How to Get Licensed as a Jockey in the US

Getting licensed as a jockey in the US allows for an apprenticeship period, during which inexperienced jockeys get a weight break for their races. Apprentice as a horse jockey for about a year before becoming a professional jockey with advice from a former professional jockey in this free video on jockeys.

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Now when you get your jockey's license, you're not just going to get licensed as a regular jockey, you're going to be licensed as an apprentice jockey and what an apprentice jockey is is basically it's kind of like your rookie, it's your rookie license, it's your beginners license, almost like a driving permit. But the only difference is, you're going to have to be out there competing against riders with much more experience than you, much more - as far as abilities - than you're going to have. So what they create - as being an apprentice - they created this incentive to give your horses that you ride a weight break - a weight reduction - that is the incentive to give the owners and trainers that incentive to give you a chance to ride your horses. Again this goes back to the theory of the less weight the horses carry the faster and longer that they can run. So as an apprentice you're going to have that advantage - of that weight advantage against all the other jockeys which creates the incentive for the owners and trainers to hire you, otherwise why would they hire you if they can hire much better experienced jockeys, so. You'll have that apprenticeship, it could be - it usually lasts about a year, and that weight reduction could be anywhere from five to seven to ten pounds which is going to - which as a jockey you're going to have to be lighter than the other guys as well. So there's just some ideas of what's involved with getting a jockey license and every state their rules will vary, so but anyway that is the basics of some of the things that as far as getting your jockey license.