Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1897-02-25
MAKING A HORSE JOCKEY.
Much Painful Training Before a Boy
is Fitted to Ride.

IS fHte0 10 NICE.
Among the many who are inter-
ested in racing, probably but few
pay any thought to the pains aud
miseries undergone by that unfor-
tunate class of men, the jockeys.
Some men--very few-are really
born jockeys. They arc of that
small build which is essential for
their work, they are blessed with a
constitution that does not s.run' to
fat" and at the same time they
have the nerve ard resolution ne
cessazy for their ezliing. gany
lads, however, who BY their sbniid'
give promise of making good jock
eys are, as they turn to manhood.
cursed with the tendency to lay on
flesh, but having once tasted the
excitements and also. it may be.
shifted at the profits of a Jockeys
life, will not give it up without
struggle, Notwithstanding the warm
ing of the scales. To these the
life is one Of great misery, almost
torture, from training down. inter
spersed, no doubt, with periods of
gayety which are almost if not
quite as dangerous to health as
those during which the poor fellow
has to do penancc in sweating off
the effects of his indiscretions.
Probably no criminal to whom hard
labor is meted ont as n 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 feels he has done his duty.
Then comes the puzzle. After the
labor there is appetite after the
sweating there is thirst-but the
food must be strictly limited, and
the drink must be for naught. The
privation is horrible. Training for
condition is bad enough, and has
made many good fellow throw
athleticism TO the dogs, but train
ing for weight is far greater in
Fiction. There are so many pounds
to be got off and SO many days or
weeks in which to do it. By ply
sic, by sweating, by hard labor, and
by starvation it has got to be done.
and that in certain time.
As an instance of continuous
self-denial there are a few positions
which will compare with that of
a jockey when he is working him
self down to scale. a man in ordi-
nary condition hardly varies in
weight from day to day, whatever
he may eat or drink, and many
men leading fairly irregular lives
keep their weight almost without
change for months, aud even years.
1t is not so, however, when train
ing has brought down the weight
far below the natural level. I'm
der such circumstances every cell
in the body seems to be hungry and
4. thirst, and a 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 indiscretions, and it
is gravely stated that q pint of
stout imbibed by thirsty "wa:er"
is computed to put on three or four
pounds. OF course such things
cannot be, and the laws Of natnre
are not altered even for jockeys
nevertheless, it is certain that when
trained down 10 u certain pitch,
any excess Of fluid over a minimum
which has been attained is not ex-
creted, and thus to the increase OF
weight. 1t is unnecessary to point
cnt how injurious to health it must
be to play such pranks with the
constitution over and over again.
Health depends largely upon the
maintenance Of due and orderly
relation between the assimilative
and the excretory functions, rela-
tions which are entirely perverted
IN the life of the jockey. At one
period he derives his nutriment
from food like rest of mankind; and
at others, and for long spells he
subsists largely upon his own tis-
sues. Many break down under
the strain, either in consequence OF
the fluids drunk being insufficient
| to enable the excretory organs to
perform their functions properly or
from the starvation telling on the
nervous system before it affects
their flesh, while others throw up
the effort rather than continue the
miserable system of starvation which