>heck, dogs can run a track without being >reminded of what direction to go. can't horses? maybe a mechanical carrot >zipping around a track...?
And there you go...the dogs are chasing something (the rabbit) because they are predatory animals (greyhounds in particular are bred to chase down prey). Horses are prey animals, their instinct is to run *from* something, not after it. So while a herd of horses can certainly be encouraged to run, they must have the direction of a rider in order to know *where* to go. In fact, a whip is just as often used to keep a horse running straight as it is used to keep them running fast. A rider also helps keep the horse safe from slamming into other horses, barriers, etc. and lets them know when the race is over so they *stop* running. One of the scariest things at a track is when something spooks a horse and they throw their rider and take off in a panic. Scary for both the people in its path as well as the danger to the horse itself. So no, I don't think we'd ever see riderless racing. ;-) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;192386516;25150098;k Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:259850 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
