# Is being an exercise rider at the track worth it, or too dangerous?



## sunshade (Jul 23, 2014)

It's my dream to work at a racetrack as an exercise rider, and since highschool is soon coming to a close for me, I have to really decide if I want to become one. I love thoroughbreds and riding hot horses, and galloping can be alot of fun. I'm extremely passionate about riding and I want to pursue that as a career. But some times I think twice about it, like is being a exercise rider worth the pain and the risk? I've heard horrific stories of exercise riders falling or being crushed and breaking several bones, compound fractures, and worst of all (what I'm most afraid of) is falling and being paralyzed for their rest of their life! Is it worth the risk? I know getting hurt alot is part of horse racing, but I'm scared I'll get paralyzed or something and be crippled for the rest of my life. 

And I know there is risk and pain in every equestrian sport, but horse racing is extremely dangerous compared to some. Please guys, I need your suggestions.


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## Tracer (Sep 16, 2012)

No one can answer for you. If it's a passion, it's worth the risk.

Here in Australia you are able to do courses to give you a leg up into the industry. The base level is mostly stablehand work and normal riding, with the next level exercising horses and experiencing life in a real racing stable. If you can find something like that near you, or a stable that would be willing to let you have a look around (I wouldn't expect a stable to let you ride, for insurance reasons, but you could speak to other riders), it may help you make your decision.


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## kiwi79 (Nov 11, 2011)

When I was much younger I was offered a job as a stable hand/track trainer at a stable just out of town. It was very poorly paid and also live-in, with one other female worker and 2 grumpy men who owned the place living together in one small house. I laugh now when I think back on it as I was nowhere near being a good enough rider. 

I went for a day as a trial and never even made it near a horse, I was so nervous that within an hour I had jammed my thumb somehow while trying to open a stubborn stall door that had a spring loaded latch. 

As I was driving home with one of their tea towels wrapped around my hand I decided that maybe I had gotten off lightly and was probably not the best job for me! 

There are always risks involved with horses though and I guess you just have to weigh up the odds. Maybe you could go try it out for a day, I'm sure you will do better than I did!


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

I did it for years. Enjoyed it. Don't regret it. 

It is a hard life in some ways, but doesn't have to be a tacky or rough life as some seem to insist on making it. I would do it a again.

The only complaint I have about the job, as I see it done now, is that the pay is the same as I made 30 years ago. From what the riders at Churchill and Keenland have told me. I understand the other costs have gone up, but that is awful. The ones now, who make a good life, often have a spouse with a decent off-track job.

That said, if it was even only for a season or two, I would do it. I've found nothing else like it.


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## Cherie (Dec 16, 2010)

I galloped race horses for years, had a pony horse or two and ponied in the afternoon to the gate when I was 16 to 20 years old. I went from there into getting a training license and trained quite a few cheap horses and trained Arabians when they first started racing them. I loved it and learned a lot --- but I was fearless and I took on all the horses others wouldn't ride or train. Eventually, I decided I wanted to go a different direction.

My one thought is that if you are afraid of being hurt, your heart is not in it. It is not as extreme as bull riding or bronc riding, but fear cannot enter in it. If anything, that fear not only affects your riding ability, but also makes you less safe. 

If I were you, I would do it strictly on a trial basis and then decide if it was worth it to you.


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## Allison Finch (Oct 21, 2009)

I also galloped.

I started in my college years on training farms in Ocala Florida. I would get up a 4am, drive south of Gainesville Fl (univ. of Fl) gallop all morning training the babies, then spend the rest of the day in classes.

Later, I galloped at a couple of different tracks.

It is a hard life and dog eat dog to get the mounts, but it was WORTH it! While the people can be really rough, many also have hearts of gold. You just have to be very careful who you work with. There are many unscrupulous trainers who will drag you down, professionally.

The weirdest mounts I ever galloped were racing arabs! Tiny critters with a very different mindset.



You may have to start out as a groom, if you have no prior experience.


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## Dustbunny (Oct 22, 2012)

"The weirdest mounts I ever galloped were racing arabs! Tiny critters with a very different mindset."

But give the little guys an endurance course and you're good to go! : )

OP...given your fear factor I'd rethink the dream. Injury can happen on a pokey trail ride. I think what you want to do requires a fair amount of confidence and solid nerves...really solid nerves.
But good luck on whatever you decide.


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## sunshade (Jul 23, 2014)

*How do I even start?*

*Thank for all your advice guys! I think I'm going to try it and see how much I enjoy it. The whole idea of getting hurt is not really what scares me, it's the worry of not being able to ride or walk again because of an injury. Pain is temporary but being paralyzed could mean forever. But because it's my dream I guess it's worth it. 
Problem is, I live in New Jersey and the closest racetrack where I live is an hour away. Also I don't have any connections to any trainers there. So how the heck do I go about doing this? Do I just show up to a racetrack one day and look for a trainer and ask them if I can work as a stablehand(so I can work my way up)? Or would that be weird? Or maybe I should call the racetrack? I have no idea. I'm pretty shy and awkward and I'm bad at talking to people  *, but I don't want that to get in the way of my dreams. So what exactly do I do? What do I say??? Please help guys!

