Why aren't there ever women jockeys in horse races?

Question

...I don't watch many races but I'm talking about the big ones like the Kentucky Derby. You'd think that as much as women love to ride horses and ponies, and as little masculinity is needed to be a jockey there'd be more female jockeys right? Is there a rule against it?

I think horse racing is definitely one of those sports where women can compete with men on an equal level so what is the deal? Why don't women try? I never understood why jockeys get any credit at all, that's like if there was a rider in the passenger's side in a stock car getting credit for a Nascar win just for encouraging the driver.

Answer 1

Lots of woman ride race horses

Just most feel threatened buy the boys or Just dont have the heart for it ""meaning it a tough sport "" and getting hurt or killed

is very likely with One small mistake

or do not have the strength and body for it

Some times I see a perfect girl for being a Jockey ,, I say u should ride

They say they do not like horses .. oh well

there have been many good ones Sharon Black ,, Tammy swan,, Holly ..Wood  etc robin smith .. etc

Answer 2

I was a Jockey ,, And it Does take allot of guts and talent to ride in races,some woman do not have it , Some few do ,,

I would like you to name your self as I would like to know HOW MANY RACES YOU HAVE WON IN 20 YRS ,, YOU MUST NOT BE THAT GOOD BECAUSE NO ONE HAS HEARD OF YOU !!!!

I Can prove I rode>  Its in the American racing manual ,,

So what Michele said was right ,,Starlight have you ridden a real horse race do you know what it really feels like,,, Jumping out of the gate !!It's awesome ,,

Well its is a mans sport ,, But there are more and more woman that are TOUGH and are the right size Now more then ever ,,

and they have to be tough and have guts,,

your out there with the big boys ,, and they can pull many tricks on you ,,And if you ever have raced before you would KNOW THAT

There is nothing like being in a race . your fitness counts,, If you do not have the proper muscles your gonna lose .

Men have a different type of muscles then woman,, There fore Unless your built like them, you won't be able to help the horses to the wire , Some you litterey have to carry the horses to the wire !!!



and in a pack of horses it so easy to clip  heels Thats scary as h**l  

Most woman have to  be very savoy to the game and if not you will your hurt  self or Kill others \

So ,,,,,,,,what, she said is right ,,

I know because I have been there and done that

hey big shot what races have you won what track and who did you ride for ?? 20 yrs huh

Star light ,, I doubt very much if you have ever ridden on the track if so prove it ,,

You girls are all talk!!!!! prove to this person who asked the question that you know what your talking about

Answer 3

many more good lady jocks today/ its just a matter of time

Answer 4

Im a female jockey & have been for over 20yrs now. The main reason you dont see women riding is those big races is simply they dont get the opportunites. Its still unfortunatly a male dominate sport but women are on the rise.

The races you speak of are some of the best racing in the world  & owners pay very big money to be in them so naturally they want the best jockeys in the world. There doesnt seem to be any women that can be called "world class jockeys" at the moment, i dont think this is true & its mostly because of the old saying men are stronger than women. This is wrong in my opinion & many others! There are many women jockeys that can outride a man any day of the week. Just recently i rode in a full field of male jockeys & beat them all. This doesnt mean im any stronger, it means i made the right desions in the race & my horse was the strongest going to the winningpost. There are some top women riders around the world its just they dont get the chance to ride in the big races yet to show their ability.

Here in Australia women are starting to get very good opportunities, they have riden in all the biggest races.

Some trainers prefer women as they seem to be a little more relaxed & can be kinder to a horse by using their brains instead of brawn. (not saying men dont)

Women are very competitive riders & get just as muddy, dirty, hurt & killed the same as men riders.

There are no difference between the both & there is no law saying women cant ride in races anywhere in the world(that i know of).

Must be a weird country if there is a law for that!

Like most men & women, i get up very early to ride horses in trackwork which includes riding in rain, hail, darkness & sunshine.   We ride everything from the yearlings, buckjumpers to barrier trials, jumpouts & then racedays.

In general women just dont get the opportunity to ride in those big races, but they will soon.

You say "why should jockeys get any credit at all"?

Who would steer them around the corners, who holds them back & makes them relax in long races, who encourages them to start picking up the pace from the 600 or 400meter mark, how does the horse know that the front runners went to hard & it needs to just sit back & let them go so it can catch them down the striaght when they weaken?

A jockey in very wet conditions holds a horses head up when its struggling to get through the going so it doesnt dip or trip over, they can guide a horse through a small gap where ive seen loose horses in a race (after a rider has fallen off them)  run clean up the backside of other runners.

Horses need encouagement & guidence in a race as they dont just run around in a circle on their own.

