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V POWERS DESCRIBES JOCKEYS TRAINING TRAININGVincent Vincent Powers the New York boy who headed the list of American jockeys during 1908 and 190 recently contributed Hie following signed article to a Jacksonville daily dailyx x After taking seven long years to climb the ladder of jockeysliip fame I am deluged with letters from ambitious boys who desire to become riders It is impossible to answer the inquiries My answer to them all may be summed in one word dont A jockey Is born not made There is no method in the world to teach a l oy to learn how to ride If it is not in the blood then one had best spend his time in other directions For every IH V who amounts to anything in the jockey line there are thousands who fall by the wayside The training of a jockey is hard It requires steadv practice long hours and constant work Many liovs think that a jockeys career is one round of pleasure Believe me there is no play attached to the profession The minute a boy begins to take matters easy lie immediately starts on tlie toboggan and his career winds up juiekly To be A successful rider n has to keep his mind strictly on his work No matter how good lie is there is always room for improvement And it is only by plodding that a lad can reach the stage where owners strive for his services 1 have been more successful than the average rider in this country But when I retire any boy who wishes to take my place is welcome to it True the years when I headed the list of winning jitckeys have been pleasant ones But the days when I was preparing for tlie saddle were very hard My training was no different thnn that of any oilier lad No matter who you are or what you are all boys go through the same school When a young UT attaches himself to a stable he lias to roll up bis OiMv s and keep very busy busyWhile While the whole world is fast asleep tlie stable is wide awake You are in the midst of your dreams at two oclock in tlie morning when the stable foreman comes around and hustles you out of your bed You slip into your clothes and creep down stairs only half awake You stumble out in the dark to the pump where a few dashes of cold water chase away the remains of your sleep The foreman then tells you to galho such a horse for tliree quarters You limit up the rigging saddle your mount and start out on tin track trackThe The Jirst morning you are ordered out to canter canterii ii horse tills you with fear You wonder how you youare are going to avoid getting thrown or kilkd Cling Clingpllg pllg to the lines you give the horse Ills head He Hejfstaris jfstaris on a slow gallop and you turn him towards the theyppot yppot where you know tlie sixfurloags post is Snd SndTIHiilv TIHiilv out of tlw darkness you hear a voice shout Walt t s coid Then you know that the trainer is isalso also on the job He yells go and you dash out outthrough through the darkness wondering where you will willland land The horse is wiser than you are He dashes around the turns without a falter As you pass passtho tho different poles iey flash up like spirits You are being carried down the homestretch as on a aair air of wind when vou hear another voice shout pull pullup up slowlv You wrap tlie lines around your bands arid gradually ti horse slows down to n wall By Bytint tint time your heart is back In its proper place placeVo Vo sooner liav you dismounted than you are mlrired to take out another charge This goes goesou ou Tor V boix aud u half The flights through the air and tlie exercjse have given you an appetite lit for a horse There Is still another wait The horses have to be blanketed led around until they are ftilly cooled off ami then put back into their stalls stallsBefore Before you get your little legs under the table you spend many busy minutes carrying water and feed to tlie horses When they are ready to eat you get at the breakfast Many dont know that in a racing stable the horse comes first Until he is comfortable there is nothing doing for the help The morning meal over you trot back to the barn and help clean up the stalls stallsWhen When this work is finished tlie sun is beginning to peep through the clouds in the east The horses that are keyed up to run within a day or two are then saddler and given short dashes to keep the edge on their sueed By this time the track is alive with horses Then a boy has to be careful This is especially true in tiic earlv part of the season when the twoyearolds are being educated educatedThese These babies are fretful and wonder what all the excitement is about You may be coming along at a fast gait when a youngster in front will sud ¬ denly bolt to the fence Thats when your brain has to work and work fast The least mistake and you either bang Into the youngster or perhaps bit the fence That may mean a horse hurt for weeks or possibly injured so seriously that he is ruined And at the same time you may go over the fence or go to legThe the ground with a broken arm or leg The morning gallops over you have a chance to rest until race time Then the starters must be looked after Just before the event you take the horse out and give him a breather After the race you walk your charge around until he Is cooled off Then comes the labor of fixing the horses up for Hie night This means the old routine of carrying water feed and other minor jobs jobsWhen When this work is over you sit down to supper By tlie time this meal is over yorir bones ache and your eyelids persist in blinking At nine oclock tlie foreman comes around and orders you to bed Compare this life with that of the average boy and you must admit that It isnt a bed of roses The inborn love for a horse is tlie only thing that will enable a youth to stand this steady and monotonous grind As 1 said at the start if you were not born to be a jockey but feel that you wisli to learn dont
