Colonial Downs 2004 By Katee Whitesell

KTTC’s intern program completed another successful year at Colonial Downs. Interns for the year 2004 were Amber Carlisle, Natalie Benson, Claire Powers, Brandon Benson and me, Katee Whitesell. Each and every morning we would arrive at the track and hot-walk horses. Interns would also do other various things for the Virginia Horseman’s Benevolent Protective Association (VAHBPA). We delivered lunches to backside employees, collected data (like results from Equibase), overnights, programs, and accomplished other tasks as needed. It was hard work.

In the beginning of the meet I worked here and there for various trainers that needed help. I finally found a permanent job at Hall of Fame trainer Jonathan Sheppard’s barn. Intern Amber Carlisle also worked at the Sheppard barn. We found ourselves continuously busy with twenty-five horses. Whenever we had horses running (which was pretty much every day) I walked over with the groom and hot-walked the horse after the race. It wasn’t always easy; you got down and dirty literally.

Diana McClure, a KTTC director and founder of the KTTC program at
Colonial Downs, is a trainer who raced horses at the track. We would hot-walk her horses after they raced. I also got to run (lead the horse over), one of her horses in a race.

On dark days (Wednesdays and Thursdays) we attended “The Groom Elite Program” which is a class that covers topics like, bone structure, feed, and much more. The class would go out to one of the barns and do hands-on demonstrations. Also progressive horsemen Dave Seay, came and gave demonstrations and worked with various horses on overcoming their problems. Interns assisted with both the Groom Elite program and Dave Seay demonstrations.

Working at the track isn't easy work. There are a lot of long, hard hours involved especially at the test barn (for winning or coming in second) and long journeys back to the barn after the races. Nevertheless, the horses keep you going because there is always tomorrow and there’s always another day to the fight again.

– Katee Whitesell