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What do you want me to call them? I am not being xenophobic - I am just saying it how it is for want of a better explanation.

When I started out, I worked for firstly Charlie Nelson & then Luca Cumani. We had some first class riders at both yards. However now with the influx of foreign lads from Eastern Europe & India/Pakistan, the standard of riding has dropped considerably. Many of them have poor English language skills, let alone a lifetime in a racing yard. And they unlike all our stable staff do not have to attend one of the Racing Schools for a course (9 weeks) to assess their riding skills.

So yes I would say their is a huge huge difference in the way horses are now being ridden & trained. I have great admiration for the hard work that many foreign lads put in. Lads I used to work with could tell you after sitting on a horse a few times - the going the horse needed, the trip, the probable rating it would end up with. More recently when I have been in Newmarket, I wince at the way horses are being ridden now - hauled around like a motorbike.

To a certain extent you can blame the trainers for cost-cutting as they seem to be able to pay the foreigners less and "stack-em up" in their accommodation - 2/3 to a room which would be unthinkable to a British/Irish lad these days. In addition they are happier to accept a harder working pace and so lads are now looking after anything between 4-8 horses each whereas it never used to be more than 3. Consequently you have to have very good head lads/assistants to be able to compensate and oversee what a lad could have spotted had he not been flat out every day.

<blockquote data-quote="jinnyj" data-source="post: 2442624" data-attributes="member: 65066">What do you want me to call them?&nbsp; I am not being xenophobic - I am just saying it how it is for want of a better explanation.&nbsp;When I started out, I worked for firstly Charlie Nelson &amp; then Luca Cumani. We had some first class riders at both yards. However now with the influx of foreign lads from Eastern Europe &amp; India/Pakistan, the standard of riding has dropped considerably. Many of them have poor English language skills, let alone a lifetime in a racing yard. And they unlike all our stable staff do not have to attend one of the Racing Schools for a course (9 weeks) to assess their riding skills.&nbsp;So yes I would say their is a huge huge difference in the way horses are now being ridden &amp; trained. I have great admiration for the hard work that many foreign lads put in. Lads I used to work with could tell you after sitting on a horse a few times - the going the horse needed, the trip, the probable rating it would end up with. More recently when I have been in Newmarket, I wince at the way horses are being ridden now - hauled around like a motorbike.&nbsp;To a certain extent you can blame the trainers for cost-cutting as they seem to be able to pay the foreigners less and &quot;stack-em up&quot; in their accommodation - 2/3 to a room which would be unthinkable to a British/Irish lad these days. In addition they are happier to accept a harder working pace and so lads are now looking after anything between 4-8 horses each whereas it never used to be more than 3. Consequently you have to have very good head lads/assistants to be able to compensate and oversee what a lad could have spotted had he not been flat out every day.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="jinnyj, post: 2442624, member: 65066"] What do you want me to call them? I am not being xenophobic - I am just saying it how it is for want of a better explanation. When I started out, I worked for firstly Charlie Nelson & then Luca Cumani. We had some first class riders at both yards. However now with the influx of foreign lads from Eastern Europe & India/Pakistan, the standard of riding has dropped considerably. Many of them have poor English language skills, let alone a lifetime in a racing yard. And they unlike all our stable staff do not have to attend one of the Racing Schools for a course (9 weeks) to assess their riding skills. So yes I would say their is a huge huge difference in the way horses are now being ridden & trained. I have great admiration for the hard work that many foreign lads put in. Lads I used to work with could tell you after sitting on a horse a few times - the going the horse needed, the trip, the probable rating it would end up with. More recently when I have been in Newmarket, I wince at the way horses are being ridden now - hauled around like a motorbike. To a certain extent you can blame the trainers for cost-cutting as they seem to be able to pay the foreigners less and "stack-em up" in their accommodation - 2/3 to a room which would be unthinkable to a British/Irish lad these days. In addition they are happier to accept a harder working pace and so lads are now looking after anything between 4-8 horses each whereas it never used to be more than 3. Consequently you have to have very good head lads/assistants to be able to compensate and oversee what a lad could have spotted had he not been flat out every day. [/QUOTE]

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