Riding an animal that does all the work is considered a sport?
Pound for pound jockeys are considered to be some of the most fit athletes in all of sports.
Seen any out-of-shape jockeys, recently? This ain’t baseball.
Do a little research...geez
And the horses themselves are probably wondering what the heck is all the fuss about?
One thing about thoroughbred jockeys: they ride really big, powerful, high-strung, spirited horses. The general rule applies: if you ride, you fall. Can you imagine falling from a horse of that size? Can you imagine the conditions under which the jockeys fall? Sure, sometimes the jockeys are injured, sometimes seriously. But most often they walk away. Why? Because they are stellar athletes.
So just remember. It’s not always smooth sailing in the stirrups. Sometimes it’s eating dirt. After you’ve taken a couple of violent spills on a ‘hard’ track with hooves flying everywhere, then you can disparage the jockey’s athleticism.
Riding an animal that does all the work is considered a sport?”””
Have you ever ridden a horse in your life?
These are 3 year old Thorobred stallions who often are about 68 inches tall at the withers-—(the small hump in front of the saddle at the base of their neck). They weigh about 1200 pounds, and are at the stage of their life where ‘it will be very nice when their brain catches up with their body’. They can be goofy & not so attentive as one might like. California Chrome strikes me as a very mature minded horse for his age.
It takes tremendous strength & balance to ride one of these critters at a speed of about 35 mph= while bumping & jostling is common & constant.
One horse loses it’s footing, and a big pileup can occur—with crippling injuries lurking.
The injury Chrome received as shown on TV isn’t a permanent injury, but is it a painful one. The jockey said that the injury occurred coming out of the starting gate, and he thought the #3 post position horse struck Chrome’s hoof.
The back of a horse’s hoof is softer- more like cartilege . with twin areas called HEEL BULBS. Chrome received a hard cut to his right front foot heel bulbs. It slashed him & it was still bleeding after the race. He ran the entire race with this injury.
This will grow back out & he will most likely be sound within 8 weeks or less. I have had horses which got a similar injury, but I don’t think mine were as deep as Chrome got. Tincture of Time will be the best medication, along with keeping his impacted area clean & free of contaminants. Betadine & anti-biotics & good wrapping to cover it are the correct procedure.
I am astonished that he finished 4th, and NOT DEAD LAST.
I also am convinced that he would have won without the pain of this injury.