Who is a jockey? The meaning of the word jockey

Even people who are far from equestrian sports and who have seen horses mainly in pictures, almost imagine who the jockey is. But just about! The most common definition will sound somewhere like this: "he who rides horses." However, how close is this formulation to reality? In this we will understand.

It does not matter who it's driving, it's important - how and where

To begin with, the horse can be traveled by a tourist on excursions, and the peasant in a cart from the field, and the owner of the stables on the promenade. And thus all of them at all do not become jockeys. The term refers to specially trained athletes who participate in races. And it is in races, and not in races and not in dressage demonstrations - the one who drives a horse in a cart or when showing a beautiful ino-race (jumping) is called a rider. However, the person who first sat on a horse, and the one who does it regularly, will still remain a rider. Or a rider. Because the lexical meaning of the word "jockey" implies exactly the athlete participating in horse races (with or without obstacles), and for the most part this is his profession. There are, of course, amateur jockeys who have a different type of income, but they rarely participate in big races.

Origin of the term

Since horse racing was "invented" and made popular by the British, the word naturally has English roots. However, most linguists tend to believe that the French name Jacques is in the basis of a diminutive form. After all, who was the jockey in the time of the birth of equestrian sports? A teenager at a stable who sat on a horse during the disputes of the owners of horses and tried to prove that exactly the one that is under his saddle is the fastest and fastest. And as the waiter in the whole world is called "Ganson", and the diminutive Jacquette ("Yashenka") was transformed into a "jockey". Incidentally, it is still used in some countries as professional riders of teenagers, although this has long been forbidden by the laws of all civilized states.

Requirements for jockeys

From the point of view of physiology, it is very easy to describe who a jockey is. This is a man of up to thirty years of very lean physique (so they are usually low). Physical features are explained by the fact that according to international rules on horse racing the horse must carry a strictly defined weight, which is calculated depending on the age and other parameters of the horse itself. It's not a problem if a jockey weighs less - a horse is simply hung with an extra load. But if his weight exceeds the allowable, the athlete may be excluded from participation in the races. That's why the owners of the stables break the law and put the boys on the run. And that's why professional jockeys always sit on a diet and for 30 years they have stomach problems - more often than ballerinas. By the same age, in most cases, the career of jockeys is ending - they are replaced by younger, hardy and light competitors.

It would seem that a significant part of the profession should be women - they are easier, and lower than the opposite sex. However, lucky and successful women jockeys in the world are one. The most famous of them is Julia Crown, who participated in races for eighteen years on more than 20 thousand horses and won $ 80 million on them.

Alternative profession

In the modern world, with the question of who is such a jockey, most people will first recall the radio hosts and "wind" in nightclubs. Although they are supposed to prefix "disc". It's hard to say why they were given the title of jockey. Perhaps, because they have to win, to get ahead of their rivals in the craft? In this case, the meaning of the word "jockey" accurately conveys the spirit of the races, to which the real horsemen are obsessed, and those who received their "title" in the alternative field.