BEN'S BEAT: THE APPRENTICE DEBATE - ITS ALL ABOUT CHANGING LANDSCAPES AND CHANGING MINDSETS

By Ben Saunders | Friday, December 13, 2019

In this edition of Ben’s Beat, the personal blog of Ben Saunders, Ben addresses the debate about the standard of apprentice riders from a different angle to that which has gone before. Of course, well qualified instructors are important as is a positive, well thought out training program … there can be no argument there … but what about the apprentices themselves. What is their role in this structure and are they living up to their responsibility of doing all they can to provide a competent riding force for the future of the industry? This is Ben’s Beat, which appears exclusively on HRO.

I read the comments of Brent Thomson (in the newspaper) and Damian Browne (in his blog on this website) about the riding standards and training of apprentices in Queensland with great interest. I work directly with apprentices on a weekly basis and, while I agree to a large extent with the views stated by Brent and Damian, I think there is another angle that also needs to be discussed so that we cover the full picture.

I certainly don’t dispute that the apprentice training program and, by implication, the end result of turning out competent riders, can be improved. That is a given … and, so that my argument that follows here is not misunderstood, let me state categorically that I am all for constant improvement.

My argument is that you can have the best mentors and the best training system in the world and the desired outcome can still only be achieved with the complete commitment from the apprentices themselves … and, generalising of course, therein lies as much of the problem today as anything else.

Times have changed. That might not sound like a strong argument but, make no mistake … times have changed.

So, while I find it quite understandable for those who came through the system many years ago to want to take a pot shot at the way things are going now there are modern day realities … not all good … regarding apprentices that need to be recognised.

Take discipline for example. In days gone by, you were placed with a master and you were under his thumb and you probably saw him 24/7. I don’t think there has been any replacement for a clip around the ear or a kick in the bum when it was needed to install discipline. It worked. Apprentices learnt discipline in the old days.

That level of discipline, in general, is all but gone these days and it really stems from the young person’s modern-day mindset, again talking generally, of not wanting to listen to authority. In today’s society taking direction from authority … and this is not only in the world of apprentice jockeys … is not something that comes easy to many people.

Take the apprentice landscape these days. In days gone by an apprentice probably had one master for his or her whole apprentice career. Again, that is where you learnt progressively from the trainer over a period of time about so many aspects of riding and racing in general. Now apprentices can move around between trainers almost as it suits them.

Remember too that apprentices have money these days which can always complicate a young person’s life. For many, at $200 a ride they don’t have to work that hard to do well financially and they no longer have to wait until they come out of the time to receive their earnings like apprentices of old. They get their money directly and, no longer under the close, watchful eye of the master of old, they go out and play a little bit, sometimes unwisely.

In fact, earnings-wise, racing is one of the few industries where apprentices get paid the full professional wage. That can add up to a lot of money for a young mind!

With the apprentice these days largely armed with his or her own resources, everything … from upbringing, to ethics, to money matters and the company that can attract, to managing social media comments for and against their professional and private lives, as well as a whole list of other variables … all of these things play a part in formulating the mindset of any individual apprentice and therefore impacts on the level of commitment they will bring to training for their profession and, more importantly, the mindset they will take into a race.

All of it has a lot to do with personal circumstances. They are not locked in like apprentices of old and so they can be buffeted by a number of external factors.

Even if you take their starting point of going to the bush to kick off their careers. Once upon a time there was three kids riding out there with six or so seniors. It is kind of the reverse today with no real senior jockeys to put the apprentices in their place when they have had a rush of blood which is not ideal.

But then again, if you send a raw kid to town, well they’d be saying what the hell is this kid doing here?

So, yes, the points made by Brent and Damian are absolutely valid but I am just wanting to point out that the problem goes beyond just teaching personnel and training structure.

It is a very difficult problem and a hard ask to come up with an all-encompassing, workable solution.

In conclusion, I want to stress that all of the above is my personal opinion. It is based on what I have experienced and what I have observed. None of my comments are directed at any trainers who are currently masters of apprentices or at any individual apprentice.

It is a general commentary about a general problem.

Hopefully, all of the discussion this week on the topic of apprentice standards can help us start moving forward to getting this whole matter to a better place.