How Much Do Jockeys Weigh?

Horse racing is a marvel to watch.

Those huge, muscular horses pelting round the track at breakneck speeds, leaping over hazards, all the while ridden and controlled by such light, slender jockeys.

It’s difficult to imagine for those of us who aren’t horse riders that, the smaller you are, the easier it is to control a racehorse.

But that’s true, and jockeys are always on the smaller side.

The lighter the jockey, the easier they are for the horse to carry.

So, I decided to look into this.

How much do jockeys weigh?

While it varies a lot, jockeys on average weigh about 113lbs, and stand about 5’2” tall. Racehorse trainers have always maintained that, depending on the weight of the horse, there is an ideal jockey weight which will give that horse a distinct speed and control advantage over the other horses.

So, jockeys are quite small. As a rule of thumb, in the US, a horse should not carry more than 20% of its bodyweight.

In other parts of the world, it’s lower, at 10%.

While horses are much heavier than humans, racehorses weigh much less than the average horse—they need to be slender to get the speed advantage.

So, it’s easy to understand why a lighter jockey is better.

What is the average weight of a professional jockey?

Jockeys have to be very light to ride at the weights assigned to their horses, which I will explain later.

In the United States, the average jockey, as I said, is just over 110lbs, usually in the range of 108-118lbs on average.

Despite their weight, they will need to be able to control a horse that weighs as much as 1200lbs while it travels at 40mph.

Of course, when we talk about a jockey’s weight, we are just talking about how much their body weighs.

However, the jockey must also bear in mind the weight of their gear and equipment.

The assigned weight will usually account for this and provide the extra leeway necessary.

Even though a jockey’s equipment is pretty minimal, it can make a large difference when you weigh so little to begin with.

Though there is no height limit for jockeys, they are typically quite short due to the weight limits.

They typically range from about 4’10” to 5’6” in height, and so are generally as short as they are light.

Having a lower center of gravity certainly helps controlling the horse.

So, the jockeys themselves usually come under 120lbs, but what is the assigned weight in a race?

What is the “assigned weight”?

In any horse race, there will be what’s called an assigned weight on the race.

This means that a jockey, including all their equipment, must come under a certain weight in order to qualify.

It can be different in different races, but it’s usually difficult for jockeys to keep their riding weight under 113lbs.

The assigned weight for the Kentucky Derby is 126lbs, which is a very typical riding weight for most jockeys.

Some will be lower, but, as I said, it’s difficult to have a riding weight under 113lbs.

indeed, many jockeys have for years been trying to raise the minimum weights as maintaining such a low body weight can take a real physical toll on the person.

In cases where the jockey is lower than the assigned weight, weights are added to the horse’s saddle until it reaches the assigned weight.

This is to give everyone as equal footing as possible, and have all horses at the same weight.

Weight is everything in a horse race, then.

It’s important for a jockey to be within a certain weight otherwise they won’t be able to compete at all.

How do jockeys stay so thin?

Jockeys need to keep to a strict routine to maintain their weight, then.

As I said, many jockeys are appealing to horse racing authorities to have the assigned weights heightened due to health concerns.

Jockeys use a number of methods to stay slim and lightweight, and some are less safe than others.

In the past, many jockeys would use the term ‘flipping’ to describe vomiting before a weigh in.

It was even common practice enough that ‘flipping bowls’ were installed in locker rooms.

Though it’s less common now, it still happens in some places.

According to some studies, well over half of jockeys skip at least one meal during the day to lose weight or keep their weight low.

Some have even been known to use diuretics to lose water weight.

More safely, this can be done in saunas and hot baths.

Other than that, they may simply exercise excessively, take a lot of diet pills, or even use tobacco to curb their appetite.

So, there are no small number of health risks associated with maintaining the body weight necessary to be a jockey.

So, racehorses are usually pretty small horses; jockeys, it’s no surprise, are pretty small people.

Weighing less gives you a distinct advantage in these very close races, as all you might need to get that edge is a tiny bit of extra speed.

Weight can be everything in horse racing, so it’s easy to understand why jockeys tend to be so short.