Study Finds Using the Whip on Trotters May Slow Them Down

Whip use in all equine sports continues to be a hot topic for regulators and welfare advocates. Researchers in Sweden wondered whether the use of the whip in harness racing there actually accomplishes part of its purpose in encouraging horses to run faster. In a study published this month in the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Animal Science, a team from the Swedish Trotting Association and Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences studied video from harness races and took note of whip strikes, relative distance to the finish line, finish position, and speed as recorded by a tracker on the horses’ harnesses.

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