women jockeys

? Why aren't there more women jockeys?


Women jockeys don't seem to last very long at the top levels, Julie Krone is the last one that I remember and she is now retired, but there are a few around, mostly at smaller tracks. It's still a man's world at the track, you have to be a tough woman to make it in any job around the racetrack, and a woman jockey has to be tough as nails.

What I notice about women riders is that since they can't and wouldn't be inclined to try to use muscle to get a horse to do what they want, they find a way to control horses with finesse instead. I think this makes for a better racehorse and usually also a more physically sound racehorse, because the horses don't use the wrong energy fighting their rider. There are many female exercise riders, at least in Kentucky. Being an exercise rider is still a hard life though for a man or a woman.