What does running off the bridle mean?

[MattA147]

Hi guys,

Basically as the title says. I have heard it being said several times and I don’t know what it means. 

Any help greatly appreciated. 

Matt

[Trotter]

The 'bridle' is the gear, leather straps etc, around the horses head which attach to the reins and allows the jockey to control the horse

You must consider that for 9/10ths of the race the jockey's job is to slow the horse down and save his energy for the business end of the race

A horse that is running 'on the bridle' is still being held back from going full speed by the jockey's hold on the reins

A horse that is running 'off the bridle' is one where the jockey has had to let go of his tight hold and allow the hose to run faster than the jockey ideally wants at the stage of the race. Generally this would be because he's struggling to keep up with the other horses that are still being ridden on the bridle. He's using up his energy to stay with the pack

Being ridden 'off the bridle' is generally a bad thing because it means the horse is generally going as fast as he can but will be overtaken or left behind in the finish by the horses that are still on the bridle and will  go faster when the jockey loosens his hold

At the end of the race most horses will be 'off the bridle' because the sprint for the line is on

As always there are some exceptions

Some horses are just what we consider lazy and need to be pushed and shoved along by the jockey most of the time...…. these will be described as 'off the bridle' but it's just the way they always run and even if held on to will tend not to find much extra when let off the bridle

Sometimes a horse will win very easily and never come 'off the bridle'' ….. the commentators will get very exciting about this because it leads to the thought that they could run a lot faster if the jockey let them off the bridle. You'll hear descriptions like 'he won hard held' ' the jockey had a double handful' …… both mean that the horse won even though the jockey was still holding him back

Double handful = two hands pulling tightly on the reins to stop the horse going faster

Edited December 28, 2018 by Trotter