Gratitude!

“The greater the difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it. Skilful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests.” ― Epictetus

'Surely the result is all down to the horse?! All the jockey does is sit there.'

My friend’s assertion was obviously pretty stupid. It is, however, interesting to note that those with a similar level of knowledge will often jump to blaming the jockey entirely when things go wrong. Sometimes on public forums and often in pretty unpleasant terms. Especially if a bet hasn’t come in.

When a jockey falls, is unseated or even gives a "bad ride", they’ve already suffered enough. At that point, abuse is clearly unproductive. I want to argue something more though. Namely, that among other things, that kind of behaviour is ungrateful.

Aside from their skill, their attitude and their sacrifices on and off the course (all things about which there could and should be more education), jockeys should earn our gratitude because without their bravery, the sport we love couldn’t exist.

Horseracing demands that someone guides a powerful animal as it charges over uneven ground, sometimes flying over hurdles or fences along the way, at speeds in excess of 35mph.

Any volunteers?

Not many are fast to raise a hand, least of all the keyboard warriors themselves.

On average, a jump jockey parts company with their horse once in every 15 rides, while their flat counterparts do so much less frequently; once in every 265 rides. The speed at which a flat jockey hits the ground, when he or she does fall, makes the danger level the same, if not greater.

Sir AP McCoy once said... 'you get used to falling off. It’s not the idea when you go out, not part of the plan, but you know it’s going to happen and you have to think "I’m going to take this, it’s going to hurt but I’m going to take it"; you do what you can to make it hurt less, but the paid is part of the job.'

And once you do fall, as Paul Townend put it... 'It’s a different race, a different horse, it’s done and gone. You move onto the next one.'

A jockey’s ability to get themselves up and dusted off after a fall, even of severe consequence, is almost unique in sport. It demands a strong focus, resilience, bravery and above all a passion for the job.

Hats off to them.