Photo by : Ucok
“Maen Jaran” is a typical horse racing sport of Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara, where trained little jockeys are the main attractions. Children aged 5 to 12 years are used to being introduced to horses before they are five.
The “Maen Jaran” tradition of horse racing entered Sumbawa during the Dutch colonial era. In 1925, the Dutch Government held a horse race for the first time in celebration of the birthday of the Dutch Queen Wilhelmina at Mangge Maci Bima. For noble youths in Europe, including the Netherlands, their skill in playing horses would make them favored by the daughters of European nobles.
Sumbawa horse racing with adult jockeys was stopped during the Japanese occupation because it was suspected of being a gambling practice. The Sumbawa Horse Race was held again after the independence of the Republic of Indonesia in 1947. Still, the jockeys were no longer adults and were replaced with teenage jockeys because their body weight was lighter. Even in 1960, this horse race took children as jockeys because their body weight was much lighter than teenagers, so that the horses could go faster.
Victory on the racetrack is a matter of pride since it is determined by the best quality horses and the most reliable jockeys. Not just any kid can be a racehorse jockey. He must be tough, agile, and skilled at controlling a racehorse. The use of little jockeys is an irony; at a very young age, children are exploited to become little jockeys, many of whom neglect education, so they must drop out of school. Another irony in this little horse race is the often neglected safety of the little jockeys. The consequences are fatal. Not infrequently, some accidents cause young jockeys to be injured and even die. In 2019 a little jockey named Muhammad Sabila Putra (10 years) died due to an accident in a horse race. This incident was repeated in 2022 Muhammad Alfian, a 6-year-old little jockey, died because he fell from a horse.