to load or get in a gate or whatever.
For the most part racehorses are psychotic like Shanthi said. Luckily at work we’ve had a lot of freaks come in, all of them are for the most part like show horses on the ground except for maybe Smokey Glacken, but even she is a sweetheart most of the time.
It is also what they learn as they go about their days, I imagine Minister’s Bid acted up one time and maybe somehow got away with it and decided he wanted to do it again, or he’s just a very nervous horse. He is also very inexperienced, I think he’s only had maybe 5 races?
You notice the different traits in each horse, I’ll use the horses I work with for example;
Shikilu “Jane” (2yo Filly) - Came with the warning, ‘this horse is crazy’, she really isn’t crazy, she’s neurotic. She is overly intelligent and notices things that a lot of other horses wouldn’t, for the most part though she is very sane and nice to work around, on the ground she’s usually very well behaved unless something spooks her. Riding she is very spooky at times but if she gets galloped every day she calms down and can handle life. Considering she came from a line of super crazy horses, she is one of the nicest ones.
Nora Charles “Foxy” (3yo Filly) - Foxy is one of our big clients horses, came to start up training again after being layed up from a broken pelvis. When she started back at first she was very spooky, then she settled down and was very steady though you had to be careful, her favorite trick is to sit and spin, or stop dead and veer sideways. Now that she has been galloping she had been a little more on edge, she is getting a little ‘leapy’ when she’s ridden and is spooky again, but for the most part she is pretty good, on the ground she is an angel.
Hi Lili “Lily” (3yo Filly) - Another of the big clients, she came to rest and gain weight, she is another one that is afflicted by neurosis and she stall walks and just can’t handle life. On the ground she is very sweet, she lives to go outside in the paddock. If she could she would live outside and be completely happy. For awhile she settled down, even more so when she started doing light work, now though she has been galloping and is getting back into her neurosis, she is still an angel on the ground though. She is pretty good to ride to, doesn’t seem spooky and seems to be light on the bit.
South Pacific (3yo Gelding) - Yet another horse from the same client, he came to recover from joint surgery, he’s a ham on the ground, very obnoxious but sweet. Under tack he is very excitable, not crazy, just looking for any excuse to bolt. He’ll jog nicely, but when he gallops he will run away with you and HE will decide when to stop.
Grand Champion (3yo Gelding) - Yes, another one, one of my favorites. He is a showhorse inside, loves to be pampered. He is inherently lazy, his pedigree is amazing, all his siblings are stakes winners, he looks like he should be a stakes winner, this horse is drop-dead gorgeous. He came because he has random lameness, part laziness, part muscle/back sore. He’s been here for about 6-8 months and now is galloping again and is quite steady but is actually showing interest in what he is doing, he’s also completely sound. He was fun to ride, he’s hell on your hands, he loves to bear down on the bit.
Tiger (5yo Gelding) - One of our client’s really nice horses, he’s supposed to go to the breeder’s cup sprint, but we don’t know yet, they might give him the rest of the year off and send him to Gulfstream in January. He came to rest up, he’s had a lot of problems, supposedly he’s had a bout of EPM, and has a lot of tendon issues, both his front legs have bows. He’s sound though and is generally nice to handle, a little rambunctious at times but mostly good. Riding he is just a powerhouse, he will runaway with you no matter what you do.
Smokey Glacken (5yo Mare) - Smokey came with the warning of ‘tough’ she is a tough filly, but she really does want to be sweet. I’ve taken a special interest in her, not just because she’s earned over $600k on the track, I don’t know, I just love her, she reminds me a lot of my mare. She came for a rest, she is VERY sore. Joan has been having me jog her and it is painful to do. She’s light on the bit, I don’t know if it’s because she is in pain or if that’s how she is, and just doesn’t want to go forward, hopefully she’ll start feeling better soon. She is a very nice ride though so far, she is a ‘proffesional’. Today she was feeling good, leapt at every thing for the first few walk rounds but settled and jogged on nicely. We’ll have to see how she gets when she feels better.
There’s my novella… 
So in the end, horses are alot like people. Of course, I should have known this already, since I have had 3 cats and they are all different in action and temperment. Kittie is a primadonna, this is her house, hers and no one elses. Zelda is a witch, but she loves my mother, she will actually listen to her. And Ashes is fearless, leaping off the fridge is a daily occurrence. So I guess horses all have there own happy personalities and idiosyncriecies. Thanks, now there not just beautiful animals to me.
Oh, on another note, since I don’t know, what is a Moore horse?
Lol, the Moore’s are owner’s who have sent us a BUNCH of their horses for retraining, rehabilitating, rest, etc. As of now we have 6 of their racehorses, 1 of their stallions, and 2 of their broodmares. They also gave the Milne’s, the people I work for, two of the foals they bred. Uber nice people.