Originally Posted by prudery

Hurdle horses and steeplechaser's carry more weight than flat racers but NOT because they need " bigger, stronger " riders . Totally false . Jump races hark back to the days when people hunted their horses and were a competitive spin off . The weights reflect what the horses carried to hounds with their non-jockey owners up . Often, in the old days, races over fences were contested with non-professionals up, or " gentleman " riders . This happened in flat races as well, but the riders had to make flat weights . In modern times, several flat jockeys rode in jump races . Hartack rode in one and won, anfd Jacinto Vasquez finished second in another . They carried a lot of lead in their saddles . Obviously with the weights, riders do not have to be little and weigh what a flat jockey weighs In the past, occassionally a flat jockey who couldn't make weight turned to steeplechasing .