| No athletes work harder than jockeys' and few | | | | which jockeys of the thirties resorted. As Laura |
| athletes are less understood. According to one | | | | Hillenbrand relates in Seabiscuit, her riveting 2001 |
| study, which ranked sports according to the | | | | account of the great late-30s racehorse of that |
| number of deaths per 1000 participants, | | | | name, jockeys then were known to use |
| thoroughbred horse racing is the most dangerous | | | | homemade diuretics in prodigious quantities, |
| athletic activity, beating out skydiving, hang gliding, | | | | purging away what little they did eat using Epsom |
| mountaineering, scuba, college football and boxing | | | | salts and water and other concoctions so potent |
| among others. In an average year, the Jockeys' | | | | that bottles of them occasionally exploded. Bulimia |
| Guild gets 2500 notifications of injury, and a | | | | was common. So were pneumonia and |
| typical jockey will be sidelined by injuries at least | | | | tuberculosis, brought on, some historians think, by |
| three times. | | | | weakness due to the traumatic effects of |
| It's not just dumb luck that keeps a great rider in | | | | malnourishment. Scariest of all, some jockeys |
| the saddle of a 1400-pound thoroughbred horse | | | | voluntarily swallowed tapeworms. After the |
| as it races at speeds of up to 55 MPH. These | | | | intestinal parasite had helped them to "reduce", |
| highly-coordinated men and women must remain | | | | they went for a visit to the hospital and lost the |
| standing in the saddle, striking an exquisitely | | | | worm "until it was time to "reduce" again. |
| difficult balance to keep from falling forward or | | | | Today's jockeys still have to watch out for |
| backward in the saddle (which could easily prove | | | | anorexia and bulimia, frequent occupational |
| fatal). While expending this tremendous effort, | | | | hazards of this sport as of several others with |
| they must at the same time keep a cool head, | | | | weight requirements (dance, gymnastics, running, |
| making strategic calculations "and reading" the | | | | wrestling). Most apprentice jockeys can't afford to |
| horse's mood, processing huge amounts of | | | | weigh more than 105 pounds, and thoroughly |
| information from microsecond to microsecond. | | | | experienced thoroughbred horse racers need to |
| They must practice a consummate athleticism, | | | | keep it around a hard-to-believe 113. (Naturally tall |
| combining strength, coordination, and calculation at | | | | people are rarely able to participate in |
| once. | | | | thoroughbred horse races.) Other inconveniences |
| And then, there's the whole weight thing. | | | | include crazy travel schedules' up to twelve races |
| Like wrestlers, jockeys'lives are ruled by a set of | | | | a day, for some. Most of all, jockeys must love |
| scales. If you don't make weight, you don't get to | | | | horses, demonstrating the same well-honed |
| race, and the weights jockeys must maintain are | | | | intuition and sympathy for them that great |
| almost unimaginably low for most average-size | | | | trainers are known for. Only such ability can |
| adults. Horses are assigned to carry riders at | | | | enable them to make the split-second judgment |
| different, graded weight classes, called "imposts", | | | | calls that win races. And only such love could |
| and in the twenties the imposts ranged from | | | | possibly make the pain, deprivation, hard work |
| 83-130 pounds. Jockeys during this period "the | | | | and sacrifice worth it. |
| heroic, hard-as-nails era of American horse racing" | | | | Watching thoroughbred horse racing, on the other |
| were known to live on 600-calorie-a-day diets, to | | | | hand, can be as exciting and pleasant as the |
| deprive themselves of water so badly that they'd | | | | practice of it can be draining. Whether you're a |
| have to lie around in tubs of ice cubes to forestall | | | | fan of horse racing gambling or just like the thrill |
| overheating, and to return to work within minutes | | | | of live horse racing, the sport is as full of drama |
| of near-fatal injuries. Some of them would run for | | | | and passion as any other. Tip services can help |
| hours in the hot sun under layers of clothing, | | | | you maximize your enjoyment of thoroughbred |
| hoping to lose that last crucial ounce. | | | | horse racing by clarifying the details and letting |
| And those were the less extreme expedients to | | | | you know who the favorites are. |