Is there a problem at the Academy?

any good judge of jockeys can easily see if someone have natural talent when on a horse....no matter what age or if you grown up on a horse or not.....if you try to make a malakka a proffesional you will end up with a malakka professional or professional malakka(and their are plenty of them if you look at our jockeys).... in the bushracing where i grew up we started racing as young as 5 in pony races....with no saddle.....i been champion jock in 1992 beating aart van der lingen and fanie chambers , luchelle kruger and simpiwe tshaka...... now 150kg you will never guess that...... i could only manage to ride raceriding until the age of 16 when i was 64kg and too heavy... fanie and aart became professional jockeys and was both overlooked when they were young and applied to join the academy....fanie today topclass jock ....simpiwe became a workrider in the professional workriding races but sadly past away. luchelle now a trainer and top top class on my judgement.

my opinion....tooo many malakkas are forced into something that they dont admire respect or really want to be part of and not even having natural talent......forced into the academy.....

time to go look at the bushracing meetings around the country and you will find the natural diamonds in the rough....they out their waiting for a scout to come get them

(interesting story about diamonds in the rough...the best workrider and horseman i ever seen was Ou Gert....he work with horses all his life, the best judge of pace ever....if my dad asked him to do a specific workout with a horse he will do it to the tee....if my dad ordered him to do a light canter for the first 600m then pick the horse up to 3quarter pace to the 1000m ,he wants a 45second 700m and then a 18 seconds 300m he will do it almost on that time with all 6 different horses he rode that day....the master of judging pace......just imagin if he was found earlier in his life where he could be.....)

Oh so Pukman says get a Klap and all is well? Huh WTF now we see pupils knocking teachers out at schools. Violence breeds violence no need for that we have moved on there are better ways to teach discipline . Hurt them in the pocket and in their careers ! Hitting people and hurting people may make you feel better it never made me feel better on either the giving or receiving end.

blood you not bleeding enough get it straight while they there they on a freeby you cant hurt there pocket they on a good wicket and that's not cricket. they need to learn that this is a hard game and the pifalls are hard what they gonna do if they don't crack it only a small % will make it to the average I did not even get that far so go have a voddy or something and put that in your pipe

Firstly I don't smoke a pipe and the truth remains using any form of violence to try and reach a result is just not on ! That's why we live in such a violent country. Secondly I will go and have another Voddies and nobody will have to use force to make me have one? So have a good night and try not get Klapped?

In the earlier Academy days when these kids weren't treated with kit gloves and had to man up or ship out we produced the likes of Gerald Turner, Martin Schoeman, Roy Curling,James Maree, Raymond Rhodes, Muis Roberts etc etc....Top class riders coming out the academy every year was the norm, cant say that we have seen too many of that calibre for some time now,' I agree 1000000% with pukman, I know of many many problem kids who back in the day went into the Army as social no hopers, but came out men and with the confidence to take on the world and that was not because the rod was spared, the industry is not a place for the faint hearted, reintroduce the Man Up or Ship Out policy and you will find that those who come thru it are those who really want it...

when you live for 5 yrs with the same guys in those days there is gonna be conflict AND ITS FROM 3,4,5 YRS THATS HOW YOU LEARN.i was the with steven Nichol dean russel felix cant remember his surname and a blast callitz ampie dampie or yampie one of them you learn to live with it and at the end of the day they RESPECT YOU for it . its a unwritten rule and not a bad one I might add. all went through it in the 70s and 80s they turned out great. and can hold there head up high.

Steven Nichol was cut and "marked" in a argument and wore a polo neck to track the next morning so as not to create a prob, sorted out his prob himself and moved on... Dave Lilley was called up for the Amy when he left the Academy before completing his appyship and was stationed at 1 SAI in Bloem, told me it was a walk in the park compared to the Academy
@pukman Scotty Nichol sadly passed away last year in the UK

Don't disagree with facing up or taking the punishment but did it turn you into a champion ? Just asking? And yes Titch can't disagree with what you say either but the academy then and now is very different ! So are learning methods! And let's not forget how many got into the academy in the days you speak of compared to now. And just for the record I used to drive to Summerveld to pick up the appies and drive them to Scottsville to ride work every morning as part of my job and not one of them really made it. It's a hard game that we all know being Klapped or beaten didn't make a champion ! Raw talent ability and the will to win and succeed coupled with hard work is what makes champions. Just my opinion!

bloodshot it's very hard to argue with you coz u always seem to make sense ..so im gonna agree to disagree and retire while im still intact

Txs for that Titch but I'm still waiting for that pot that all the Durban boys have been threatening to buy ! Nobody at Marshalls Umhlanga or club Tab anymore what's up ?

If its yr children in the academy will you allow somebody to physically hit them?,if a teacher lays a
hand on my son I will fcuk him up so badly his own mother wnt recognise him

I never once told my oldman about the cuts I got at school....He would have given me real hiding....sided with the teacher and told me that I must have done something wrong to piss off an authority...
and I still think he was correct....
The majority of youth have lost respect for their elders because they think they know better...