Page 28 - June 2005 The Game

28 The Game, June 2005 Your Thoroughbred Racing Community Newspaper
Worst job in sports????
The CTHS Announces 2005-2006 Directors
The Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society announced their list of Directors for 2005 and 2006.
The Directors are elected by their membership in each Province (Division) and the National Directors are then allocated by the National Director(s) in each division.
CTHS Directors are elected every two years through a nomination process which is followed by a ballot being sent to all annual foal members in each division. The ballots must be received at the national CTHS office by the first Wednesday of December.
If there are not enough members in a certain division the Directors are acclaimed.
The following is a list of the 2005- 2006 CTHS Directors and the Office contact information:
CTHS National Directors
Ron Fawcett, President; Gordon Wilson, Vice President; Glenn Sikura, Vice President
Terry Black, Frank DiGuilio, Martine Fournelle, Robert Hoesgen, Dixie Jacobson, Dick Lister, Mike Secker, Grant Watson.
Fran Okihiro, Executive Secretary Candace Pion, Admin. Assistant PO. Box 172, Rexdale, ON
M9W 5Ll
Ph.(416) 675-1370;
Fax (416) 675-9525 Email: cths@idirect.com
CTHS Alberta Directors
Gordon Wilson, President; Mike Secker, Vice President; David Lovlie, Vice President
Maxine Anderson, Julie Brewster, Ernie Evans, Jack Johnston, Bunny Noren, Glen Stouffer, Ryan J. Watson, Edward Welsh
Rennie Gellner, General Manager Sharon Tomlinson, Staff
Sally Cannon, Staff
#401-225 17th Ave., SW, Calgary, AB T2S 2T8
Ph. (403) 229-3609;
Fax (403) 244-6909
Email: cthsalta@telusplanet.net
CTHS British Columbia Directors
Dixie Jacobson, President; Ron Fawcett, Vice President; Ralph Jesiak, Vice President
Jim Alendal, Suzanne Anderson, Cliff Baldwin, Terry Black, Gay Forstbauer, Nancy McMinn, Lief Nordahl, Reg Peat
Bette-Jean (B.J.) Davidson, GM Joanne Barton, Staff
17687 -56A Avenue, Surrey, BC V3S 1G4
Ph. (604) 574-0145;
Fax (604) 574-5868
Email: cthsbc@axionet.com
CTHS Manitoba Directors
Grant Watson, President; Lawrence Anonychuk, Vice President
Bill Bochinski, Brian Burkhardt, Dr. Betty Hughes, Paul Jacobson, Sandra Lepard, Gary Strath, Harold Wiens, Cam Ziprick
Karen Harrisko, General Manager Box 46152, Westdale Postal Outlet, Winnipeg, MB R3R 3S3.
Ph. (204) 832-1702;
Fax (204) 831-6735 Email: cths@autobahn.ca
CTHS Ontario Directors
Glenn Sikura, President; Frank Di Giulio, Jr., Vice President; Peter Berringer, Vice President
Dr. John Brown, Ron Clarkson, Aricka Everatt-Meeuse, Richard Lister, Gillian Luxton, Tony Monk, Vera Simpson, Christopher Thomas
Julie Coulter, General Manager Kerry MacKay , Admin. Assistant PO. Box 172, Rexdale, ON M9W 5Ll
Ph. (416) 675-3602;
Fax (416) 675-9405
Email: cthsont@idirect.com
CTHS Quebec Directors
Martine Fournelle, President
Remy Boisvert, Jean Fortin, Dominique Laurent, Marie Josee Morin
11871 Cote des Ange N., Mirabel, QC, J7N 2W3 Ph. & Fax: (450) 475-8648
CTHS Saskatchewan Directors
Robert Hoesgen, President
Sandra Foster, Sterling McWatters, Rich Pilon, Frank Schira
Lynda McWatters, Administrator Box 1137
Saskatoon, SK, S7K 3N2
Ph. (306) 373-2731;
Fax: (306) 373-2769 Email: cths.sk@shaw.ca
By Harlan Abbey
Earlier this year, the newspaper USA Today ran a series on the "ten worst jobs in sports."
Guess which job was rated the "number one worst" -- worse than being a urine specimen collector, a rodeo bullfighter or a sparring partner? It was being a race track groom.
