Diminutive people of the world take note: if you're bummed that something as slight as your height significantly reduces your prospects as a cover model, or professional basketball player, you can rejoice that there are other exciting career options for someone of your stature. 

Consider yourself lucky that you're uniquely qualified to risk life and limb, strapped to the back of a thoroughbred, barreling down a racetrack at breakneck speed.

We're talking about that mysterious person saddled onto your favorite Kentucky Derby foal: the professional jockey.

 

'Sup. (Source)

Yes, you too can go to work festooned in bright silk shirts and colorful hats—outfits that make Lady Gaga's getups look normal. It's a great job if you're the right size and love horses so much that you talk to them regularly (though if you can get them to talk back, you have an entirely different talent).

However, you can't just stroll into the stables and get a job as a jockey. And you might not want to—other than the top jockeys making (admittedly) tons of money, the average rider is only looking at about $22,000 per year in salary (source). 

You'll also need experience; nobody's going to give you a job just because you think horses are pretty and you can't reach high cabinets. You need proper training and a license to ride before you can even think about saddling up (source). 

There's no one way to get into this career. One possibility is to hang out around the track and work your way up, cleaning stalls and working out the horses until the stable owner gives you a break and lets you ride one.

Another, more expedient option is to go to jockey school, learn the ropes, and get connected with an owner and trainer. There's only one jockey school in the U.S.—the North American Racing Academy in Lexington, Kentucky. You better get on it if you're serious about going this route, though; class sizes are capped at fifteen students per session (probably a space issue).

 

Staying on the horse is very important. (Source)

Even if you're already amazing on a horse, being a jockey requires an entirely unique set of talents. If you think you've got this in the bag because you're a master equestrian and have a trophy room in your house built just to showcase all of your medals and trophies from horse jumping or dressage—think again. Horse racing has nothing to do with either of those things—other than the horse, of course.

You can stay in the saddle when the horse is bouncing or dancing, but can you still hold on when she's traveling faster than would be legal on some highways? We'd expect not.

So what exactly are the physical requirements for this gig? For starters, jockey schools won't take you unless you're around 110 pounds (source). The horse shouldn't even feel you on its back—that's how light you'll need to be. This means you'll have to stay fit and avoid those extra chips with lunch.

It's also a good idea to live in a place where the weather allows for year-round racing. A jockey who lives in Denver or Detroit isn't going to be very busy for half the year, unless they're working at a petting zoo part-time.

Even though the horse is doing most of the work, this is a dangerous sport. Serious injuries aren't uncommon, and people have even lost their lives. Falling off comes with the territory, and broken bones or concussions come with falling off. It's like being a racecar driver—except you're sitting on top of a living, breathing, incredibly strong and fast animal with no safety belt, no roll cage, and no brakes.

So, good luck?

What do you get for putting your life on the line? If you win the big one, you get it all: big bucks, moderate fame, and the admiration of your employers, your team, and all those people betting on you. But, spoiler alert: that goes away in like six months.

If you lose, all you've got is a sore behind. That goes away in like six days.

Even though you'll have to be small, you'll have to be strong, too. You'll have to be able to control your horse at all times, and you'll have to follow some strict rules while you're on the track. 

If the stewards (that's horse racing-speak for referees) go over the video of your race and find everything's not kosher—like rockets attached to your horse, for instance—you may be faced with a suspension, which means a big hit to your potential income.

You'll have to ride the line between carefree and careful every time you get on a horse. You know what you're doing, but as with most things in racing, it's all a gamble.

Which leads us to one last, big requirement for the job: be lucky. Shouldn't be too hard; after all, you literally spend every day surrounded by horseshoes.

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