Salary
Average Salary: $20,000
Expected Lifetime Earnings: $834,960
Many of these horses—especially those that ride in the Triple Crown—are worth thousands or even millions of dollars. The jockeys, on the other hand, are often only worth a hundred bucks a race. The money is not in the riding; the real money is in the winning.
You don't make your own money on races; you'll make a percentage of the horse's owner's winnings. If you win, the owner gets about sixty percent of the "purse," or how much money is at stake, while second and third place owners will take smaller shares (source). You get between five and ten percent of whatever that smaller share is.
That's if you and your horse place in the top three. If you're in eighth place, you'll probably get paid in angry glares from the owner.
Yearly earnings for jockeys vary, but generally the more you race the more you get paid. Popular jockeys can race half a dozen times or more per day. If you can't crack the winners' circle with all that riding, you'll be looking at something close to $20,000 a year. On the other hand, the top jockeys out there can pull in over a million dollars (source).
Hang on though—you're not keeping all of that cash. You're going to have an agent, and that agent will also be collecting a percentage of your earnings. Your agent doesn't even ever have to get anywhere near a horse to collect their paycheck. Makes you question who's doing all the work here.