| Trekking
down to Virginia also afforded Sherman the chance to meet her
friend Amy Schuver of Charlotte, N.C. for the very first time.
The two teens met on the Internet via their mutual love of racing.
They were offered the internship opportunity through "Kids to
the Cup," a non-profit organization that promotes youth involvement
in the sport. They were the first members of the group to be placed
as interns at a racetrack.
"They wanted
to get young kids and teachers to the track," Sherman said.
"This whole trip was about experiencing it."
"Hot walking"
was a key duty for Sherman while at the track. When the horses
return from working out, they have to be walked around to wind
down from the exercise. Each time a cooling-off lap is completed,
the horse gets 10 gulps of water.
When she
first arrived, Sherman was worried about hurting the horses
and had some difficulties dealing with some of the more "spirited
animals." However, thanks to help from trainer Jeremy Gillam,
she learned how to handle them.
"I didn't
have very much control over them," she said. "By the end of
the trip I was able to control most of the horses."
During their
trip, Sherman and Schuver stayed with trainer Diana McClure
in Middleburg, Va. When they were not on the back stretch or
performing other tasks at the track, McClure took the teens
on trips to veterinary clinics and area farms. It was on one
of these excursions that Sherman had the chance to meet 23-year-old
"Genuine Risk," which as a filly won the Kentucky Derby in 1980
and is one of only three fillies to do so.
"All of
us just had chills going down our spines," she said.
Though the
internship was a learning experience, Sherman said she already
knew a lot about the sport and the horses from searching out
any information she could find online. In one case, she and
Schuver picked out two equine candidates for a prized horse
to mate with, impressing the animal's owners. Their choices
matched the top two picks of experts.
For Sherman,
who will be a junior at Wissahickon High School, a career on
the track seems likely given her passion for the sport and the
animals, but she is not sure which job she would most enjoy.
Though she was once considering becoming a breeding manager,
she is now leaning toward working as a trainer.
"I think
I have to experience it more to be sure," she said.
Locally,
Sherman rides in Pipersville, learning dressage, which she describes
as "horse dancing." There are a variety of moves such as turns,
twirls and skipping, but no jumping.
When the
opportunity came up for the trip to Colonial Downs, Sherman's
parents had just a few days' notice before she had to be in
Virginia. Despite the amount of preparation to be accomplished
in a short span of time, they were supportive of their daughter's
efforts.
"I knew
the opportunity would be so great," her mother, Linda Sherman,
said. "Just like I thought, she didn't even want to come home."
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