Page 14 - October 2005 The Game

14 The Game, October 2005 Your Thoroughbred Racing Community Newspaper
Natalie McMullin:Always at the ready
A Good Pony....Priceless
By Harlan Abbey
Either John Willick or Brian Collicutt rides his horse first past Fort Erie Racetrack's finish line every day -- yet never do they get their pictures taken in the winner's circle.
That's because their "firsts" take place when they lead the Thoroughbreds onto the track before each race. They are the two Fort Erie outriders, whose job at first glance looks like a paid holiday: Just sit on their horses and watch the runners get ready to compete.
"It's a good job, a fun job," agrees Willick, "but you're the 'policeman' keeping watch over two highly-trained athletes, the jockeys and the horses." "Behind the starting gate is usually when everything happens," adds Collicutt.
The two horsemen have been best friends for 30 years. They competed against each other on barrel-racing horses as teens, met their wives on the horse show circuit, and are godfathers for each other's daughters, who were born two weeks apart. But Willick has been an outrider a few years longer.
Willick also is on duty during early morning workout hours, and emphasizes that there can be many problems in training "pony horses" to be versatile:
"In the morning, you're riding your horse and leading an unmounted race horse for his exercise. That's how all of our horses begin their training. But some horses, in the afternoon, when they feel the jockey's stirrup iron pressed into their sides.... It's just time and miles, riding them onto the track and standing by the gate and using them alongside other horses."
"Our horses must be fast and quick, yet sensible," added Collicutt. "They have to stand as still as possible, they can't be on pins and needles as they were when they were racing. But they must be alert if a horse breaks through the gate. Then they have to give you that instant burst of speed and then relax and let you control the runaway horse. You can be the best rider in the world, but without the proper horse you're nothing."
If a horse throws his rider and runs away, the outriders will chase for an eighth of a mile only. "Then they usually pull them- selves up or run back to the barn area," said Willick, "If they're not used to being handled from a pony (any horse that doesn't race is referred to as a "pony" by race-trackers), let 'em run home, it's safer."
But it's an entirely different story if a jockey is being run away with.
"We chase them until we catch them, we'll ride our horses as hard as we can," said Collicutt. "We don't think about our horses, just the jockeys."
The two outriders agree that the worst accident they can recall took place three years ago, involving Mike Quong and two other jockeys:
"I broke down my pony, Quarter Mile Hustler, racing to the scene," said Collicutt. "He broke two splint bones, which required surgery and put him on the shelf the rest of the year."
It was then that he learned how valuable a trained pony horse was. "I didn't have a back-up horse and the prices quoted to me were $8,000 to $10,000," he recalled. Now his back-up is Razzle Dazzle, a paint and the only horse the two men use who wasn't a racehorse previously. And it took two years of training before he was ready for service. Willick's mounts are Clinketts, which he rides in the morning, and Tonka and the grey Double Spike, his afternoon mounts.
Both men emphasize the importance and value of their horses:
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By Chris Lomon
If she didn't already know it, Natalie McMullin was recently reminded just how dangerous her job could be.
McMullin knows the outcome could have been far worse when the 30-year-old, one of three outriders at Woodbine Racetrack, attempted to corral a loose horse prior to the start of a race.
In her position, McMullin is responsible for leading the post parade, essentially keeping the horses and jockeys in line and getting them to the starting gate on time. If a horse does get loose from their jockey, she takes up the chase to track them down.
"I went to catch the horse and
when I caught up with him, he pulled back and stopped," said McMullin, who began her career at the Toronto oval five years ago. "He yanked my arm and I felt something tweak. I caught him again and then he launched forward."
Along with a tendon injury to her left arm, the British Columbia native also bruised her pelvis, keeping her out of the saddle for one week.
Ironically enough, it wasn't the physical part of the incident that caused the most stress for McMullin.
"I hate being away from the riders," admitted the woman who worked "bush tracks" in Vernon, Kamloops and Osoyoos, before finding herself at Hastings Park, working at the Vancouver oval for six years, prior to making her way to Toronto. "I'm worried about spills. The riders are just like family to me."
Which is exactly how members of the Woodbine riding colony view McMullin.
"You definitely feel safe with Natalie out there, she's always keeping an eye out for everyone," said jockey Constant Montpellier.
In spite of the perils associated with their respective positions, the on-track relationship between outrider and rider isn't always serious business.
In fact, it can, at certain moments, be quite light-hearted.
"Natalie makes things fun out there which is a big help," offered Montpellier. "It's a serious sport, but it's good to have a laugh or two when you can."
McMullin concurs.
"You can joke around, I think it's good to keep everyone relaxed," she said. "But you also know when not to do that. When you can, it's nice to keep the pressure off, even if it's for a few seconds."
Pressure is a constant for everyone, McMullin included, involved in racing throughout the Toronto oval's 167-day thoroughbred meet.
While a vast majority of the days are incident-free, there are moments when McMullin is reminded of the realities associated with the sport.
And without hesitation, McMullin admits there's nothing she wouldn't do if a rider happened to be in a perilous position.
"I would put my life at risk to save them," she said. "If a rider got hung up, or broke a line, I wouldn't think twice. It's just natural instinct for any of us."
McMullin can point to several highlights in her including her kinship with a two-time Sovereign Award-winning mare and multi-
ple stakes winner.
"One For Rose (2003 and 2004 Top Older Female
in Canada) is one of my favourites. I love her big ears. I always flick them and say, 'Cheers, big ears.' She's great."
A term McMullin is quick to bestow upon her "partners," ponies Landry, Chief and Dandy.
"They get switched up every second day," said McMullin. "One will go home for a whole week. I'll pick one to go home and the other two will stay here at Woodbine. If they catch a loose horse, they usually get two days off.
"It was Dandy who saved me when I hurt my arm," she continued. "That was just his second day on the job. I depend on them to be ready at a second's notice and they always are."
Something the members of the Woodbine riding colony have come to expect from McMullin and the other outriders, Wes Adams and Debbie Stokes.
"I've learned a lot from Wes," said McMullin, of the respected lead outrider. "I try to incorporate some of his experience into what I do. But my main focus is always the safety of the riders."
And while there are plenty of upsides in her job, how long she'll continue her current calling is up in the air for now.
The lure of returning to one of her first loves is as strong as ever, but not enough, at least not yet, to entice her to leave Woodbine.
"I'd like to do rodeo again," admitted McMullin. "I don't know how long I'll do this, but I know I'll be very sad when the time comes to leave. There can be tough days, but there's a lot to like about this job."
Woodbine Outrider Natalie McMullin and her pony, Landry
career as an outrider,
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