Types of Blinkers Used in Horse Racing

If you watch a lot of horse racing, you doubtless have at least some familiarity with blinkers.  Blinkers reduce the scope of a horse’s sight, which can help a horse to stay calm and focused.  Did you know that there are many different types of blinkers?  Here are a few that are worth knowing about:

• French cups.  This type of blinker is commonly used in horse racing in the US.  With a French cup, most of a horse’s vision is still largely unobstructed.

• Semi cups.  This is a midway point between a French cup as described above and a full cup (described below).  This type of blinker significantly reduces a horse’s field of view, but still allows more vision than a full cup. 

• Full cups.  This type of blinker restricts a significant portion of a horse’s field of view, eliminating the majority of distractions.  There are however small holes which are cut into the base of the cups.  This allows a horse to spot a competitor closing in.  Note that the semi cup described above does not include these holes.

• Cheaters.  These blinkers allow a relatively open field of view.  There is almost no cup at all.  What is the point?  These blinkers may improve a horse’s focus through psychological means.  Even though they do not actually reduce field of vision, they tell a horse it is time to focus forward and give an extra push.

• Extension cups.  An extension blinker covers nearly the entirety of one eye.  The main purpose of this type of blinker is to stop a horse which tends to drift to one side during a race from doing so.  This type of blinker may also prevent dirt from getting kicked into a horse’s eye.  Sometimes extension cups include small holes so that the horses can see approaching challengers.

Trainers looking to purchase blinkers for their horses can either purchase pre-made blinkers, or they can custom order blinkers.  This allows them to choose the colors and materials used in the design.  Sometimes trainers with dark-colored horses will choose blinkers and hoods in dark colors to attempt to conceal the blinkers from casual view.

Interested in learning more about blinkers?  Be sure to check out An Introduction to Blinkers to learn more about them, and then What Impact Do Blinkers Have on Racing?