How to Get a Job as a Horse Jockey

Any horse jockey will tell you that their profession isn't simply a job: it's a lifestyle that demands passion and commitment every hour of the day. Horse jockeying can be an exhilarating profession, but also a very dangerous one. If you want to get a job as a horse jockey, you must be prepared to give it everything you have.

Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

1. Check your weight. You can't get a job as a jockey unless you are sufficiently light--usually no more than 115 pounds. Make sure you can sustain that weight and stay healthy throughout your career before embarking upon a horse jockey' s life.
2. Locate a racetrack or training facility that can give you a job. Like any other profession, you become a horse jockey by starting at the bottom. A recommendation from an owner or a trainer is usually required to work at a track or training stable. You will need to get licensed by the racing commission as a groom and/or an exercise rider in the beginning.
3. Take on basic horse care duties in your job. This usually begins with "walking hots"--walking horses and rubbing them down to cool them after they have been training--and moves up to grooming horses and keeping them looking their best.
4. Exercise the horses. Once you have mastered tasks like grooming and walking hot, you can move on to more formal exercising duties. Part of these duties entails "ponying": walking the horse while mounted on another horse and holding the reins. Eventually, this will also include formal exercising in which you mount the horse and take him through his paces.
5. Practice working horses in company out of the gate. Getting your timing coming out of the gate is as important for the jockey as it is for the horse.
6. Talk to the commission about the requirements for getting your jockey's license. This usually entails being ok' ed by the starter as well as the outrider as well as having trainer recommendations.
7. Talk to some of the jockey's already racing at your track and ask them to recommend an agent. An agent is essential for an apprentice rider as they can "sell" your talents to trainers who they already ride for.

Tips & Warnings

• A few jockey schools exist, providing formal training as horse jockeys. If you cannot get a job at a racetrack or training facility, ask them about any schools in the area.
• Make sure you keep good health as a jockey. The stringent weight requirements often lead to serious eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. While you need to stay light as a jockey, always make sure you meet basic nutritional requirements and don't put your health in danger.