An eccentric West Country farmer booked a top rider for a horse in a poor chase and told him that the beast would win easily, but he’d have to shout “HUP!!” loudly at every fence. The jockey dismissed the instructions as the bletherings of a madman and rode as normal, but the horse proceeded to blunder so badly at the first few fences that he was tailed off.
Chastened by this experience, the rider, now out of earshot of the others and the crowd, decided to shout the command at the next fence, which his mount flew. This continued for the rest of the race, with the combination passing three in the air at the final fence to win in a photo.
“Well done,” said the farmer. “But what the hell happened at the start?”
“Oh,” replied the embarrassed jockey. "I think the horse might be a bit deaf!"
"Deaf?! Deaf?!” came the startled reply. “He’s not deaf lad – he’s f***ing blind!!"