Also, there's no riding schools for horse racing anywhere near where I live, so going to a school to get the job isn't an option for me. :/


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## Saskia (Aug 26, 2009)

Ask around to see if any of your contacts have connections to someone in the industry. I don't have a lot of experience with the racing industry but I imagine its like most others, these days it really is who you know. And it can be surprising how you can pretty much know anyone through the people you know. 

Would it be worth it? To me, no. Poor pay and conditions, not great career pathways. However, I wouldn't let risk of injury sway me. You can trip on the pavement at the local shops, fall wrong, and die, be paralyzed etc. Or be in a car accident etc. You can't let fear stop you living your life.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

Bring a bag with enough clothes for a week of any type of weather. Go to the gate on the back side and tell the guard you want a job. Ask him or her if they know of anybody hiring. Don't worry about being shy. Many of the people on the track are a bit socially awkward.

If that doesn't work, wait until after the morning works and see where the riders and grooms go for lunch. Put your name and number on pieces of paper and tell rider and grooms (you ought to be able to tell who they are vs store clerks and bankers ; ) ), tell them you want to work with the horses, ask them to put your name out. 

Don't be surprised if you get false leads and some inappropriate offers. Weed through those and stay focused on the horses.


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## sunshade (Jul 23, 2014)

boots said:


> Bring a bag with enough clothes for a week of any type of weather. Go to the gate on the back side and tell the guard you want a job. Ask him or her if they know of anybody hiring. Don't worry about being shy. Many of the people on the track are a bit socially awkward.
> 
> If that doesn't work, wait until after the morning works and see where the riders and grooms go for lunch. Put your name and number on pieces of paper and tell rider and grooms (you ought to be able to tell who they are vs store clerks and bankers ; ) ), tell them you want to work with the horses, ask them to put your name out.
> 
> Don't be surprised if you get false leads and some inappropriate offers. Weed through those and stay focused on the horses.


Okay thank you! That was very helpful.  But I do have a few more questions... what did you mean by false leads and some inappropriate offers? Also why do I need to bring a bag with enough clothes for a week?


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## Cherie (Dec 16, 2010)

The race track has tried very hard to clean up its act, but you still have to be very careful and have good preservation instincts. The first man I went to work for grabbed me in a tack room at 5 in the morning when I came in to feed and tried to rape me. Back in 1961, it would have done no good to say anything -- I would have been blamed. I never got paid for my first week of working for him and considered that a 'cheap' lesson. 

There are quite a few unsavory characters still there. A woman has to be very careful who you get in a truck with and who you hang around. It did not take long for the word to get around that I wasn't 'THAT' kind of girl and most of the guys left me alone. I got pretty smart pretty quickly and learned how to not act 'high and mighty' but not socialize with the people I worked around either. I know once I got the reputation for being a hard worker, dependable and a 'good hand', everyone wanted me and treated me right. Riding tough horses and handling tough horses helped a lot. 

It is really not the place for a weak or naive woman. One has to be able handle themselves and not let let the creeps get them down. It is not the place to cry or be intimidated. I was so bound and determined to ride every horse I could get on and willing to get on a lot of horses I shouldn't have gotten near, that I made it work. After a while, I had a lot of guys that really tried to protect me and I found out later that a couple of them had really gone out of their way to get on to guys that were talking about wanting to get me cornered. I did not know about it until years later. whenone told me later that he was so worried about me going back in later and checking horses and closing stall doors, that he would go in and park one barn down to make sure I got in and back out OK. He had told the guard at the gate to not tell me he was there and asked the guard to always make sure I came back out when I should. 

Like most people, I started out with a groom's license and walked a lot of hots, cleaned a lot of stalls and learned to wrap a lot of legs the way that trainer wanted them wrapped. Once I got a chance to bring in my gelding, I never cleaned another stall. I started ponying horses. I was issued the first pony license ever granted to a girl at Centennial Race Track in Littleton, Colorado. The leading trainer at the track went to the Stewards and asked them to give me a license when they refused. I ponied all all of his horses every morning and rode quite a few of his tough colts in the afternoon when the little training track was open. It took me several trainers until I sorted out the 'good' ones.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

sunshade said:


> Okay thank you! That was very helpful.  But I do have a few more questions... what did you mean by false leads and some inappropriate offers? Also why do I need to bring a bag with enough clothes for a week?


You will often meet people who will say "oh, so and so is hiring. I'll contact him/her." And then they won't or you will hear nothing. Don't get discouraged. It seems the first and easiest people one meets in a new venture are not the most knowledgeable or well-connected.

Inappropriate? Nonsense like "Baby, I'll give ya a ride." :shock:


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