The detriments? Low pay, bad hours, and the possibility of being bitten, kicked or trampled by an unruly 1100 pound animal.
Not surprisingly, backstretch grooms at the Fort Erie Racetrack strongly disagree with the USA Today survey -- they love their job. They love horses, they love being outdoors and they love the sense of accomplishment they feel when they lead their horse into the winner's circle.
Although nearly every groom on the racetrack has been bitten or kicked at one time or another, most feel that those incidents pale in comparison to the enjoy- ment they receive. And most of them feel such mishaps often were their own fault.
They get used to the early hours, around 5 a.m. each day and not having a day off each week. But they point out that on non-racing days their work day is over at about l p.m. with just one groom in a stable returning for the evening feeding at around 4 or 5 p.m. And the pay, generally based on how many horses they handle -- four or five -- averages out to about $100 per week per horse after taxes. Plus most trainers pay grooms a "stake," one per cent of the money the horse earns for finishing first, second or third.
"It's laid back, you don't have to punch a time clock, it's nice to be outdoors and I love the horses," said Renata Ljubanovic, a groom for 14 years, this year with trainer Campbell Wilson. "The first thing I do is empty and clean the water buckets, then I walk the horses that aren't going to the track. Then we start training."
The groom brushes off their horses before saddling them, gives the rider a "leg up" onto their backs, then may accompany them to the track. After exercise the horse gets unsaddled, then washed off, then walked until it's cooled out. After feeding, legs are bandaged or otherwise attended to. Later, the horse may be taken out of its stall to munch some grass.
Ljubanovic said her worst injury was freakish: "I was leading a horse to the track at Woodbine. The jockey said his hands were slippery, so I bent down to get some dirt for him to rub onto his hands... and the horse stepped on me."
"My favorite horse is Compadre Just Ten. He doesn't try to hurt you though he's 'sharp' fitness-wise. He pretends to bite, but doesn't, he loves to play, and he also loves to do his job." When her work at the track is done, Ljubanovic visits her own horse, Colt Renfrew, a 23-year-old ex racer who was used as a "pony" horse until he was 18.
If Thoroughbreds sometimes become difficult to handle, it's mainly because their natural state is to be continually eating as
Groom Robin Allen
they walk along in herds, only running when there's danger. Keeping a horse in a stall and feeding it two or three times a day is for man's convenience, not the horse's.
"I have an accounting degree," said Robin Allen, in her sixth year as a groom, this year with trainer Edward Freeman. "I love horses and I love being outside, and I have my summer afternoons free. You have to be more aware of a race horse's moods than a riding horse's, but every job has its hazards."
Allen usually "adopts" a retired racer as her personal riding horse.
Wayne Whalen, only 19 but a groom for "five or six" years, comes from a racing family. "I'd graze or walk a horse when I was seven or eight," he said, "and it was my decision not to continue my education. This is what I love, making them look good, watching them run when you know what you've done to help them run better. And you never know which horse you're assigned will be a good runner." Whalen grooms for trainer Lyle Morden.
"I was walking out of a stall when a horse lunged and bit me in the back," said Whalen. "Another horse kicked at me and broke my nose, but I've never been seriously hurt.
One thing the USA Today story failed to mention is that the "dangerous" job of groom is a requirement for learning the skills that enable someone to become a head trainer, where at the biggest racetracks they receive ten percent of their charges' winning purses, which can be a half-million dollars or more.
Yet the glamour and riches of those jobs don't appeal to many grooms.
"Maybe I'd like to train one or two horses for myself," said Allen. "I don't think I'd like dealing with owners who might want you to run their horse above its true claiming value or at a distance that wasn't right, or might be slow to pay their bills I don't think I'd like all that pressure."
"I want to be a trainer, but not a big one," said Whalen. "I'd like to own a couple of horses and train them, I like competition and I'd like to do everything the way I want to. But I don't know enough now. You're always learning, and you always need to learn more."
Did You Know....
That Hall-of-Fame jockey Ted Atkinson died at his home in
Beaver Dam, Va on May 5 after a long illness. He was 88.
A Toronto native, Ted was the first rider to win more than
$1 million (US) in a single season (1946). He rode 3795 winners from 23,661 mounts in his
21 years as a jockey between 1938 and 1959.
Did You Know....
That the Florida HBPA board of directors have voted to re-join the national HBPA after splitting
from the national organization six months ago.