Page 44 - November 2015

Right: Reid teaching a Groom Elite 101 class in the barn area at Santa Rosa Racecourse in Arima, Trinidad-Tobago.
The Elite Program
Since its inception, Reid has adapted Elite Program classes to include both classroom
and hands-on learning custom-tailored
for various situations. Subjects are broken down into logical and understandable units: terminology, handling, grooming, anatomy and conformation, health and dental, tack, feed and water, bathing, restraint, and so on. And classes are translated for Spanish-speaking students. If needed, instructors will read tests to students who can’t read themselves, and then allow students to demonstrate their answers.
“Dr. Reid has boiled the information
down into easily discernible packets,” says Jon. “He’s taken college-level work and made it understandable to the layman, and built on it in a way they can comprehend. From the time I’ve known him, from about four years in, I’ve seen Dr. Reid streamline and update the program to ensure grooms learn as easily as possible.”
Even scheduling is customized. “Sometimes it’s not easy to get grooms and hot walkers together because of their schedules, but the Elite Program ‘grooms to the grooms’ schedules,’” says Chris. “They start at 11 a.m. after morning work is done and end at 2 or 3 p.m. when grooms have to go feed again. And they’re held Mondays and Tuesdays, which are normally off-race days.
Classes include:
• Groom Elite including Grooming 099 (for entry-level workers) and Groom Elite 101 and 201, which are groom certification courses paid for by local horsemen’s groups such as the Florida Horseman’s Benevolent and Protective Association and Gulf Stream Park, which currently sponsor those two classes at Gulfstream Park
• Owner Elite 101 and 201 that focus on horse care and training, and communication with trainers
• Trainer Elite 301 and seminars that prepare aspiring trainers to obtain their licenses and present information of interest and importance to both new and established trainers
• Farm programs to certify students to work with horses — including inmates in the Second Chances Vocational Program using retired racehorses
• Seminars and Youth programs customized by topic, program length and/or target audience
42 SPEEDHORSE, November 2015