A jockey was getting ready to race a horse he had never ridden before.
Just before the race, the horse’s trainer gave him some unusual advice.
“There’s only one thing you need to remember,” the trainer said. “Every time you come to a jump, shout, ‘ALLLLEEE OOOP!’ as loudly as you can into the horse’s ear.”
The jockey thought the trainer was joking, but he agreed anyway.
The race began.
As they reached the first jump, the jockey ignored the strange advice.
The horse ran straight through the middle of the hurdle.
They continued to the second jump.
This time, feeling a little unsure, the jockey quietly whispered,
“Aleeee ooop.”
The horse crashed straight through the jump again.
When they reached the third hurdle, the jockey decided to follow the trainer’s instructions properly.
He shouted at the top of his lungs,
“ALLLLEEE OOOP!”
The horse cleared the jump perfectly.
From then on, every time the jockey shouted the words, the horse jumped over each hurdle without a problem.
Even so, because of the first two mistakes, they finished the race in third place.
After the race, the trainer walked over looking very upset.
“What happened?” he asked.
The jockey replied,
“There’s nothing wrong with me. What’s wrong with this horse? Is he deaf or something?”
The trainer looked at him and said,
“Deaf? Deaf? He’s not deaf… he’s blind!”