Study on the Method of Selecting Juvenile Jockeys Under the Background of Cooperation Between Hubei and Xinjiang Cooperation

Abstract

Interrupted by historical conditions for several decades, modern horse racing in China also witnessed a late start. As a consequence, the mass base for this sport is still weak, exerting more setbacks in jockey selection. At present, most of the jockey coaches evaluate and predict the jockey candidates based on the past successful experience, which can be shown in the following aspects. Firstly, 15 years’ old teenagers in rural or distant areas would be selected as a priority to be trained as jockeys, rather than those grown up in urban areas. The reason lies in the requirements of personalities for jockeys, such as perseverance, tenacity, strong willpower and responsibilities. Secondly, teenagers from the Mongol nationality or Manchu nationality would be preferred thanks to their profound history in horse riding and archery. Therefore, most teenagers there enjoy good foundations in horse ride. All in all, this experience-oriented method of selection makes sense to some extent as it helps coaches to sparkle their speculations and conduct independent thinking, thus forming their own judgments and critical thoughts. However, this method is limited in its subjectivity and contingency. Although it comes from the daily facts, it is lack of scientific proof and abundant practice. What’s more, teenagers from rural areas, distant areas or ethnic minorities suffer from low level of education and insufficient horse racing heritage, as a result, jockey coaches always face some communication barriers while imparting relevant knowledge to students.