Laughter, the Best Medicine

The trainer’s last-minute instructions to a jockey were to shout "Up and over" at each jump, which the jockey considered rather stupid. He said nothing at the first hurdle and the horse blundered through it.


After doing the same at the second jump, the shaken jockey decided to call "Up and over" for the remaining hurdles and won the race easily. Asked by the trainer what had gone wrong at the first two jumps and unwilling to admit ignoring instructions, the jockey said, "The horse must be deaf."

"No way," the trainer insisted. "Blind yes, but not deaf."
- David Laing