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Member
Posts: 16
| Has anyone on here ever galloped horses on the track? I was presented the opportunity and took it, but I just wanted some feedback on how your experience was with it. |
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 Money Eating Baggage Owner
Posts: 9586
  
Location: Phoenix | StephanieNE would know. |
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  Damn Yankee
Posts: 12390
Location: Somewhere between raising hell and Amazing Grace | Great way to become a better rider and learn a lot about horses.
RULE NUMBER ONE.....do NOT date anybody from the backside......at least it was for us :) I don't know how old you are but find yourself GOOD role models and even better trainers. Be very careful WHO your ride for. Nothing is worth you getting hurt or killed over. |
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 Sock eating dog owner
Posts: 4557
Location: Where the pavement ends and the West begins Utah | None of the "colts" are broke, Trainers scream get your butt off that horse's back, collect your wages before you mount. that's mostly at bush tracks. |
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Miracle in the Making
Posts: 4013
| great but you got to get a license and make sure you work with someone responabilitable it great fun great work but you can get hurt bad
but darn it fun i did it fir 5 yrs |
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Expert
Posts: 3147
| cow pie - 2014-02-14 3:09 PM
None of the "colts" are broke, Trainers scream get your butt off that horse's back, collect your wages before you mount. that's mostly at bush tracks.
Some trainers will put you on anything and tell you "he's been galloped quite a bit". Be careful who you ride for. I loved it and made more money in high school working a few hours after class than my classmates who worked twice as many hours. I was paid weekly at the barn I rode at in high school. I kept track of what I rode and they trusted me to tell them how much I was owed. I only had one trainer I had to dun for money every week and he was a very successful building contractor. He never had his check book with him at the track so I would go to his house and wait for him to write a check. If you don't know a trainer ask other riders or trainers-they can tell you if the trainer's horse is broke or an idiot. I was at a two day brush track race and one of the trainers I knew well told me not to ride a particular horse for another trainer. The horse bucked right out of the gates, threw the jockey and broke the jockey's arm. |
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 Regular
Posts: 56
Location: Alberta | I agree with everyone else, find a good trainer who will put you on horses that you are comfortable with and slowly work your way up to the harder horses. Find a good mentor who can help you with certain aspects of day to day life working as an exercise rider. Make sure you discuss with the trainer how much you are getting paid whether it be by the horse or by the month and when you will receive your wages. Familiarize yourself with the track rules, safety procedures and etiquette. If you are new to galloping horses be prepared to get cussed out by other riders who think that you can't ride and are getting in their way. Lots of them forget that they too were once beginners. At the track I rode at all first year exercise riders had to wear orange helmet covers so that everyone knew that we were still learning. (They called us Pumpkin Heads). There are other riders that are very nice and give you pointers which I found to be very helpful.
Make sure you are in very good physical condition, you might think that its easy because you just stand in your stirrups for the whole way around the track, but its not. The first time I rode with my trainer we went 3 laps around the track which was a little under 3 miles(I rode at a 5/8 mile track) I thought my legs were going to fall off, and I had been going to the gym every day for 4 months and riding 3-4 horses a day. Which is nothing compared to the amount of horses that some people ride.
I took a different route to the track than you are. I took a college program called Exercise Rider & Jockey Training and you work with professionals from the horse racing industry and we rode Chuckwagon horses that a driver lends to the program every year and some trainers and owners lend their horses to the program as well. They taught us proper positioning while riding, horse care, track etiquette and safety. Plus we had to go to the gym 5 days a week to make sure that we were in good physical shape.
When we moved to the track our instructors placed us in barns with trainers that were willing to take us in and mentor us. Some graduates of the program have gone on to become trainers and some are now Jockeys. |
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Damn Yankee
Posts: 12390
Location: Somewhere between raising hell and Amazing Grace | Just personal experience....if you are already a capable rider you may be better off starting on well broke BABIES and not older racehorses. That way you get the hang of the job first before you get the sneaky devils that know every trick in the book. Key word is "well broke" babies, which can be very hard to find at many tracks. I was lucky and had three great great trainers that I started under. I was galloping babies at the farm long before I started at the track and it led to the ability to gallop and breathing beast on the track itself. |
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 Namesless in BHW
Posts: 10368
Location: At the race track with Ah Dee Ohs | missroselee - 2014-02-14 3:01 PM Great way to become a better rider and learn a lot about horses.
RULE NUMBER ONE.....do NOT date anybody from the backside......at least it was for us :) I don't know how old you are but find yourself GOOD role models and even better trainers. Be very careful WHO your ride for. Nothing is worth you getting hurt or killed over.
^^^ This^^^ Never ever date anyone! Lots of "wrong crowds" on the backside. Be very picky who you associate yourself with. Don't get on horses for just any trainer, they will put you on anything and not bat an eyelash. |
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 Expert
Posts: 2258
| I galloped all of ours for years because mine were broke but most aren't . Everyone has given you good advice watch who you are around and get on some good horses. It is a whole new ball game riding them and you will be super fit when you are done. I had a guy get on a colt one time and said I am going to give him the Texas treatment and he sank his spurs in him, he promptly put the guy in the dirt. It was pretty funny why he thought he needed to do that I don't know. I loved doing it but would not ride anything but mine I had done all the riding from the ground up so I knew them well enough to know any antics they might have. |
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Location: California | Make sure you are paid PER head or you will find yourself getting on 20 head a day and getting screwed. Friend was being paid a weekly salary down south on a farm and was getting on a ton of horses each day. I did the math and asked him if he had a calculator. He was getting the shaft big time. You'll have to ride before the Safety Steward in order to get your license. I would avoid the bush tracks, although that is where my husband got started at age 9 and become a legendary horseman, and invest in a really good helmet and vest. There are more accidents in the morning than during the races. I married a jockey so I didn't follow the general recommendation of not dating anyone on the backside. You just have to be smart amount it. Good luck.
Edited by NonaY 2014-02-14 5:23 PM
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Member
Posts: 16
| Thanks for all the wonderful information!! I talked on the phone with the woman I will be riding for and she wants me to come out and ride their babies at home before I actually get out to the track. Thankfully I do know quite a few people on the backside so hopefully I wont have any trouble on that side! I am now just waiting ever so patiently for this weather to let up so I can go out and start working horses! Again, thanks for all of your help! |
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Member
Posts: 16
| Also, the horses I will be riding are Quarter Horses! |
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Member
Posts: 16
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 I'm Here!!
Posts: 4583
Location: Is it Summer Yet? | Cash Only!!!!
Show up do your job and go home, do not hang out with any of them. Don't be a bag but you aren't there to make friends.
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