The title was attached to one of my photos on Facebook, a shot of a morning jogger shrouded by falling snow under a cloud of white at the Saratoga Raceway in upstate New York. You can almost feel the cold just looking at the photo. And yet, the jogger was one of dozens on the track that morning as everyone had to move their horses despite the low temperatures and rugged conditions. That same morning, the main track was closed early to ensure a safe surface for jogging and training and all the horses moved to the busy back track. Personally, I am experiencing only my second winter in my life. For 22 years, my winters were spent in sunny South Florida with my parents stabled at Pompano Park. Racing down in Florida shaded all of us from the harsh realities of winter racing. The most we dealt with, as far as weather was concerned, were hurricanes and frequent storms. Hurricanes were a seasonal item, on the same fact that winter is a season, but they were not guaranteed the way that snow is a definite accompaniment during the colder months in Saratoga. There were only a few major hurricanes that swept through the location of the southernmost harness track in my time. Before the predicted storms, there was a lot of preparation – water, food, filling drums of water for the horses, shuttering windows, moving anything that can be picked up, and more. During and after each storm, we would walk the track and assess the damage. Trees and powerlines were down, cars were flipped, the paddock lost its roof in one storm, barns experienced minimal structural damage, and the debris covered the roads and track.  Amid power outages, the cleanup began and everything eventually returned to normal in the days and weeks following the storm. But that was it. Snow and winter are a whole new animal. When Pompano finally shuttered its doors in April of 2022, horsemen had two choices: get out of the business or get out of Florida. A mix of decisions were made with a handful of the south Florida residents migrating to tracks across North America, unprepared to face the new climate in their new environment. Though everyone, every northern horseman that is, says that the last two winters have been generously mild, the temperatures have dropped to levels that were not even a thought in Florida.   The winter winds are brutal and the sun visits few and far between. Snow blankets everything in its path. There is a cycle between the stagnant cold, snow, rain, and ice that constantly affects how the track conditions are and how the track runs during the winter period. In the barns, the horsemen can still feel the deep impact of the winter conditions despite being indoors. Some barns are heated, but most are not. Barns are covered with plastic to give a buffer between the cold and the barn interior, but with frequent joggers, the door opening, and the climate itself, nothing prevents the cold from entering. The grooms on the ground and in the barn face the stagnant cold like that of sitting in a freezer at the grocery store. Grooms have to keep moving to keep the horses moving, stalls cleaned, and chores done. No matter what the temperature or weather shows, the horses must be cared for every day. “In the winter months, we’re lucky that racing slows down for a period of time and horses get some time off,” said Randi Stark, groom for the Beckwith Stable at Saratoga. “Our routine in the barn doesn’t necessarily change due to cold weather, we just have to alter some of the things we do. Lots and lots of layers to go to the barn in the morning to avoid freezing. Once I start running around the barn all morning, I do end up taking off some layers. “On days that it hits below freezing temperature, we have to deal with frozen buckets and hoses which makes things more difficult,” Stark continued. “All the horses get their legs washed off and then a cooler on after jogging and training, and then once put away, winter blankets to wear in their stalls for the rest of the day and night. When it comes to racing in the winter, we are fortunate enough to have a heated paddock so we stay warm in there, but having to walk horses back and forth is cold. When it comes to racing out of town, always pack extra layers for yourself and the horses, it may be warm in the truck on the drive there but cold once you get to work. “There’s been times where we’ve had to take snow days due to the amounts of snow on the track with unsafe conditions. Snow makes things difficult because it can mess up training days or race days and the whole schedule each horse is on for the week has to be rearranged,” Stark concluded. “The days of growing up in the barn from Florida to Maine is a huge difference in the winter. Not just gonna throw a pair of shorts and a tank top on with a pair of sneakers,” said groom Kelsie Ingraham, who moved from Pompano to Maine. “Let’s try a whole new wardrobe of winter gear from long johns, pull overs, heavy sweatshirt, and a heated jacket with warm socks and winter boots. Then, if snow has hit the night before, not just gonna jump in the truck if you’re running late to get to the barn for Lasix and the closest track is an hour away. You gotta plan to have extra time for the truck to warm up and to pull it out from under the snow. Also to get the trailer doors unfrozen.” Ingraham also describes the most common scenarios of winter and how to help when they happen, too. “If you want to put sawdust in the trailer, try again, she is a block of ice. Better have bags of shavings on hand. The horses, depending on the weather, can have a slippery slope to walk on