The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1897-09-11
MAKING A HORSE JOCKEY,
Much Painful Training to Undergo Be.
fore a Boy Is Fitted T. Ride.

fore a Boy Is Fitted e. Ride.
Among the many who are inter
ested in racing probably but few
pay any thought to the pains and
miseries undergone by that unfor.
tunate 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 that does
not run to fat" and at the same
time they have the and reso
luton necessary to their calling.
Many lads, however, who by their
"build" give promise of making
good jockeys are, as they turn to
manhood, cursed with the tendency
to lay on flesh, but having once
tasted the excitement and also, ii
may be, shifted at the profits of a
Jockeys life will not give it up
without a struggle, notwithstanding
the warning of the scales.
To these the life is one of great
misery, almost torture, from train.
ing down, ~interspersed no doubt
with periods of gayety, which are
almost if not quite as dangerous to
health az those during which the
poor fellow has to do penance in
sweating off the effects of his indis.
cretions. Probably no criminal to
whom hard labor is meted out as a
punishment underoges 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 hot.
test weather he piles on clothes and
takes sharp walks. He labors hard,
and the more he sweats the moro
he feels he has done his duty. Then
comes the puzzle. After tho labor
there is appetite; after the sweating
there is thirSt, bat the food must be
strictly limited, and the drink must
be for naught. The privation is hor
rlble. Training for condition is bad
enough and has made many a good
fellow throw athleticism to the
dogs, but training for weight is q
far greater infection. There are SO
many pounds to be got off and SO
many days or weeks in which to do
it. By physic, by sweating, by hard
labor and by starvation it has got
to be done, and that in a certain
time.
AS an instance of continuous self
denial there are few positions which
will compare with that of a jockey
when he is working himself down
to scale. A mar in ordinary condi-
ton hardly varies in weight from
day to day, whatever he may eat Or
drink, and many men leading fair.
ly irregular lives keep their weight
almost without change for months
and ven years.
1t is not so, however, when train
ing has brought down the weight
far below the natural level. Under
such circumstances every cell in tho
body seems to be hungry and
athirst, and moisture is sucked up
as by blottiug paper. Jockeys and
trainers III wont to tell strange
tales of the weight laid on as tho
result of small ~indiscretions, and it
is gravely stated that a pint Of stout
imbibed by a thirsty "waster' is
computed to put on three or four
pounds. Of course, such things can
not be, and the laws of nature are
not altered even for jockeys. Never
theless, it is certain that when
trained down to a certain pitch
any excess of fluid over a minimum
which has been attained is not ex-
GREETED, but goes entirely to the tbs
sues and thus to the Increase of
weight. It is unnecessary to point
out how injurious to health it must
be to play such FRANKS with the
constitution over and over again,
Health depends largely upon the
maintenance of a due and orderly
relation between the assimilative
and the %eXcretive functions, rela.
tons which are entirely perverted
In the life of the jockey. At one pc
Rod he derives his nutriment from
food like the rest of mankind, and
at others and for long spells he
subsists largely upon his own tbs.
sues. Many break down under tho
strain, either in consequence of the
fluids drunk being insufficient to en-.
able the %excretory organs to per
form their functions properly OF
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 is involved in keeping the
scales on the right side Albany
Journal.
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