The River Falls times. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1894-1933, 1896-12-01
MAKING A HORSE JOCKEY.

MAKING A HORSE JOCKEY.
He Must Undergo Much Torture &c.
fore He is Fitted to Ride.
Among the many who are interested
in racing, probably but few pay any
thought to the pains and miseries I'M
dergone by that unfortunate although
much envied class of men, the jockeys.
Some men-very few-are really born
jockeys. They are of that small build
which is essential for their work, they
are blessed with a constitution which
does not run to fat and at the same
time they are endowed with the nerve
and resolution necessary for their call
ing. Many lads, however, who by
their build give promise of making
coed jockeys, are, as the turn to man
hood cursed with the tendency to lay
on flesh, but having once tasted the eX-
element, and also, it may be, shifted
at the profits Of Il Jockeys life, will
not give it up without Il struggle, not
withStanding the warning of the
scales.
To these the life is one Of great mis-
cry, almost torture, from training
down, interspersed, no doubt, with
periods of gayety, which are almost, if
not quite, dangerous, to health as
those during which the poor fellow has
to do penance i'll sweating off the Ell
fects of his indiscretions. Probably Ito
criminal to whom hard labor is melted
out as a punishment undergoeS such
labor ON such low diet as the Jockey
who is wasting" himself SO as to
scale with another lucky fellow whose
nature runs less to fat. In the hottest
weather he piles on clothes and takes
sharp walks He labors hard, and the
more he sweats the more he feels he
has done his duty. Then comes the
mllzzle After the labor there IS APP
petite: after the sweating there is
thirst-but the food must be strictly
limited, and the drink must be for
naught. The privaiion is horrible.
Training for condition is bad enough
and has made many good fellow
throw alhleticism to the dogs, but
training for weight is far greater III
lliction There are so many pounds to
be got off and SO many days or weeks
in which to do it. By physic, by sweat
ing, by hard labor and by starvation 1t
has got to be DONE and that in GER
tain time.
AS an instance of continuous self
denial there are few positions winch
will compare with that of a jockey
when he is working himself down TO
scale. A man in ordinary condition
hardly varies In weight from day to
day. whatever he may eat OF drink.
and many men leading fairly Irregular
lives keep their weight almost without
change for months, and even years. 1t
is not so. however when training has
brought down the weight far below It's
natural level. Under such circum-
stances every cell in the body seems
hungry and athirst, and moisture Is
sucked up as by blotting paper.
Jockeys and trainers are wont to tell
strange tales of the weight laid on as
the result of small indiscret1ons in
diet. and it is gravely stated that q
mint of stout imbibed by thirsty
.'waster' is computed to put on three
or four pounds!
OF course such things cannot be, ana
the laws of nature are not altered even
for Jockeys; nevertheless, it is certain
that when trained down to a certain
MITCH any excess of fluid over a MIN
hmm which has been attained is not
excreted. but goes entirely to the It's
sues and thus to the increase OF
weight. 1t is unnecessary to point out
how injurious to health it must be to
nlay such pranks with the constitu~
tion over and over again. Health de-
pends largely upon the maintenance OF
a due and orderly relation between the
assimilative and the excretory func-
tons relations which are entirely per-
verified in the life of the jockey. At
one period he derives his nutriment
from food like the rest of mankind; at
other times and for long spells he SUD-
sists largely upon his own tissues.
MANY break down under the strain,
either in consequence of the fluids
which he drinks being insufficient to
enable the excretoIy organs to per-
form their functions properly, or from
the starvation telling on the nervous
system before it affects their hesh,
While others throw up the effort rather
than continue the miserable system OF
starvation which is involved III keep
ing the scales ON the right side.-Brlt-
ish Medical Journal.