How does a jockey tell a horse to run faster?

When a jockey adds more mass to the forehand of the horse, the horse is less balanced and must run faster to try and rebalance. Unfortunately for horse and rider, this increases the risk of falls. As an aside, there was a study that came out a few years ago that showed that the way that jockeys use the whip actually makes horses run slower. read more

A jockey may have fractions of seconds to try to keep a horse from running up on another horse's heels or from bearing in or out into the path of another horse. Since jockeys cannot use their legs to move a horse sideways, they have to go to the whip to get a horse to move sideways. read more

In fact, horses can run at a speed range of 8.1-55 miles per hour. Although most horses will never reach a speed of 55mph, you can get your horse to run faster with proper conditioning and/ or aids that signal it to speed up. read more