13th February, 2011 Whip use in racing

A recent study in Australia has shown that whipping horses in the final stages of the race "did not significantly affect velocity…enough to change the likelihood of being placed in the first three." In fact, the research showed that horses achieved the highest speeds when a whip wasn't used. Tired horses were found to be whipped the most. The report concluded that "under an ethical framework that considers costs paid by horses against benefits accrued by humans, these data make whipping tired horses very difficult to justify."

I read Polly Gundry's comments in the Horse and Hound of 3rd February where she says that amateur jockeys should not be allowed to hit horses, get this, because they "are very rarely anywhere near as proficient as a professional jockey in the practice of hitting a horse." What???