Take 10: Jockeys

Christian Williams Photograph: Mark Johnson

Jockeys Liam Heard and Rhys Flint Photograph: Mark Johnson

Johnny Farrelly Photograph: Mark Johnson

The horses don’t choose to put themselves in harm’s way. Do the protesters have a point? “You’ve got critics in every sport,” says Mattie Batchelor, who is 32 and has been a professional jockey since he was 17. “If you let it bother you, it would grind you down. I’ve been on a couple of horses who have died in a fall. It’s horrible. It makes you wonder if it’s worth it. But you have to get up and dust yourself off. You carry on for the love of the sport” Photograph: Mark Johnson

Jockeys have to diet ferociously to keep their weight down to around 10st. “I have one meal a day,” says the inappropriately nicknamed Robert “Choc” Thornton. Some jockeys spend time in the sauna -before a race, to lose extra pounds. “You would normally sweat for 20 minutes to half an hour every day. There are saunas at all the racecourses,” says Thornton. “I’m 30 now and it’s getting harder. You might feel weak, but the moment you’re on the horse you’re away” Photograph: Mark Johnson

Sam Thomas, winner of last year's Cheltenham Gold Cup on Denman, carry scars that map his meteoric career. “My face has been bashed up through different falls. I did this one two months ago at Hereford,” he says, pointing to the prominent indentation on his nose. “But it’s better than breaking bones” Photograph: Mark Johnson

“You know you’re going to get hurt at some point,” says 26-year-old Tom Scudamore, whose grandfather Michael won the National on Oxo in 1959 and whose father Peter was champion jump jockey eight times. “It’s in the back of your mind, but if it comes to the front, it’s time to give up” Photograph: Mark Johnson

Tom Siddall Photograph: Mark Johnson

Aidan Coleman Photograph: Mark Johnson