Race track training grooms students for future success in horse industry

Winnipeg -

Eleven students are spending their days looking after horses as part of a new paid work program at Assiniboia Downs.

A new training program is teaching students aged 16 to 29 how to groom horses during on-the-job training.

Office manager Shannon Dawley said there was interest in working with horses at the track, but doing so without proper training carries risks.

“Without any experience, putting them in an area with horses and especially racehorses would be a little on the dangerous side, so safety is an obvious concern,” said Dawley.

Seeing the need for trained workers, Assiniboia Downs reached out to the province and discovered training funds were available from the government’s First Jobs Fund. The fund allows qualifying employers to offer paid training to people in the age range of 15 to 29. Dawley says the minimum age to work at the track is 16 but otherwise, the fund was a good fit for the track’s training needs.

Students who are selected to participate receive four weeks of paid training, provided they fit within the age range. The first week is delivered entirely in the classroom.

“Students are given a job description, what to expect, parts of a horse, parts of tack, parts of the job and a lot on safety. How to keep yourself safe in the barns, around horses and just personal safety,” Dawley said.

After the classroom, training shifts to the horse barns for hands-on learning and mentoring from the trainers. They volunteer to teach students for the three-week practical component. So far, eleven students have completed or are in the process of completing the program. Dawley said the goal is to offer training in the early spring, horse racing’s preseason, for each of the next five years. She stresses program grads won’t lack work opportunities.

“There’s more than enough jobs at the race track. And there’ll continue to be as more horses come back to Manitoba after COVID and in light of all the restrictions. And other possibilities include boarding stables, and in breeding facilities and other agricultural settings.”

Dawley is enthusiastic about the program’s future, especially given the quality of work put in by students up to now.

“The feedback I’ve been getting from the trainers in the barns and what I’ve witnessed when I’ve gone down to the barns and supervised is phenomenal. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of individuals."