A Conversation With...exercise rider Camme Miles

When a Thoroughbred racehorse is in training, it's the exercise rider (also known as the gallop boy or gallop girl) who puts the colt or filly through its paces each day.
On a recent trip to Oaklawn, Roundup editor Lisa Broadwater spent a few moments with rider Camme Miles, who gallops horses for longtime Oaklawn fixture Jinx Fires. By 11 a.m., Miles had finished her work at the track for the day; after lunch, she would move on to several area Thoroughbred training centers, where she also gallops young horses.

Horsemen's Roundup: Being an exercise rider means what exactly?
Camme Miles: You gallop the horses for the different trainers. Sometimes you'll be on salary for one trainer and will gallop all their horses. I'm working just for Jinx Fires right now.

HR: How long have you been an exercise rider?
CM: Since about '92.

HR: How'd you get into it?
CM: I'd had a few racehorses of my own and I galloped them. I'm from Evansville, Ind. I came down here about six years ago for the first time.

HR: Explain how your job works.
CM: The grooms will tack a horse for you and then you get on and take a horse to the racetrack. Usually, you'll jog it maybe a mile backwards, maybe half a mile.

HR: You do that because?
CM: To warm them up. You go backwards because a lot of times if you go the right way, they'll want to start right off into a gallop. So you go backwards, usually past the wire to the eighth pole, although a lot of trainers will have you go further than that. It just depends on the horse. Some horses take a little longer to warm up than others, so you may take them one full mile backwards. A lot of it depends on the trainer.
Then, normally, you'll turn them so they can watch the other horses gallop. And you'll make them stand there and relax for a few minutes. Then you'll gallop a mile. A lot of it — exactly what you do and how fast you want to gallop — depends on the horse and the trainer. A lot of trainers want you to gallop out at a pretty good clip; some would rather you gallop a lot slower, then maybe let them pick it up a little down the lane.

HR: How much is your own instinct about the horse?
CM: Well, every horse is different. So you have to sense their personality. The main thing is to keep the horse happy and enjoying what he's doing.

HR: And what's the trick to that?
CM: You just have to get along. A horse may not want to go to the track some days, and you might ask the trainer just to backtrack the horse or jog because he's not wanting to go. You might do that for a couple of days just to make the horse happy. Then maybe the third day he's wanting to gallop the right way.
They're all different, and they all have their little personality quirks. The main thing I've found with racehorses is you just have to make them enjoy their jobs. Because when they quit enjoying it, they don't run good. So you try to do the best you can, and keep each horse happy.
Some riders get along with some horses, and some don't. So a lot of times in a shedrow, you may say, “Hey, let's have this other exercise rider try this horse out and see if they get along better.” A lot of it is in the rider's hands — how they communicate with the horse through their mouth. A good exercise rider will help a horse enjoy their job and run a lot better.

HR: How many do you ride a day?
CM: Normally, we'll get on seven or eight in the morning. And a lot of exercise riders will go out to farms afterwards and gallop babies or horses on the farm. I'll get on another five or six this afternoon.

HR: How long do you spend with each one?
CM: You're on their back about 20 minutes, by the time you walk up to the racetrack and then gallop them maybe two miles and then come back.

HR: What does it feel like?
CM: It's an addicting job. There are things I could be doing other than galloping racehorses, but I really enjoy it. That's why I do it. It's exciting. I don't really know how to describe it. A lot of times, it's like a ride at Adventureland. It's a rush to feel the horse's power underneath you.
I guess the most fun part is getting to work the horse. We work every horse maybe once every seven to 10 days, so we end up working a couple a day.

HR: How different a sensation is a work from a gallop?
CM: It's a lot more exciting. It would be like the rush the jockey gets during the race.

HR: Is it just a gallop taken up a notch?
CM: It's a lot faster than a gallop. It's similar to how fast they go in a race.

