PROFESSION JOCKEY
Le jockey est un cavalier qui monte les chevaux de course. Il débute comme apprenti au sein d'une écurie chez un entraîneur précis. S'il atteint une renommée suffisante grâce à ses succès, il pourra travailler pour plusieurs entraîneurs et propriétaires. Un jockey de renom peut être appelé spécifiquement pour monter un cheval dans une course donnée.
Les jockeys ont la plupart du temps, une spécificité en course de plat, mais certains peuvent faire carrière dans plusieurs disciplines du sport hippique. Les disciplines sont le plat, l'obstacle et le trot monté. Le métier de jockey est très dur seul 5 % des lads sont pris.
En France, pour être jockey il faut être titulaire d'une licence de course et de son CAPA lad-jockey. On peut l'obtenir dans une école AFASEC (Association pour la formation et l'action sociale dans les écuries de courses) ou MFR.
Le physique est une qualité nécessaire pour être un bon jockey. La prise de poids n'est pas conseillée : en moyenne, le poids d'un jockey va osciller entre 46 et 54 kg. Ceci explique un début de féminisation du métier. Les petits gabarits sont un réel atout mais encore peu présents. La première à avoir gagné un tiercé s'appelait Darie Boutboul en avril 1984.
Beaucoup de jockeys sont formés à l'Association de formation et d'action sociale des écuries de courses (AFASEC), d'où est sorti Christophe Soumillon, huit fois lauréat de la cravache d'or.
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A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.
Jockeys must be light to ride at the weights which are assigned to their mounts. There are horse carrying weight limits, that are set by racing authorities. The Kentucky Derby, for example, has a weight limit of 126 lb (57 kg) including the jockey's equipment. The weight of a jockey usually ranges from 108 to 118 lb (49 to 54 kg). Despite their light weight, they must be able to control a horse that is moving at 40 mph (64 km/h) and weighs 1,200 lb (540 kg). Though there is no height limit for jockeys, they are usually fairly short due to the weight limits. Jockeys typically stand around 4 ft 10 in (1.47 m) to 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m).
Jockeys are normally self employed, nominated by horse trainers to ride their horses in races, for a fee (which is paid regardless of the prize money the horse earns for a race) and a percentage of the purse winnings. In Australia, employment of apprentice jockeys is in terms of indenture to a master (a trainer); and there is a clear employee-employer relationship. When an apprentice jockey finishes their apprenticeship and becomes a "fully fledged jockey", the nature of their employment and insurance requirements change because they are regarded as "freelance", like contractors. Jockeys often cease their riding careers to take up other employment in racing, usually as trainers. In this way the apprenticeship system serves to induct young people into racing employment.
Jockeys usually start out when they are young, riding work in the morning for trainers, and entering the riding profession as apprentice jockeys. It is normally necessary for an apprentice jockey to ride a minimum of about 20 barrier trials successfully before being permitted to ride in races. An apprentice jockey is known as a "bug boy" because the asterisk that follows the name in the program looks like a bug. All jockeys must be licensed and usually are not permitted to bet on a race. An apprentice jockey has a master, who is a horse trainer, and also is allowed to "claim" weight off the horse's back (if a horse were to carry 58 kg, and the apprentice was able to claim 3 kg, the horse would only have to carry 55 kg on its back) in some races. This allowance is adjusted according to the number of winners that the apprentice has ridden. After a four-year indentured apprenticeship, the apprentice becomes a senior jockey and usually develops relationships with trainers and individual horses. Sometimes senior jockeys are paid a retainer by an owner which gives the owner the right to insist the jockey ride their horses in races.
Racing modeled on the English Jockey Club spread throughout the world with colonial expansion.
