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METHOD OF MAKING A REAL JOCKEY. Lads Must Undergo Long and Hard Labor Before Being Allowed to Ride. The life histories of famous jockeys are constantly being published, and interesting reading most of them afford, but they seldom give any details of how these "knights of the pig-skin" fared in the earliest stages of apprenticeship. From time to time articles have appeared describing the life of an apprentice in a big racing establishment, and the writers have endeavored faithfully to limn them from their i oint of view, though the e.| eriences narrated invariably differ widely from fact. Few people are aware of the hardships which are endured by a bov who is to make his mark as a jockey, and it is generally imagined that if a lad is of a sufficiently slender build he has merely to enter a racing stable to earn the Income of a Cabinet Minister in a few years. This is a great mistake, as everyone con-nraei with stables knows well enough, and as every embryo jockey finds out to his cost. The training of a jockey entails many years of hard work if success is to be achieved, and possessing a string constitution alone will enable an apprentice to rise to the position of a first-rate jockey. The famous actor usnallv gains fame bv beginning on the lowest rung of the ladder, and so it is with the jockey, and few cases can be recalled of any rider of note who has not commenced his career by doing his "bit" in the stables. That those who rise to the top of the tree are few and far between is apparent from the long list of apprentices which appears year by year in the "Racing Calendar." the majority of whom pass into obscurity. The life of an apprentice in a racing stable, although healthy enough, is by no means a bed of roses, and woe l»etide the gently nurtured lad who thinks he is going to have a good time. Years ago an apprentice was though little of. and his housing and feeding were of the most primitive kind: but things have changed greatly, and in most establishments the lads are looked after with the greatest care and their interests studied in every possible way. The term of apprenticeship varies considerablv. and it usually rests with his parents whether a boy is bound to a trainer for three, five, or more years. In most instances five years is the stipulated lime, as the rudiments of the profession can scarcely lie taught in less, though in some cases the apprenticeship last until the majority is attained. It is an old saying — and a good one. too— that jockeys are born and not made. There is. however, much to be said for the other side of the question, and nearly all the crack jockeys of the present day owe their positions to the careful tuition bestowed upon tliem by their early employers. A lw.y must have bred in him the ability to control horses and the nerve to do so, for no teacher can instil these very necessary attributes. The instinct to judge pace is indispensable, as without it no boy can hope to succeed, and it was probably owing to this faculty that Sloan exercised such influence on race riding in England. The inability to estimate correctlv the speed at which a horse is traveling has spoilt the career of many promising lads, and this will be Intiic out by every trainer, who will tell you that men whom ho has had In his emptor for iK-rhaps a score of years even then cannot tell the difference betwen a balf-ipeed, three-quarter-speed, or racing-pace gallop. And now to describe some of the details of an apprentices life. It must not ha supposed that when he enters the employment of a trainer lie is at once placed on a race horse. No; a good many things have to be learned before he achieves tuat distinction. The routine of a stable has first to he taught and there is a great deal more in this than most people imagine. At the outset his attentions are mainly confined to sweeping the yards, polishing brasswork. washing out the stables, cleaning saddles, bridles and harness, and a hundred and one other details too numerous to mention. Going the rounds with the "stopping pot" is one of these nrst duties, and as this implement will ro doubt he unknown to many readers it mav be well to explain its uses A "stopping i»t" is a Imjx or other receptacle containing moist cowdung. which is used to stop up horses feet the night before they have to be reshod the object of the dung being to soften the hoofs and thus render them less resisting t the blacksmiths knife. The novice is then gradually educated in the proper way of cleaning out a stable and bedding it down, while he also has to notice now to "dress a horse down properly It is frequently a source of wonderment to the visitor who makes his first inspection of a racing stable to see a small lad of some fourteen summers and sometime" less than four feet bigli completing the toilet of a UC animal of sixteen hands, in order to do which he has lurched himself on the top of an upturned sable bucket. Early rising is the rule in all stables and the lads are invarial.lv aroused at hours ranging from six a. m. in the winter to four a. m. in the summer, for in the latter season most trainers have their strings on the exercise grounds before five ocloek. When the l oy has thoroughly earnt his stable duties he is then taught to tide his first nTouut usually being some quiet old cob or pony, and he is. after having practised a few tunes in the home paddock, allowed to go out with the string to pick up and bring back the rugs, hoods, knee-lwots. etc. which are taken off horses when they are about to undergo fast gallops. This gives them plenty of mounting anil dismounting practice —an invaluable experience— as race horses can not £Lm,0Uni!ed y tl", usuul Prwdure of placing the foot in the stirrup, for they will not stand, and thev have to be mounted by a series of springs When sufficiently advanced the lad is given Cterge of a race horse, usually one chosen for its quietness and good manners, and he is then taugh* how to ride canters, the task of steering the horse Li Tr work beinK 1,,ft to ""• experienced hands. After some months of this the lad of prom- anYiVYVh a na"-P "LSN?* I,art in the gallops. and it is the way in which lie then shapes that d •-cues whether the trainer thinks he is capable of riding ta a trial gallop. These trial spins are the ..Hani to be put up 111 public. To win at the first tie ..r asking is naturally a fine beginning, but it l... ri m„ iWV a,,d ",""" oft " ",f,"y r;"- "av.. to h, „•?. •" r- ." ,J"1 hils to ,ir,,,t his mount to ,, , a .- elapse i , i1"10""- Kven then a long period before his services are in much request. • S* 1S ! .!,rolu*»K lightweight he is fairly certain -Ji, of securing some patronage. The appren-S2 V-a,mr ls ?ot a*s," d even at this point, for tn. ugh he may Ite capable enough and his skill in much demand, the loss of the five-pounds apprentice allowance may cause him to be relegated to the background This five-pounds allowance rule wat made in order to give an apprentice a chance with nis more expen-nced opponents, and so it does but as soon as a bo, loses his right to it. it will be found more often than not that he Is no longer mated, and unless he shows special ability he is seldom heard of again. The life of a stable np! ivm. m.V msists "f.a Foat nmount of hard wo,b with little prospect of earning the great prizes of the profession, just as in every other walk of SE Sportsman?" "° few and far hetween.-Londoi