HR: Does it get harder to stay on the faster you go?
CM: No, actually it's probably a little easier. It's kind of like water skiing: when you're first getting up, you've got that pull. But after you get going fast, it's a lot easier.

HR: Is it ever scary?
CM: It can be, if you have a horse that's scared and is trying to run off. They don't really sense that you're on their back; they forget about you. It's like they black out because they're so afraid, and you're pretty much out of control. That's the worst feeling you can experience.

HR: What's the secret to hanging on?
CM: A lot of time if you'll just relax on that horse and kind of throw them their head, they'll decide it's okay. But if you grab hold of one and are scared too, then you've lost the battle. Because they sense everything you're feeling. So you have to stay calm and cool, or you'll end up scaring them worse.

HR: Have you had any injuries?
CM: Knock on wood, nothing bad from exercising riding.

HR: Do you take the horses out of the gate?
CM: Yes, but not every day.

HR: Is that where the most potential for injury is?
CM: Probably. Because you may end up getting on one that's scared of the gate and starts throwing a fit. If you have one flip in there, you have more chance of being injured than when you're galloping or working on the track. You're more likely to see bad wrecks in a race than exercise riding.
And it depends on the track, too. This racetrack is really crowded, so you have more potential for wrecks than you do at somewhere like Churchill Downs, where the track is a lot bigger so you don't see that many loose horses or riders falling off.

HR: Where do you go after here?
CM: Keeneland, Kentucky, and then Churchill Downs. I go with Jinx's crew. That's what we've done the last couple of years.

HR: What would you be doing if you weren't doing this?
CM: I'm a veterinarian. I was a horse vet before I started doing this. I got burned out. I loved doing it, but I didn't like the part of having to collect bills and all that. But I got a few racehorses of my own and started training them and galloping.

HR: Do you see a day when you're just training?
CM: What I'd like to do when I'm older is settle down on a farm and just raise babies and get babies started to send off to other trainers.

HR: What do you like least about being an exercise rider?
CM: Cleaning the track.

HR: That's it?
CM: I'm fortunate, in that I don't have to do this; I could go back to vetting if I wanted to. But I love my job. The way I look at it is, if I wasn't doing this, I'd have to pay to join a fitness club, and I get paid to stay fit.

HR: How physical is it?
CM: I'm probably in the best shape I've ever been in — and I'm 39 years old. You have to use your whole body — arms, legs, back — to keep your balance on that horse and to keep them at a gallop. If you have a horse that wants to gallop too fast, that really works your whole body. It's kind of hard to explain.
And race riders have to stay in even better shape. It's even more of a strain when you're race riding. Jockeys are probably some of the most fit athletes there are.

HR: Do you see a day when you'll quit?
CM: Yeah, as you get older you realize there's a day you'll have to quit. But I'll probably always gallop my own.
When you're exercising riding, you feel like all the horses you get on are partly yours. It's exciting to see a horse you've been galloping win. There's a real sense of fulfillment — kind of like watching your kids play sports.

HR: Do you have favorites?
CM: Yeah, you do get attached to certain ones. And there are certain ones that can get on your nerves every day. They're like people: They all have their different personalities, and you have to learn to get along with them. And if you decide you can't get along with them, you're better off getting somebody else to get on that horse who can get along. They'd have more potential of getting the horse to run.

HR: If a horse you ride wins a race, do you feel partly responsible?
CM: It gives you a sense of success — you feel like you've done something good. The worst thing is to have a horse that gallops really good in the morning and runs bad at night. It makes you feel horrible.
And a lot of horses don't want to play the game anymore. Sometimes they'll refuse to go to the racetrack or do everything they can to get out of going up there — throwing little fits here and there.
Sometimes you're better off not training that horse anymore, sending him home and getting something new in that stall that wants to be here. Some horses have to run with a few problems, and your good racehorses will run through any kind of problems and not have any bones about going to the track. But you have a few that don't want to run with any kind of little problem. It's like human athletes: Some of them can take it, and some can't.