The colors worn by jockeys in races are the registered "colors" of the owner or trainer who employs them. The practice of riders wearing colors probably stems from medieval times when jousts were held between knights. However, the origins of racing colors of various patterns may have been influenced by racing held in Italian city communities since medieval times. Such traditional events are still held on town streets and are known for furious riding and the colorful spectacle they offer. While the term "silks" is used in the United States to refer to racing colors, technically "silks" are the white breeches and bib, stock or cravat. Obtaining them is a rite of passage when a jockey is first able to don silken pants and colors in their first race ride. At one time silks were invariably made of silk chosen for being a lightweight fabric, though now synthetics are used instead. Silks and their colors are important symbols of loyalty and festivity.
Risk factors
Horse racing is a sport where jockeys may incur permanent, debilitating, and even life-threatening injuries. Chief among them include concussion, bone fractures, arthritis, trampling, and paralysis. Jockey insurance premiums remain among the highest of all professional sports. Between 1993 and 1996, 6,545 injuries occurred during official races for an injury rate of 606 per 1,000 jockey years. In Australia race riding is regarded as being the second most deadly job, after offshore fishing. From 2002 to 2006 five deaths and 861 serious injuries were recorded. Eating disorders (such as anorexia) are also very common among jockeys, as they face extreme pressure to maintain unusually low (and specific) weights for men, sometimes within a five-pound (2.3 kg) margin. The bestselling historical novel Seabiscuit: An American Legend chronicled the eating disorders of jockeys living in the first half of the twentieth century. As in the cases of champion jockey Kieren Fallon and Robert Winston, the pressure to stay light has been blamed in part for jockeys suffering agonies of thirst from dehydration while racing. Sports Dietitians Australia warns:"Dehydration and energy depletion may compromise concentration and coordination." Indeed, recent research carried out in association with the Irish Turf Club measured the effects of rapid weight loss to make weight in professional and apprentice jockeys and found significant levels of dehydration; however, cognitive function was maintained, suggesting jockeys had become accustomed to performing in a dehydrated state and had potentially developed a preventative mechanism to enable them to perform under these conditions. In January 2016 it was announced that the International Concussion and Head Injury Research Foundation (ICHIRF) will run a new study. Named 'Concussion in Sport' it will be the first study to take a detailed look at the effects of concussion on sports people, including around 200 retired jockeys.
Les jockeys ont la plupart du temps, une spécificité en course de plat, mais certains peuvent faire carrière dans plusieurs disciplines du sport hippique. Les disciplines sont le plat, l'obstacle et le trot monté. Le métier de jockey est très dur seul 5 % des lads sont pris.
En France, pour être jockey il faut être titulaire d'une licence de course et de son CAPA lad-jockey. On peut l'obtenir dans une école AFASEC (Association pour la formation et l'action sociale dans les écuries de courses) ou MFR.
Le physique est une qualité nécessaire pour être un bon jockey. La prise de poids n'est pas conseillée : en moyenne, le poids d'un jockey va osciller entre 46 et 54 kg. Ceci explique un début de féminisation du métier. Les petits gabarits sont un réel atout mais encore peu présents. La première à avoir gagné un tiercé s'appelait Darie Boutboul en avril 1984.
Beaucoup de jockeys sont formés à l'Association de formation et d'action sociale des écuries de courses (AFASEC), d'où est sorti Christophe Soumillon, huit fois lauréat de la cravache d'or.
---------------------------------------------
A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.
Jockeys must be light to ride at the weights which are assigned to their mounts. There are horse carrying weight limits, that are set by racing authorities. The Kentucky Derby, for example, has a weight limit of 126 lb (57 kg) including the jockey's equipment. The weight of a jockey usually ranges from 108 to 118 lb (49 to 54 kg). Despite their light weight, they must be able to control a horse that is moving at 40 mph (64 km/h) and weighs 1,200 lb (540 kg). Though there is no height limit for jockeys, they are usually fairly short due to the weight limits. Jockeys typically stand around 4 ft 10 in (1.47 m) to 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m).
