What is the education for a Thoroughbred Racehorse trainer?

Question

I'm young and I want to know what I need to really do good in at school and what to do at colledge to be a very sucessful Thoroughbred Racehorse Trainer.

Answer 1

Hands-on experience is the only way to become a trainer.  If you don't live & breath horses, then you won't ever be considered successful in the racing industry unless you have connections from people who are already on the inside.  That's reality.  The best trainers I have worked with learned it from the bottom up & they had no problem showing the hired help how they expected the stalls to be mucked & the shedrow raked.  You have to know all the ends of the business or your barn manager could run you out of money faster than your vet bills.  Learn as much as you can about everything having to do with horses & the industry.  Even working a summer job in feed stores & tack shops will give you needed info & connections for your future as a potentional trainer/assistant trainer.  You must be liscensed by each individual state in order to have your horse in the barns at the U.S. tracks.  There is an extensive test that you must pass in order to receive your liscense as a trainer.  Call your States Board of Horseracing & they should be able to direct you to a sample test or a rule book that will give you up-to-date info on the current rules & regulations.  In California, it is called the CHRB (California Horse Racing Board) .  Other states are different.

Answer 2

The majority of personnel at tracks do not have extensive formal education - they learned by doing as Sherryn explained above.  But for the most part that has more to do with a lack of opportunity for formal education, not because it is the best way to do it.  In recent years, the number of schools that offer equine-racing themed majors, minors and internships has grown quite a bit.  The benefits of learning through a school (rather than through a mentoring relationship) are many.  First, no matter how good your mentor is, they don't know everything.  All trainers have their strengths and weaknesses, when you study different theories in school (whether it be training theories, therapeutic options, etc.) you study theorIES.  Sometimes what works for one horse won't work for another, but the more you know the more options you have.  Second, being a successful trainer often has more to do with your business and communications skills than your training skills.  "Boring" classes like agricultural economics can mean the difference between a barn at Churchill Downs and one at Thistledown ;)  Third (but certainly not last) you are still young.  If you go straight to work at a track and decide that you don't enjoy it as much as you thought you would your job prospects aren't nearly as good as if you give college a try.  If you choose an equine school you will get a taste of things but still have many options.  You may decide you would rather be a journalist writing for the Daily Racing Form, or a track announcer, etc. and will be in a position to change your focus very easily.

While it is certainly not the only college that offers a racing program, the best and most famous program is the University of Arizona's Racetrack Industry Program.  I know several people who have gone through the program and all have raved.  Famous grads include Todd Pletcher and Bob Baffert.  If you are serious about a life in the racing industry I strongly recommend looking at that school.

Answer 3

20 hours of study per week.  The senior year maybe more.

   All your vitamins, sports classes, social skills and polite to

   the clients.  Pet the Clydesdales, the Olympian jumpers,

   and give the carriage, riders, and polo women a lift.  Also

   learn to bake cookies, by the truck load.  Entenmanns

   preferably.  Anything else see my groomer.  Training horses

   is two techniques, one is run in feeding area.  One is leading in sports club shows.   http://www.adairmag.com/games

Answer 4

Hard knocks