when it goes from snow to freezing rain. That’s why it is always good to have a bucket of sand and salt mix on hand to cover your path. If you want to have water from a hose, don’t forget to leave it hooked up to the faucet like I did. You will regret it and hopefully have a heat torch on hand to thaw the ice from the water spicket. It makes me not forget to unhook it or drain the hose now. The frozen water buckets are not fun without a rubber mallet. We got a double stall in the barn for the days that are too cold to go outside. This way the horses have a place to roll and kick up their heels so they don’t feel as trapped. Otherwise, they can go out back in the paddock if it’s not too slippery. “At the track the hot water tanks struggle to keep up with the cold. They only get a sponge down if it’s too cold or towel down. Washing a harness and letting it dry is not a thing. It either doesn’t dry or is a frozen lump of equipment. Bringing it home to wash is the best and letting it dry. If you want to cold-water hose a leg or spray off a muddy jog cart, that isn’t gonna happen unless you want to be standing on an ice rink. “We jog horses until the end of the December meet,” Ingraham added on track conditions. “Depending on the weather, the track has to be plowed first before hooking up and going out to jog. Also, could be muddy since the sun is beating on it and it’s thawing out. If it’s too muddy, the truck is too heavy to drag it since you will start to sink. That leaves a muddy mess to jog in. In that case, the horse’s leg have to be sprayed off or sponged down.” Trainers must alter their schedules for the winter period. At Saratoga, the track shuts down for six weeks from mid-December to the beginning of February, leaving horsemen with the choice to continue training or turn horses out. Other tracks, like Monticello, continue racing year-round. Depending on the track racing schedule, the training schedule changes. Depending on the weather, the schedule changes. “We have actually had a pretty good winter at home,” said trainer-groom Natasha Steacy, from Woodbine Mohawk Park and surrounding Ontario tracks. “But we always have to watch the weather to decide what days are going to be training days. The biggest thing is how is the track is going to be, which we find out when we get to the barn. So, if track is no good or it’s too cold, we still just jog them. But wait on the better days to get training in. But like I said, we have actually had a decent winter. We have dealt with more mud this year than anything. We had one really cold week where we couldn’t train but other than that not bad.” ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter Northfield Park has seen the greatest number of cancellations this winter due to what the weather conditions have done to its new track. The main track at the Ohio oval was even opened up during the evening to allow horsemen to jog and train after a stint of closures. “We got hit with a Mother Nature wallop this year,” said Amy Hollar, horsemen’s representative for the Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association. “In August, Northfield Park’s track was resurfaced. It had not seen a winter when it basically slammed into us. It dealt with a wet fall and early winter with a foot of snow dumped on it before a week-long deep freeze. Basically, it turned into an ice wall between the track and retention pond, not allowing proper drainage. “We’ve lost an unprecedented two weeks of racing, which the days will probably be made up throughout the year, but it’s hard to gain back training time for young horses and those coming back from turnouts over the holidays,” Hollar continued. “Thankfully, we are lucky at Northfield to have a “back track”, mechanical walker and water treadmill so we could keep all horses moving…and thankfully our water situation is also moving and the track is coming back into shape.” Trainer Jodi Stark Schillaci, from Northfield Park, said, “Luckily, we are stabled at a farm, so we haven’t missed any days. Our winters are about like Saratoga. I’ve lived up there. The people at the track are being affected more by not being able to train. They have a back track to jog on, but not train. The hard part about winter training is it rains a lot and we always seem to be in the mud. I kinda miss the old days when it was in the 20’s and snow on the ground.” Mud. Never-ending mud. The snow that covers the track is dragged into a massive pile in every corner of the racetrack. When the sun does make its appearance, the snow and ice are melted from within the pile and create large puddles of water everywhere. The piles of mud and dirt remain standing tall and the backside track area becomes a slushy mix of ice, water, mud, and remnants of snow. On the track, the snow makes its greatest impact. The track has to be well-cared for to prevent puddles from freezing, mud to form into a solid concrete, and snow to become too slippery. Without the track, not only is racing prevented, but horses also cannot maintain their fitness for future racing. “Winter racing is a different ball game. You have so many different factors to consider,” said driver Joe Chindano, Jr., a transplant from Pompano Park to Batavia Downs. “The track condition, the temperature or weather altogether, we really pay extra attention and make sure our horses stay hydrated and really just listen to our horses. If the track is too hard or it’s brutally cold, we don’t push them, there is no hard-set schedule we stick to with training, we kinda have to work around the weather and the track