Female stable hands are treated differently within racing yards, say staff in the industry.

Stable girls get the safer and easier rides and are protected from the more physical jobs by the male stable hands says stable hand for trainer Barry Hills, Darren Smith. “It’s a fact women are always given the easier horses to ride because they are not as strong.”

Others think this does not necessarily always happen. Lisa Burns, stable hand for trainer Clive Cox, said: “Women do not allways get the easier horses to ride but its judged more on individual riding ability by the trainer.”

“Different horses suit different people”

Racehorse trainer Brendon Powell said: “Different horse’s suit different people, females tend to suit the horses that are more nervous and would give them a pat and calm them down, whereas the men would tend to give them a slap and bully them to behave.”

Retired jump jockey Victoria Roberts agreed with this suggesting that the women will probably ride certain horses such as ones that need more looking after, and the men will be put on horses that a stronger ride. “It’s true that men are stronger for their weight than girls, and if you have got a strong horse than the trainer often wants a man on it.”

“A sexist workplace”

Many believe women make better stable hands, shown by the domination of females in horse riding schools. In regards to this it could be suggested that is not just strength issues at play in a racing yard, but the fact that the workplace is a sexist one.

Apprentice flat jockey, Brian Toomey said, “I think there are girls in the yard that are capable of riding the majority of the horses but they just don’t get the chances sometime, because trainers can be sexist.”