Two expert horsemen with very different views on the stick

Walter Buick was Norway's eight-time champion jockey but predominantly during an era when riders were allowed to carry a whip in all races

Towards the end of my time riding in Norway you couldn't use the whip, except down the shoulder, so you weren't able to take your hands off the reins. Since then it has been banned completely for everything but two-year-old races, to the detriment of jockeyship and racing as a spectacle.

Racing in Norway is often now not a pretty sight. It has become ugly to watch. It's like a scene from an old western movie with horses charging in all directions. You can't drop a horse in because you won't get the horse going again. So many horses now need headgear.

The whip is a vital part of a jockey's equipment. Banning it was the worst thing that ever happened to Norwegian racing.

Monty Roberts is a famed equine behaviourist and known throughout equine sport as the horse whisperer. In a Racing Post interview with Steve Dennis last year he made his views on the whip plain

Horses run slower when they're whipped.

Accidents happen when the whips come out and horses adjust direction. The swinging of the whip puts a jockey off centre – shift that weight across the horse and you're taking momentum away from that horse.

Monty Roberts would like to see the whip bannedCredit: Edward Whitaker

Scandinavia is whip-free. One day it'll all be whip-free, because we're brighter than that.

Whipping a flight animal to make it run faster is stupid. It can't be right."

The whip in British racing: a timeline

June 1980 Jockeys receive first whip advice with introduction of improper-use instruction

September 1984 Instruction H8, on design of the whip, introduced

March 1988 Due to increasing concern about the use of the whip, it is recommended all breaches are treated with suspensions rather than fines

November 1988 Rules amended to stop use of whip in forehand position

February 1989 Further amendments made re marking of horses

February 1992 Recommended minimum level of suspension for whip offence increased from two to four days

July 1993 Six-hit trigger mechanism introduced

May 1995 Results of whip design working group announced, with air-cushioned whip launched

August 1998 RSPCA talks of taking jockeys to court over whip use

May 1999 First hands-and-heels race for apprentices staged. Similar races for conditionals commence in November

March 2000 Rules introduced that allow riders to defer a suspension of two days or less falling on the day of a Group 1 race

March 2003 Referral threshold, which was increased to 15 days in 1998, is raised to 20 days

October 2003 Shock-absorbing whips introduced for all jumps races

April 2007 Shock-absorbing whips become mandatory for all Flat races

January 2008 Police briefed by BHA on racing's disciplinary procedures over misuse of whip after complaints by Animal Aid over an Eddie Ahern ride

January 2008 Written question tabled in House of Commons on banning use of whip in horseracing

March 2008 Major overhaul of suspensions one of the topics discussed at summit meeting in aftermath of high-profile Cheltenham Festival bans.

September 2011 BHA announces new limits of seven hits in Flat races (five inside final furlong) and eight in jumps races (five after final obstacle). Significantly harsher penalties for jockeys who break rules are introduced

October 2011 Amid the threat of a riders’ strike, the BHA backs down, scrapping the rules relating to whip use inside the final furlong and after the final obstacle. Penalties are also revised with prize-money only lost by those who receive a seven-day ban, up from the previous total of three

November 2011 Further criticism from jockeys over the severity of penalties for ‘minor’ infringements. The limits for both Flat and jump racing remain but bans for those who break the rules by one hit now start at two days

February 2012 BHA reveals big changes to the new whip rules, which new chief executive Paul Bittar describes as having been "fundamentally flawed". Now, instead of an automatic breach occurring when a rider uses the whip eight times on the Flat and nine times over jumps, the figures become a trigger point for stewards to review the ride in question.