Like any other sport, horse racing involves a common set of rules:
- Before the start of the race, each horse is weighed. Most often these manipulations are performed just before the race, 15 minutes before the start.
- The horse races directly from the stall, unless the competition judge decides to start from the starting gate. Each horse and its stall is identified by a number to indicate the teams. Each race must be performed strictly in accordance with the chronology: opening the gate in the stalls, giving the signal with a special flag, followed by the ringing of the bells.
- If a false start occurs, the starting procedure is repeated again until all the horses have started according to the rules. If the field shows a yellow flag, the horse and its jockey must stop. This color is a precursor to an emergency on the track. Such a signal lets everyone know that the race is stopped indefinitely.
- The winner of the race is the animal that first touched the finishing ribbon with its head. A photo-finish always comes to the rescue to confirm the fact of victory.
- After the end of the competition the weigher re-weighs those 4 horses who first came to the finish. If one of the horses has lost weight of 0.3 kg or more during the race, its place will be cancelled.
Rules leading to disqualification of a Horse:
- a horse is disqualified from the competition if it collided with another individual on the treadmill;
- the team whose jockey was playing a dangerous strategy and jeopardizing another horse’s chances of winning will be disqualified;
- if, during the start and the race, the horse does not obey the jockey and gets out of his control.
Jockey Requirements:
- All jockeys must be properly licensed;
- jockeys are weighed before the race;
- all persons must be in possession of a protective helmet;
- The jockey’s shirt and breeches (pants) must be the same color as the horse owner’s colors;
- before and after weighing for certain reasons, the jockey may be replaced by another athlete.
If after the photo-finish it turns out that two jockeys on horseback came to the finish at the same time, the prize fund is divided between them exactly in half.
Horse Racing Today
To this day, horse racing retains all the rules and requirements to conduct them, which have been established since ancient times. The modern sport recognizes horse racing as the noblest sport honoring all the deep traditions of the competition. The modern elite and the royalty of royal houses regularly organize tournaments for horse races, and always occupy seats of honor in the auditorium and personally enjoy the spectacle.
It has been proven that the athletes involved in this sport are physically very fit and in good health. Millennia after the domestication of man, this animal has passed many tests of labor, the use of people in the home, until the horse has become a faithful companion and partner to man. In today’s world, almost all horses participate in equestrian sports, and the best of the best horses are used to further and improve the pedigree.