Jockeys are normally self employed, nominated by horse trainers to ride their horses in races, for a fee (which is paid regardless of the prize money the horse earns for a race) and a percentage of the purse winnings. In Australia, employment of apprentice jockeys is in terms of indenture to a master (a trainer); and there is a clear employee-employer relationship. When an apprentice jockey finishes their apprenticeship and becomes a "fully fledged jockey", the nature of their employment and insurance requirements change because they are regarded as "freelance", like contractors. Jockeys often cease their riding careers to take up other employment in racing, usually as trainers. In this way the apprenticeship system serves to induct young people into racing employment.
Jockeys usually start out when they are young, riding work in the morning for trainers, and entering the riding profession as apprentice jockeys. It is normally necessary for an apprentice jockey to ride a minimum of about 20 barrier trials successfully before being permitted to ride in races. An apprentice jockey is known as a "bug boy" because the asterisk that follows the name in the program looks like a bug. All jockeys must be licensed and usually are not permitted to bet on a race. An apprentice jockey has a master, who is a horse trainer, and also is allowed to "claim" weight off the horse's back (if a horse were to carry 58 kg, and the apprentice was able to claim 3 kg, the horse would only have to carry 55 kg on its back) in some races. This allowance is adjusted according to the number of winners that the apprentice has ridden. After a four-year indentured apprenticeship, the apprentice becomes a senior jockey and usually develops relationships with trainers and individual horses. Sometimes senior jockeys are paid a retainer by an owner which gives the owner the right to insist the jockey ride their horses in races.
Racing modeled on the English Jockey Club spread throughout the world with colonial expansion.
The colors worn by jockeys in races are the registered "colors" of the owner or trainer who employs them. The practice of riders wearing colors probably stems from medieval times when jousts were held between knights. However, the origins of racing colors of various patterns may have been influenced by racing held in Italian city communities since medieval times. Such traditional events are still held on town streets and are known for furious riding and the colorful spectacle they offer. While the term "silks" is used in the United States to refer to racing colors, technically "silks" are the white breeches and bib, stock or cravat. Obtaining them is a rite of passage when a jockey is first able to don silken pants and colors in their first race ride. At one time silks were invariably made of silk chosen for being a lightweight fabric, though now synthetics are used instead. Silks and their colors are important symbols of loyalty and festivity.
Risk factors
Horse racing is a sport where jockeys may incur permanent, debilitating, and even life-threatening injuries. Chief among them include concussion, bone fractures, arthritis, trampling, and paralysis. Jockey insurance premiums remain among the highest of all professional sports. Between 1993 and 1996, 6,545 injuries occurred during official races for an injury rate of 606 per 1,000 jockey years. In Australia race riding is regarded as being the second most deadly job, after offshore fishing. From 2002 to 2006 five deaths and 861 serious injuries were recorded. Eating disorders (such as anorexia) are also very common among jockeys, as they face extreme pressure to maintain unusually low (and specific) weights for men, sometimes within a five-pound (2.3 kg) margin. The bestselling historical novel Seabiscuit: An American Legend chronicled the eating disorders of jockeys living in the first half of the twentieth century. As in the cases of champion jockey Kieren Fallon and Robert Winston, the pressure to stay light has been blamed in part for jockeys suffering agonies of thirst from dehydration while racing. Sports Dietitians Australia warns:"Dehydration and energy depletion may compromise concentration and coordination." Indeed, recent research carried out in association with the Irish Turf Club measured the effects of rapid weight loss to make weight in professional and apprentice jockeys and found significant levels of dehydration; however, cognitive function was maintained, suggesting jockeys had become accustomed to performing in a dehydrated state and had potentially developed a preventative mechanism to enable them to perform under these conditions. In January 2016 it was announced that the International Concussion and Head Injury Research Foundation (ICHIRF) will run a new study. Named 'Concussion in Sport' it will be the first study to take a detailed look at the effects of concussion on sports people, including around 200 retired jockeys.