The History and Significance of Jockey Silks in Horse Racing
In a horse race these days, spectators are treated to an array of colours on display that each jockey wears. These jockey silks, as they are known, come in many different patterns and designs and have a special purpose behind them besides making horse racing a very colourful sport. They have a very rich history as well which some say stretches all the way back to the ancient Romans. Horse racing has become a very popular sport these days because of the huge betting potential that it gives people. The sport has always been about a lot of pomp and circumstance and the colourful silks that jockeys wear just add to that sense of extravagance.
It seems the history of wearing colourful silks can be traced to Ancient Rome. During the chariot races of the time, drivers of the chariots would adorn themselves with colourful capes to distinguish them from the other drivers. It is the same concept that is used today in practically every sport on the planet. A team has a distinct colour that they wear to show the difference between another team in the same sport. The practice moved to medieval times when knights would be seen wearing distinctive colours to differentiate themselves from other knights during jousts. This idea of using distinct colours then was found in medieval Italy when the first instances of horse racing where recorded. Riders would wear brightly coloured outfits to stand out from other racers. This concept was then brought to England from where it became common practice all over the world.
Horse racing started to become popular in England in the 1700s and the organisers of races had a hard time identifying different jockeys and their horses. With every jockey wearing the same colour outfit they all looked the same. So borrowing from the Italian idea, jockeys were asked to wear different and unique silks of some colour. The silks of the time were simply silk jackets that would tell a jockey and his horse apart from the rest. As the betting aspect of horse racing grew, those that bet on horses needed a way to tell them apart from the other horses and see if their horse had won. So the colourful silks were a solution to this problem and gave the fans a colour to look out for. The jockeys wore silks that consisted of a colourful silk jacket, a matching hat and the horse would sometimes be adorned in the same colours. This made it very easy to instantly tell a horse and its rider apart from all the rest in the pack.
The significance of jockey silks goes beyond simply being used to tell a horse apart from the rest. The owner of a horse carefully designs his or her own silks from a variety of colours, shapes and styles. Patterns can also be used in the design and once it is done, the owner of the horse checks that the design is not taken and if it is not, registers it as his or her own. That design which features on the jockey’s shirt and helmet will be used for all the horses that are owned by the person who put forth the design. The silks are used to identify the horse as well as its owner and also if the horse is for sale then the silks can also be used to determine the grade of the horse being offered. The silks are a very important part of racing today and fans should not underestimate the usefulness of a few colours and shapes adorning a jockey’s jersey.
Now days the silks are made from synthetic material and have been modernised from the silk that was predominantly used in olden days. As horse racing was and still is very popular among the aristocracy of England, it is said that in olden time the silks and colours used would denote the social standing of a jockey and its owner. Thankfully we have moved away from that sort of thinking but today, silks are a very big part of the sport of horse racing and will continue to feature heavily in the years to come.
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