A jockey is a person who rides horses in races, especially as a profession or as an individual for hire, says the Free Online Dictionary. Jockeys are not just along for the ride. They are superbly conditioned athletes who succeed because of their skill and courage in an extremely demanding sport.
Size
Jockeys must be small enough to "make weight" -- the assigned amount of weight the horse he is riding will carry in a race. That requires a jockey to weigh no more than about 118 lbs. Most jockeys weigh even less. Jockeys used to spend lots of time in steam rooms to shed weight. Now they usually avail themselves of advances in nutrition to stay healthy and strong while keeping their weight under control.
Athleticism
Pound for pound, jockeys may be the best athletes in major sports, according to a study by Los Angeles doctors and exercise physiologists published in 2010. That doesn't surprise Laura Hillenbrand, author of "Seabiscuit." As Hillenbrand writes, jockeys must possess superior levels of balance and coordination to succeed. They also must possess quick reflexes and plenty of strength. "A jockey does not sit on a saddle, he crouches over it, leaning all of his weight on his toes, which rest on the thin metal bases of stirrups," Hillenbrand says.
Courage
It takes both great stamina and great touch -- top jockeys have "great hands" -- to communicate with and control a 1,200-lb. racehorse running galloping at more than 30 mph. It also takes high levels of bravery to succeed as a jockey. Says author Hillenbrand, "Winning jockeys are daring jockeys, jockeys who are capable of gunning a horse through the narrowest hole with a damn-the torpedoes bravado." Riding race horses is a dangerous profession. As the Animal Planet website says, the Jockey's Guild receives about 2,500 injury reports per year. The average jockey is injured three times per year. On average, at least two jockeys die each year from racing accidents in North America.
Independence
Jockeys are independent contractors hired for each race in which they ride by racehorse owners or trainers. Agents usually represent them, working to get them mounts to ride. The independence of jockeys gives them great freedom. They are similar to golfers and tennis players, who compete as individuals. But it subjects them to the prejudice of the times. Late in the 19th century, black jockeys rode most of the horses in the Kentucky Derby. But by 1921 no black jockeys rode in the Derby, and a black jockey didn't ride in the race again until 2000. As the "Smithsonian" magazine notes, black jockeys, originally culled from the ranks of slaves, were the victims of racism, recession, anti-gambling forces and the Ku Klux Klan in the early 20th century, and the best black riders fled to Europe. Women jockeys, who began to ride with some regularity in the late 20th century, also found it tough to cope with prejudicial attitudes against women riders.
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