Originally Posted by
justinc
Bob, there ARE no excuses , these practices are born of a sick mind
".....but Uncle did use jiggers [ batteries in a match box set up to give a slight shock to the sweaty neck of a horse ] , and I used to hear the strappers talking in hushed voices about some of Uncles horses running 6 inches above the ground because of ' special ' feeds he gave them. [ possibly a reason he won the Rockhampton Cup. ] But the one constant was the love of horses that those on the ground [ jockeys, strappers et al] had for 'their' horses. If there is cruelty, I doubt it would come from any of them, because they were self regulating. Any one found hurting a horse was taken around the back of the stables, and sorted."
Justin, I agree completely.
Also just because something like a "jigger" is battery driven, doesn't mean it is harmless think of Tasers, or Meggers or the ignition coil on a car, it is only 12 volt but delivers several thousand volts to the spark plugs due to a collapsing field, and the horses certainly thought it was terrifying.
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