When you arrive at a horse race, you always encounter the expected elements: the stands full of dapper onlookers, the booming announcer over the loudspeaker and, of course, the horses and jockeys strutting to the starting gate.
But what if suddenly, a horse — sans rider — streaks down the track, having gotten loose? It happens, but then a rider wearing red will run out in front and catch it.
That person is an outrider, there to ensure that everyone on the track — human and equine — remains safe. They are one of a few types of nonjockey riders at any given race, garnering less attention, but vital to the event.
The others are pony riders, who are hired by trainers to escort racehorses during warm-ups, and before and after races.
They move alongside the racehorses, keeping them calm and preventing them from acting up and hurting their jockeys or wearing themselves out before the race begins.
With another horse by its side, “the horse will be more relaxed,” explained Juan Galvez, who said he had been a pony rider based in New York since 1995, and before that in his native Chile.
Pony riders help “maintain the horses and make sure they keep their nerves in check and they behave well before they get into the gate, so we can perform a little bit better,” said John Velazquez, a Hall of Fame jockey based in New York.
While each pony rider is assigned to a specific horse, the outriders must watch over every horse on the track, essentially acting as “a cross between a cop and a rescue squad,” said Kaymarie Kreidel, an outrider at tracks in Maryland for about two decades.
Outriders oversee all conduct on the track, ensuring that rules are being followed — and intervening if they aren’t — and rescuing anyone who gets into trouble.
“We make sure that everything goes smooth,” said Emilee McClun, also an outrider, at Laurel Park in Maryland. “If any horses get loose, we catch them. If a rider needs help, we help them.”
There are usually a few outriders stationed around the rail at any given time, during training in the morning and during every race. They communicate by radio, and though from the rail it may look as if they are sitting still, they are constantly keeping watch, ready to move at the first sign of trouble.
Training sessions can see up to hundreds of horses moving on and off the track over the course of the morning, meaning outriders — and their horses — need to stay alert to potential mishaps that can unfold in seconds.
“It’s a lot of horses for one track,” said Miguel Gutierrez, the head outrider for the New York Racing Association, adding that there’s “always traffic.”
Fairly regularly, horses will get loose, Kreidel said, whether because of an equipment failure or a fallen rider, and outriders must catch them.
To do so, said Eddie Warner, another Laurel Park outrider, you don’t chase it, as that’s always going to be a losing battle.
“You have to set up and be moving along in front of them so that when they come running to you, you’re going about the same speed they are,” essentially meeting them side by side and pulling them up midsprint, he said. And it’s important to do so quickly, so the horse doesn’t tire itself out or cause other issues on the track.
Several outriders cited this as their favorite part of the job. “The adrenaline that goes through your body and excitement to get the horse” is exhilarating, Gutierrez said.
If a rider does get injured, an outrider will often be first on the scene and can alert the medical staff to what they may be dealing with via radio.
And if that rider is too injured to move, Kreidel said, sometimes “we will literally park our pony blocking the rider,” protecting them from any loose or out-of-control horses.
All this means that the horses that outriders use are a key part of the equation. “I’m only as good as the horse I sit on,” Kreidel said, adding: “I make sure that I trust them 100 percent and they trust me 100 percent.”
Many outriders ride former racehorses because they are already used to the hubbub of the track and can get to an emergency fast. When finding the right horse, “I always look in their eye to see what kind of personality that they’re going to have,” McClun said, adding that she can often sense a kind and willing attitude that way.
And the horses learn the job, developing a sense for trouble and taking off toward it, sometimes even before the outrider signals them to. “You are riding an animal that has its own mind,” Warner said.
Though the outriders and pony riders may fade into the scenery without the flashy silks and prancing mounts of the jockeys, they bring a deep knowledge of horses and hands-on experience to the track.
“We learn, over the years, learn the horse’s mind,” Gutierrez said, which allows them to understand why a horse may be reacting in a certain way, and to respond in a way that keeps everyone involved safe.
When it comes to pony riders and outriders, Velazquez said, “They’re very important for our game.”
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