1.There is no such thing as "justbein" is saying about there is politics, money involved in why women dont ride in those races & its an insult saying that its a dirty game as i respect my fellow riders as they respect me.

We are all out there doing the same job & in some cases need to look out for one another.

2.Michelle says we feel threatened by men... What a load of S..T.

And how rude to say we arent strong enough, there are alot of men that are smaller & lighter than me.

I know im stronger than them.

And Michelle men make the same mistakes in races you know, not just women!

Answer 5

I will step out there and speculate that women who like to ride don't like to be like Danica Patrick when they do it. Most women are not going to grow a set and want to get in the fray. It's rough and dirty out there. And not in a way that soap and water will help.

There are a LOT of factors that govern who does well in horse races - the jockey's skill being equally weighted with about 4 other factors like politics, money, track conditions, the condition of the horse on a given race day. Actual riding skill is something women have, for sure.

Women are serious competitors in all manner of other equine events including steeplchase - which is a much more skillful racecourse than flat track.

Answer 6

dont worry there's plenty of female jockeys down under, and they are very competitive!

good point about the nascar passenger thing!

you earned a star!

Answer 7

There are plenty of female riders- have you ever heard of Julie Krone?? She's just an example, but she also carries the distinction of being the only woman in history ever to win a Triple Crown race- she won the Belmont one year with Colonial Affair. Female jockeys can and do compete with men all the time- and where'd you get the idea that jockeys deserve no credit, regardless of gender?  These people aren't passengers along for a thrill ride, pal. Racing may look glamorous, but the reality is that it is NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART. It can and does KILL AND MAIM a lot of people every year, both nationally and around the world. Were you around when Secretariat was racing? If you were, then you need to know what happened to his jockey, Ron Turcotte. Turcotte was thrown from a horse who stumbled coming out of the starting gate in a race- and left permanently paralyzed from the waist down. He trains horses now, and uses a wheelchair for mobility. That accident happened 3 years AFTER his win on Secretariat, and a couple of years after the great filly Ruffian ( who incidentally, was genetically a niece of Secretariat) lost her life after breaking down in a match race. Turcotte didn't get that injury by being a passenger doing nothing. Jockeys risk their lives and safety every time they get on a horse, regardless of what gender they are. Racehorses move at speeds in excess of 50 miles an hour, over tracks which have all kinds of footing, and in all kinds of weather conditions, including in snow. Horses need encouragement to run- and sometimes, they need to be held back, or they will use up their energy too soon and lose races because of it. This is part of what jockeys do. Jockeys also keep horses from HURTING EACH OTHER- which can happen when you have a lot of young colts together in one place during a race. Colts like to test each other, because when horses live in the wild, this is one of the ways in which breeding rights- and survival of the herd- gets determined. The strongest, fastest, and fittest colts are the ones who get to pass on their genes to successive generations, and a horse race is a proving ground. But in order to keep things safe and in focus, and not let the personal squabbles get out of hand, the horses need to have human riders.

Cars, on the other hand, are machines with no will of their own, and they lack the ability to think or make decisions. We build cars which will do what we want them to, because for some of us, that's a form of entertainment. Horses are living things- and they have free will, just as people do. That's another reason why horses which race need riders. Someone has to guide them and make sure they can do what needs to be done. They can't do this themselves.

There is no longer a rule against women riding in races, and that myth that women aren't strong enough to control a horse is just NONSENSE. Because of advances in nutrition and healthcare, most girls nowadays are normally too tall to ride young racehorses- though there are plenty of female exercise riders and grooms who are on the tall side. That's likely the main reason why most of them don't go into the sport- not because of any male bias or what not.

Women DO compete and ride horses in other sports, such as steeplechasing, and of course, all of the Olympic equestrian disciplines. I have a sister who plays polo- she's a rated player, in fact, and loves the game. I do dressage, one of the Olympic sports, and I love that.  To each his or her own.

Answer 8

hayley turner , excellent jockey in uk

Answer 9

There are and have been many great women jockey's.  Julie Krone is a Hall of Fame Jockey who won the Belmont Stakes on Collonial Affair in 1993.  Others include of course...Donna Barton, Tuesdee Testa, Patricia Cooksey and Diane Crump.

As for a jockey just being along for the ride....I guess you must have forgotten all of the flack that Kent Desormoux took for the bad ride he gave Big Brown in the Belmont, or Stewart Elliotts ride he gave Smarty Jones in the Belmont.....racing is about timing and knowing both your horse and the competition.  If a jockey moves his horse too soon, he will not have enough horse left to finish the race....move him to  late and he will not catch the horse in front of him.....

