Greg Cheyne could be riding again early next season if the bones in his crushed right foot heal the way his doctors believe they will.

Cheyne, now on crutches and wearing a surgical boot, said: “The boot has to be non-weight bearing for the first six weeks and then it stays on for a further six before the rehabilitation starts. That will last for between three and five months.

Greg Cheyne (Liesl King)

“The doctors recommend six months – and ideally eight – before I start riding again. I must not put my foot in a stirrup until everything is 100% healed because the area where the breaks are takes the weight.”

Cheyne, 39, suffered seven fractures and two dislocations when his foot was crushed against the metalwork of the pens riding two-year-old Mount Keith at Kenilworth on December 27. Two of the breaks were shattered and the doctors at the Kingsbury Hospital in Claremont inserted four plates and a pin 12 days later when they also performed three fusions.

The 2009 Durban July-winning jockey said: “I had to stay in bed for three weeks to keep the foot elevated and those were some of the worst times because I would see horses winning and think ‘I should have been riding that.’

“But I have had serious injuries before [including a broken bone in his back] and I learned then that you just have to accept it.”

The financial cost is eased by his insurance and medical aid policies funded from riding percentages. Jockeys get 10% of winning stakes and a tenth of this is deducted for the policies. So is a seventh of the 7% they earn on place stakes

Cheyne calculates that only the top jockeys earn enough to cover the full cost of the premiums with the operators subsidising the balance for the rest. “It is one of the best jockey insurance schemes in the world,” he said.

By Michael Clower