When you think about who's likely to have powerful eating disorders, do you think of horse jockeys? Jockey weight is part of the fabric of the sport, unfortunately: Those who ride thoroughbred horses are subject to weight requirements that others would likely consider criminal. Yet there is always competition for jobs.
Unlike other equestrian sports and their influence on eating and appearance, the demands on jockeys are clear. There is no beauty contest. Speed is paramount; the drive to be thin is related to the drive to go fast. All things being equal, a horse carrying less jockey weight will be faster.
If you saw Seabiscuit, the 2003 film showing the rise to fame of an unlikely racehorse, you got a glimpse of what many jockeys must do to maintain weight. A scene shows jockey Red Pollard (played by Tobey Maguire) purging. It also shows no one challenging him, because it's understood that this is part of the job.
Jockey Weights Must Be Incredibly Low
Based on a number of factors, each jockey receives an assigned weight from a racing secretary at each track. This determines how much weight the rider will need to lose. Weight limits are often under 120 pounds in the United States. The limit at the Kentucky Derby is 126 pounds. Other countries normally have higher limits, typically in the mid-130s. The scales that officials use to determine the weights are essentially the same as they were in the mid-1800s. The average American male today weighs over 190 pounds. You might say that comparing jockeys to this average is unfair, given that most Americans are "overweight." So let's imagine that the average weight of American males magically dropped to 170. Jockeys seeking to meet common 120-pound limits would still need to be 50 pounds (and often more) under that average. Is this realistic?
What Jockeys Do to Lose Weight (And What it Does to Them)
Because lighter jockeys get more rides, their pay is tied directly to their weight. So jockeys will do most anything -- stimulant drugs, exercise in plastic suits, long periods in saunas, and the old standby, purging (called "flipping" among jockeys). Many race tracks actually have "heaving bowls" installed in bathroom stalls to accommodate the 30% of jockeys who purge to make or maintain weight.
The health consequences are staggering and life-threatening. Jockeys who stay dehydrated in order to avoid water weight can push their liver and kidneys to failure. It also can cause heart arrhythmias that can be fatal. And bone density suffers when restricting food (osteopenia or, when more advanced, osteoporosis), which can mean more broken bones. Horse racing is often violent; jockeys tend to break lots of bones over their careers.
Eliminating Eating Disorders in Horse Racing: Raising Jockey Weight Limits
Clearly, a change in the weight requirements for jockeys would benefit the profession (and therefore the sport). Some are worried that horses will be the losers with heavier riders (although horses are bigger today than in the past as well). It seems as though the sport has weighed the health of the jockeys versus that of the horses and has decided that the horses are more important. Consider this newspaper quote:
"It's a real problem," said Tim McCanna, leading trainer at Emerald Downs the past three years. "I used to live with a guy who would (lose) seven pounds a day. He would cramp up bad, he would get so dehydrated. Some of them don't eat for a day or two at a time. A lot of them are bulimic, but you've also got to admire them for wanting it so badly. And often, they are some of the best riders."
Believe me, I'm a big advocate of identifying what you want and pursuing it, especially in eating. But I don't admire jockeys for "wanting it so badly." Our physical wants are the signals our bodies give to tell us what they need. A want that is chiefly destructive comes from somewhere else. In the mental health world, we see it as addictive behavior or, in some cases, masochism. It seems to me that the passion for riding among jockeys would be just as high when they weigh 20 pounds more, and it would do nothing to diminish the excitement of the sport.
Sources:
Hanson S. The life of a jockey is thrills and spills. seattletimes.com. April 14, 2004. Accessed 5 February 2008.
Holland, Richard. "Low Weight Limit Hurting Jockeys." Letter to the editor, The New York Times. Published 24 December 2000. Accessed 5 February 2008.
Nack, William. Horse sense from SI's racing sage. CNNsi.com. Accessed 5 February 2008.
National Center for Health Statistics. "Americans Slightly Taller, Much Heavier Than Four Decades Ago." Accessed 6 February 2008.
Schmidt N. Horse racing's dirty little secret. enquirer.com (Cincinnati Enquirer). Published April 25, 2004. Accessed 5 February 2008.