The jockey is vital to the horses chances to win.   Watch the movie Seabiscuit.....and see how George Wolf helped steal the match race with War Admiral by walking the track the night before the race and finding a tractor tire track that made the surface a little harder and faster....then going out the next day and putting Seabiscuit right on that track all the way around, while leaving War Admiral to fight against the deeper, slower sand .  Also listen to the little bits of information that Red Pollard (Seabiscuit's injured jockey), gives to George Wolf.

Edgar Prado saved Barbaro's life by knowing that something was wrong and then using every bit of his strength to pull him up, and out of the way of the other horses.  Remember Barbaro did not die from the injuries he recieved on the track, he died of Laminitis after his broken bones had healed!

I know that those are old examples, but they hold true today as well.

I own 18 racehorses and there have been many times when a jockey has made the difference in winning the race.  Think about it this way....if the jockey didn't matter, the trainers would want to hire the least expensive Jockey's to ride thier horses....if that was the case, why do Prado, Desormoux, Alborado etc always seem to be riding on the best horses in the biggest races?

Jockeys deserve and get a ton of credit, and yes women can and do make good jockeys.

Answer 10

in new zealand there are a lot of female jockeys and very good ones too, they mostly all started as pony club riders and progressed from there

Answer 11

So all I hear is NOT THE QUESTIONS ASKED ,,

All your answers sounds like you 3 are competing against each other ,, Shame one ALL OF YOU

I am not going to say I raced or did not

and or I come from a family of racing or am from a family of racing  



But I will , say for a girl to get in the game she has to beg for rides or sleep with the owners or RIDE ON the fair circuit ..

And that is where the girls get tough and they do or quit ,,



Any one  say's a girl is NOT intimidated  against the BIG boys are lying ,,

'''' THEY ARE They are easy prey for the others with more experience ,, and the girls Know it ,, So yes they have to prove to the BAND OF BROTHERS... THEY WILL NOT HURT THEM IN A RACE ,, AS IN CLIPPING HEELS OR NOT KNOWING HOW TO SWITCH A WHIP ,OR HOW TO BACK OFF AND THEN GO FOR A OPEN SPOT ( IF THE OTHERS EVEN LET HER IN ,,,THAT OPEN SPOT ,,

DO YOU NOT THINK,, THAT THEY TALK ABOUT YOU IN THE jocks room ?? oh yea they do """""YEP LOTS

and if you girls only knew what they SAY about you,,, and how bad you ride , and cant even c**k a stick at a horse let alone SWITCH AND  hit one ,, """"woooha Your being very STUPID,,

THOSE BOYS DO NOT LIKE YOU,, OR CARE ABOUT YOU,, ,, UNLESS YOU SHOW THEM UP ,,,)Or hurt them

The dirt that hits your face ,,, even with Google's on HURTS

HOOOVES FLYING PAST YOU,,, AND YOU CAN HEAR THEM TALK,,,, AND BELIEVE ME IT 'S  ABOUT YOU ,, UNLESS YOU'RE A WEAK HEARTED SHOW OFF ,,

i WANT TO KNOW THE GIRL THAT SAID SHE HAS BEEN RIDDING RACES FOR 20 YRS

And for some reason NO ONE KNOWS YOUR NAME ,, WHY ,,

WOMEN get pissed of to quick ,,

And in car racing some are very good ,,,,but then again they HAVE TO PROVE TO HE BOYS THEY ARE TOUGH ENOUGH TO TAKE CHANCES WITH OUT KILLING THE WHOLE FIELD,,

NOW THATS WHEN A WOMAN GETS RESPECT ,, BECAUSE SHE KNOWS HER JOB



And it's hard to learn even with talent ,, You want RESPECT and by God .. do it with your talent ;;;;;;;not your six=s_x

and never ride bad horses ,, its a hard sport to get into



But You can ,, GO GIRLS



I would like to see more women out there

Ok Look at Julie"s Croon how many bones have she  broken ?? to many and hey she made it .Shes a good rider . but now she says no WAY ,, no more why ?????????????

michelle,,Why put her down  all she was doing was making a statement ,,

she was right ,, If you think its that easy THEN DO IT



MS medical CODER OR STARLIGHT ,,,& 20 yrs as a jock ,, do you ride against the best or just fairs ??????????

Most jocks would just laugh at you while your eating their DIRT ,,,

You underestimate a jockey,, they are tough and can become mean just to save their lives from you females ..

Who have PRIDE AND NO IDEA WHATS IT LIKE ''

the both of you are out of line

Give the person more respect then putting down one answer,,



See what I mean ,, no proof,,, Just JABBER ,, I would out ride both of you , with a blind horse ...

You have no respect for male Jockeys ,, so you will get NONE FROM THEM, Your singling your self out .. wrong ..Do not do That  be part of them ,,  he boys ,,