Three School Subjects to Ace for a Career in Horse Racing
High school is an awesome time to start thinking about careers you may want to pursue.
If you’re considering a career in the horse racing industry, there are several subjects that can give you and advantage at the track, in the circles of influence, or in the stables.
The top three? Math, a second language, and Economics.
Math and Statistics
If your natural aptitude leans toward numbers, the race track is a fantastic place to use your skills. Races are timed down to the fraction of a second, and horses’ odds are also displayed as fractions. When it comes to caring for the horses, simple math can make your day-to-day work easier. You could have to measure out feed or supplements, and depending on your role in the barn, you might also be responsible for making sure they have the right sized tack or blankets. In that case, you’ll need to know not only how to measure, but sometimes even how to convert into a different form of measuring such as the metric system when deciding on what size a horse needs.
If you’re planning on getting into equine research or genetics, math will be an important part of calculating values, probabilities, and outcomes. In a role as a vet tech or another medical professional, understanding how to prescribe precise medication quantities is a vital skill.
Breeding, owning, and training racehorses costs money, so many individuals and organizations employ accountants. Basic accounting skills are a valuable asset to any business or organization.
Finally, equine safety is at the forefront of all racing operations, so many facilities are beginning to leverage data science and analytics to assess outcomes of studies and make decisions based on statistics.
Try a Second Language
Racing is a very international sport, so you will likely be working next to people who may speak another language. Broadening your horizons in school and making sure you take a few years of a foreign language will put you ahead of the game in your new career.
Because of the broad Hispanic community in the North American racing industry, Spanish is likely to be the widely utilized language you could take if you plan on working in the U.S. There is also a significant French population at racetracks and on farms domestically, due to France’s avid racing and breeding industry and the many parts of Canada that prominently speak French. If you plan on traveling to other countries for work in the Thoroughbred industry, a few non-English speaking racing countries beyond France are Japan, Germany, and the U.A.E. At the end of the day, you won’t go wrong by taking a foreign language class or two, no matter the language!
Economics
If you’re looking to get more into the bloodstock or sales side of racing, understanding the economy and how its fluctuations impact the equine industry is important.
Many of the buyers, owners and breeders you see at sales and racetracks have careers or investments outside of racing, so unsurprisingly, the slightest change in the economy or stock market could affect them. This means that you’ll see fluctuations in horse prices, stud feeds, and breeding numbers, depending on what is going on in the world. Being educated about signs that indicate the economy may be rising or falling will allow you to prepare for different scenarios and make anticipatory decisions based on how the economy could impact the equine industry.. Even if you don’t plan on being a bloodstock agent, working for a sales company, or having a career in that realm, knowing how economics work is vital to understanding why different things are happening in the industry at any given time.
