JOCKEYS 21 



chance his horse has, and if it is desirable to accept. 

 Few professions are, indeed, more arduous, anxious, 

 and responsible. 



JOCKEYS 



Considerably over 3,000 horses run every year in 

 England. The number in 1897 was 3,506, and 

 almost all these horses have their own boys, who ride 

 at exercise, and, as the phrase goes, "do" them, that 

 is to say, groom and attend to them in their stables. 

 Nearly all these boys are at any rate able to perform 

 the elementary duty of sitting tight on a thoroughbred 

 horse — a wiry, eel-like animal, given to antics which 

 would be very liable frequently to displace an inex- 

 perienced rider. They constantly have opportunities 

 of learning much about pace, and keen-eyed trainers 

 are always on the alert to discover boys who show 

 any real skill in horsemanship. When suggestions of 

 ability are perceived, the boy is put up to ride trials, 

 races on the home training ground, from which, in the 

 ordinary course of events, he should learn much ; if 

 he displays any promise, and his weight is suitable, 

 he is tolerably sure to be given a mount in public. 

 Out of all this multitude of boys, however, an ex- 

 tremely small percentage ever blossom into jockeys, 

 and there are usually a scant half-a-dozen of these 

 so far ahead of their compeers that they practically 

 command what terms they like. As much as ^5,000 

 a year has been given for the first call on a leading 



