Just a novice....

[RealMadYid]

This is gonna be 1st year racing and my pup runs from a standing start...and I've now seen a kickboard, can someone please tell me why they are used?

Even though 100m sprinters use starting blocks it is push them upright, not straight into a running a position? They look dangerous and un-natural to me? Surely if all dogs start from the same position that is fairer than some dogs using a propelling device? Call me niave, but if some racers are concerned about injuries using kickboards and will always be beat another dog using one, where's the fun and sport in that? If your dog is good it will beat another good regardless, surely....

Just the thoughts of novice...please don't flame me.....

Paul

 

[NEILPEM]

well as no one else will say this,i will,we all love our dogs,no one can say im wrong ,i know whippets and greyhounds are bred to run,but were they bred to race,i think not, so if we love em or not ,we put their lives at risk every time we race them,so to me if we use boards or not we still put our dogs lives at risk.

 

[JoJess]

This is just my view on boards, using a board gives certain dogs an advantage i agree but it also stops the dogs getting injuries from the traps, at the moment most of the dogs get injured whilst in the run off, if you take away boards it will not be long before the dogs start showing toe injuries and back leg injuries, we have seen it happen many years ago, a dog in a five dog race held at Rose Forgrove track, came out the traps and both tendons in its back leg's went, needless to say the dog never ran again, what a waste of a racing dog......... ??? The dogs can trap just as well without a board as with, but if we can stop injuries occuring by using boards then use em i say>>>> ???

 

[sadieandco]

Whats to say if the dog had a trap board in, the same injury may still have happened - who knows?????

In fairness we don't always know where the injuries happen start, middle or end of race, we pick dogs up at the end and then find the injuries but not always able to determine exactly where the injury happened we can have an educated guess but cant always be certain. With or without kickboards unfortunately injuries are often part and parcel of whippet racin always have been and always will be.

Just wish the dogs could talk and then maybe they could tell us "God i pulled by bloody hind leg coming out of trap this morning" (Kickboard problem) or "Halfway down track i felt my leg go - it bloody hurt" (not kickboard fault) Until then we'll just have to keep guessing.

Karen

 

[JoJess]

hmmmmmmmmmmm I guess you are right there sadie, time will tell......... ???