Page 15 - August 2005 The Game

Your Thoroughbred Racing Community Newspaper The Game, August 2005 15
Horsemanship at the Gate
seminar at the training track starting gate for horsemen, which provided and opportunity for trainers to discuss any problems and make everyone aware that the crew is working towards the same goal of getting the horse in and out of the gate as safe as possible.
When horses arrive at the gate, the crew has the important responsibility of teaching the horses to not
only overcome its
fear, but to enter
and leave success-
fully which can be
very stressful for
the horse if done
incorrectly.
To explain what a horse is experiencing Bob uses the analogy of a young child going to school for the first time. The child arrives eager and willing to learn however soon discovers that the teacher is speaking in a language they don’t understand. When the child doesn’t know what the teacher wants it to do, the teacher begins to shout, only increasing the anxiety, and then the teacher begins to hit them, instilling fear and
making the experience extremely stressful. Naturally the child doesn’t want to return the next day.
“By having the language to communicate with the horses,” says Bob, “It allows the horse to trust you and learn from you without fear or stress.”
To learn more contact Bob Duncan at 516-435-1050.
For an extended long weekend at the end of June, Woodbine Entertainment Group along with the HBPA of Ontario, had invited Robert (Bob) Duncan to visit and spend time with the Gate crew at Woodbine.
Bob was asked to review the procedures of the Woodbine gate crew and to offer any advice which would help in the handling and loading of the horses at the gate. However after spending four mornings and afternoons with the crew, he concluded that they were doing all the right things.
“All the things they were doing, they were doing them right.” says Bob, who worked on the starting gate for the New York Racing Association (NYRA) for 39 years, “Some starts were better than most I’ve seen.” And Bob has seen a lot of starts in his years in the gate! “These guys do a very good job.”
Originally from Long Island, New York, Bob grew up within a stones throw of Belmont Racetrack where his father, Robert W. Duncan, trained for Pittsburgh Steelers owner Mr. Rooney’s Shamrock Farms.
During his freshman year in college in 1966, they needed some extra help on the starting gate and it was during that summer that Bob fell in love with the job.
After a 14 month tour of duty in Korea in 1969, he returned to the starting gate full time and was eventually promoted in 1993 to the Starter position for NYRA which includes Belmont, Saratoga and Aqueduct Racetracks.
Bob officially retired in April 2004 however he still
enjoys his
mornings working
on the gate from May to October at Saratoga and has since started a consultation business simply called, NGS, Natural Gate Schooling.
NGS basically teaches horseman- ship skills which can be used not only at the starting gate but in your everyday dealings with horses.
Horsemanship is simply having the language to communicate with the horses the way horses communi- cate with each other.
Horses are herd animals and have simple needs and they effectively communicate their needs to each other
Bob has worked with the likes of Pat Parelli, Monty Roberts and the Dorrance Brothers, Bill and Tom and their neighbour Ray Hunt, each of whom has developed an ability to work with horses.
“This information has been around so long that it is new again.” laughs Bob who explains that anyone can effectively communicate and work with horses...once you open your mind to it.
“Horses have simple needs,” Bob explains, “You have to get a horse to trust you using love, language and leadership instead of force shouting or hitting.
“With the starting gate you can use the approach of making the wrong thing difficult (to do) and the right thing easy for the horse and once you get the principles down it becomes much easier.”
During the four days that he was at Woodbine, Bob also hosted an on-track
Consultant Bob Duncan spent 4 days with the gate crew at Woodbine.
mainly
body
When
understand the body language of horses, communi- cation becomes that much easier.
through language. people
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