Indonesia's smallest jockeys
On Sumbawa Island, the stakes are high, the races are fast, and the riders are very, very young
Panda racetrack, Sumbawa Island.
(Image credit: (Putu Sayoga) These races do not call to mind those at iconic American tracks such as Churchill Downs, though. There are not even saddles for the riders — and helmets? Hardly. The jockeys loo)
Adriansyah, 10 years old, poses for a portrait.
(Image credit: (Putu Sayoga))
Riders compete at Lepadi racetrack.
(Image credit: (Putu Sayoga) Photographer Putu Sayoga, 29, spent more than a week with Indonesia's smallest jockeys, during the annual races that take place after the rice-harvesting season ends, usually so)
Mohammad Amin helps his son Aldin, 9, remove his gear after a race at their house in Lepadi Village.
(Image credit: (Putu Sayoga))
Aldin Amin carries a sack of grass that he will use to feed his horse.
(Image credit: (Putu Sayoga))
Aldin Amin feeds his horse before a race.
(Image credit: (Putu Sayoga) Sayoga shadowed several of the jockeys closely, and he says he was especially struck by how quickly they must grow up in order to compete at the tracks. Aldin Amin (pictured abo)
A man walks his horse toward the river.
(Image credit: (Putu Sayoga))
Caretakers bathe the horses at Kalaki Beach.
(Image credit: (Putu Sayoga) The races themselves are wild — a cacophony of gamblers shouting bets, horses thundering around the track, and, at the center of it all, the tiny jockeys, captured in their dust)
Adriansyah, 10, rides during a free practice at Lepadi racetrack.
(Image credit: (Putu Sayoga))
Adriansyah rides his horse at Lepadi racetrack.
(Image credit: (Putu Sayoga) **See more of Putu Sayoga's work via his website, and follow him on Instagram**)
