Is it cruel to hit an animal with a whip? If you stopped a passerby in the street and asked them this question their instinctive reply would probably be that it is. It's a natural human response to feel that you shouldn't hit an animal, on the basis that to do so would probably cause unnecessary pain. That is exactly what the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) – the regulator for racing in Great Britain – found when we asked polling organisation SMG/YouGov to put this question to the public.
The BHA's review is a positive step forward for those who support a welfare approach to the role of animals in our lives. As a responsible regulator we have taken the view that the current rules and penalties around the use of the whip are simply not good enough and can be both improved and made clearer.
Its not nessesary to use a whip. No way. And alot of jockeys use it either too much or too hard.
