A JOCKEY'S LIFE

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 406, 15 December 1932, Page 2

A JOCKEY'S LIFE

i racing conference has control of ! boys. Many people imagine that to become a jockey the only qualifications a boy need possess are a small body and a certain amount of "horse sense." This is a mistaken impression, for the potential horseman must not only be a light weight, but he must have natural riding ability, and, above all, he must he of good chanacter. It is generally coneeded that jockeys are born and not made, but the novice willing to learn can he taught a great deal by the trainer in whose charge he is, and by experienced riders. Take, for example, a boy whose greatest ambition is to ride ia winner of the New Zealand Cup. When the opportunity occurs he will apply at a training stable for work, and if his application be favourably entertained he decomes a stable boy. Rising every morning before dawn, he is required to make his own bed, and then to devote his attention to the stables. When he has had some experience the lad, perhaps, will be allowed to lead one of the horses under the eare

of his employer to the track or race- i course on which it is exercised. He | will lassist in grooming the sleek j gallopers. His remuneration in his first year of apprenticeship is little more than his board and lodging, The term of apprenticeship may he of any j duratior( from two to six years, and ! during its currency the apprentice is ! under the strict supervision of his ; employer. The New Zealand Racing j Conference is renowned for the care- j ful manner in which it exercises its ! authority over trainers and jockeys. j Success as a rule does not come j isoon to a young apprentice rider. He has to satisfy th'e New Zealand Racing Conference of his ability before he is granted a permit to- rid'e in races, which is usually after twelve months, and it is not difficult to understand a boy's natux-al elation and excitement when he is given a "leg up" and takes his mount to the starting barrier. If h'e does not allow success to unbalance his outlook, and is not troubledr by the bane of rapidly incre'asing weight, he is on the road to fame and fortune as a jockey. Jockeys are we.ll protected hy the New Zealand Racing Conference against accident, such as ; occuired at Ashhurst, when a horse rolled on lan apprentice and killed him. In the event of th^d£ai^M^AJi2d££2Liffia2a. .

a race, his dependerits are assured of .suhstantial compensation, and the New Zealand Racing Conference fund provides for jockeys kept out of the saddle by injuries.