{"id":1086,"date":"2016-03-29T18:02:18","date_gmt":"2016-03-29T18:02:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.porticomagazine.ca\/?p=1086"},"modified":"2020-10-28T14:40:32","modified_gmt":"2020-10-28T18:40:32","slug":"on-the-job-taking-the-reins-as-one-of-canadas-top-athletes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/2016\/03\/on-the-job-taking-the-reins-as-one-of-canadas-top-athletes\/","title":{"rendered":"On the job: taking the reins as one of Canada’s top athletes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Who: Emma-Jayne Wilson, Dipl. (Equ.) \u201901<\/em>
\n Job: Professional jockey<\/em><\/h3>\n

Success for jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson depends on making split-second decisions while guiding a 540 kg horse as it races at speeds reaching 70 kilometres per hour.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not like a car where you have steering and brakes,\u201d says Wilson, who in 2007 became the first woman to win Canada\u2019s oldest and most prestigious race, the $1-million Queen\u2019s Plate. \u201cYou have to persuade a large, powerful animal that has a mind of its own to do what you want.\u201d<\/p>\n

Riding lessons at age nine led to an accomplished decade-long career \u2014 although she may not be a household name, Wilson is one of the country\u2019s most successful female athletes. She is Canada\u2019s most winning female jockey with more than 1,200 career victories, and she has earned well over $60 million in purses for her mounts.<\/p>\n

A lifelong love of horses led Wilson to study equine management at U of G\u2019s Kemptville campus. After graduating, she took a job working behind the scenes for a trainer. She got her start racing horses when agent Mike Luider spotted her exercising racehorses at Woodbine Racetrack. Wilson made her professional debut in 2004 and won two of her first three races. By the end of the year, the Jockey Club of Canada named her Outstanding Apprentice Jockey, and in 2005 she received the Eclipse Award for the top apprentice in North America.<\/p>\n

Wilson, 34, still works out of Woodbine, and on race days she\u2019s at the track by 6 a.m. to exercise horses under instruction from their trainers. She then heads to the jockey room to handicap the afternoon races.<\/p>\n

At the height of the season, Wilson can compete in as many as 10 races a day, four days a week. Many of the horses are familiar to her, but some she will be mounting for the first time.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing able to read a horse, to know its personality and build a rapport quickly is the most important skill for any jockey,\u201d she says. \u201cSome horses are quieter and need coaxing, and others are more aggressive and need to be told what to do.\u201d\"note-emmajayne\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Even with the best preparation, Wilson says being ready to adapt is crucial: you never know what will happen until the race is under way. She once suffered a badly lacerated liver after falling off her mount and landing under a horse running at full speed. \u201cI would be lying if I said there was zero fear, but if I let it affect me negatively, I would hang up my tack.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jockeys work on one-race contracts \u2014 if you want to keep riding, you have to keep winning. And the more you win, the better horses you get to ride. Where some might feel pressure, Wilson feels motivation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely not a \u2018normal\u2019 job,\u201d laughs Wilson. \u201cBut I\u2019ve earned the right to be here. It makes me want to continue to get better and achieve. It\u2019s all about perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n

After 9,000 races, what Wilson still loves most is working with a horse to achieve a common goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish I could bring people on board to experience it: the moment when I\u2019m on a horse who\u2019s just as determined and eager to win as I am, and we\u2019re fighting down the lane, tooth and nail \u2014 there\u2019s no better synergy. It\u2019s indescribable. I think it\u2019s the best job in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013 TERESA PITMAN<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Who: Emma-Jayne Wilson, Dipl. (Equ.) \u201901 Job: Professional jockey Success for jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson depends on making split-second decisions while guiding a 540 kg horse as it races at speeds reaching 70 kilometres per hour. \u201cIt\u2019s not like a car where you have steering and brakes,\u201d says Wilson, who in 2007 became the first woman<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1087,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"Photo by Dave Landry","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":null,"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":null},"categories":[79],"tags":[33,116,115,32],"yoast_head":"\nOn the job: taking the reins as one of Canada's top athletes -<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/2016\/03\/on-the-job-taking-the-reins-as-one-of-canadas-top-athletes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"On the job: taking the reins as one of Canada's top athletes -\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Who: Emma-Jayne Wilson, Dipl. 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