and do what’s best for the animals. “Pompano was a gift we didn’t appreciate as much until it was gone. It was the perfect oasis for horsemen and the horses. We never had to winter the horses, the track was beautiful and it was easier for everyone. There isn’t anything that compares to it.” On the other hand, drivers Matty Athearn from Saratoga and Doug McNair from Woodbine Mohawk Park have faced a lifetime worth of winters, winter racing, and winter driving. “I wear thicker insulted gloves normally with a face mask and headband,” Athearn said. “Usually, I wear a turtleneck or an insulated long sleeve undershirt and leggings. If it’s super cold I’ll add earmuffs to my helmet. “Driving in low visibility can be a little nerve wracking. Not being able to see great while sitting behind a powerful animal traveling over 30 mph can definitely cause some anxiety, but I think with experience we all figure out ways to improve our visibility. Whether it’s with the glasses or goggles we choose or adding screens to keep from build of snow/water on the lenses.” McNair said he doesn’t prepare for the winter racing in any special way. “Just make sure you get a good nap in during the afternoon so you’re ready to take on the extreme cold or snow,” he said like a true Canadian. Announcers have to be able to see the race to be able to call what they see. With some of the heavy winter storms, the visibility can make it impossible to read numbers and determine the order of the race. “For the most part I can see through most conditions in the winter, but there was one race where the snow was blowing off the roof and I lost the field at the top of the stretch,” said Batavia Downs announcer Wayne Teaven. “The fog was a huge factor. The denser it got, the worse the visibility, so I would ad lib to keep talking as dead air is a no-no. So, I make a joke, assumption, or the occasional song lyrics to cover the fact that I couldn’t see. “Yes, summer racing is a breeze for the most part. Heavy rain at Buffalo Raceway is a hindrance because of the structure of my booth,” Teaven continued. “The windows are flat and the rain cascades down the windows for poor visibility. But I usually always have my windows open at both tracks to get the sounds of the track; like hearing the starter. The crowd on the apron in the warmer weather gets more amped up, especially groups when I say their name and they cheer and cheer on the race as well.” Gabe Prewitt has seen both sides of the coin. As track announcer at Pompano Park for the later part of the track’s existence, Prewitt had a clear view of palm trees and track, losing visibility in only the torrential rainstorms that popped up. Prewitt announces further north as he has in the past at Red Mile and at various other locations when duty calls. “I’m not sure you can ever get used to [the snow]. I did Buffalo Raceway from January to July in 2012 and 2013,” Prewitt said. “It could be similar to South Florida with the rain. The lake effect snow would literally come out of nowhere. It could be perfectly clear the entire night and then all of a sudden could be blinding snow where I would lose them at multiple points on the backstretch and far turn. I typically just tried to have a mental picture in my head of who was where when they disappeared, but by the time they re-emerged, I would usually be as surprised as everyone else. You don’t ever really want silence from an announcer so coming up with something to say while they were hidden could be interesting.” The track crew, judges, outriders and more also deal with the effects of winter in their own ways – visibility and safety being the two main factors. “Sometimes it just means a different material that is better for wet conditions,” said Brian Mattison, who works on the track at Saratoga. As far as charting, Mohawk and Flamboro saw many charts reading “SNOW” and “FOG” across the board due to the low visibility conditions, but charter Nancy Lancaster from Saratoga said that has not impacted her point of view. “Snow hasn’t really affected my visibility. Where I sit upstairs and with binoculars, I can see pretty well. If I do think I’m off somewhere, I always watch the replay to confirm what I had charted.” For the outriders, safety is their main concern for themselves, their own horse, and the horses and drivers on the track. “My horses are shod with corks and snow pads on up here for Western New York,” said outrider Missy Rothfuss. “I wear mostly ski clothes. I buy good quality stuff and find if I keep my face, feet, and hands warm, I stay warm. Track-wise, a lot of times you lose a lot of room due to the snow on the side. The safety lane is covered, so I try to look around to see what places might be a bit sketchy if I need to go in there.” Starter Scott Hamilton said that the winter and snow does not affect him, except for when he has to communicate to the drivers about a change in the start. His partner in the car, Jeff Holland, sits behind the wheel and uses his judgement to determine where and how the race will go. An earlier start may be necessary depending on the track conditions to allow the car time to get out of the way of the horses. No matter what the conditions are – sunny, muddy, icy, or snowy – Holland and any starting car driver is a deciding factor on any given race. And lastly, us track photographers. My settings at Saratoga are always changing with the weather and the lights. In Pompano, it was just one setting for every night. Here at the Spa, the snow calls for a lighter exposure and a faster shutter speed to prevent from losing the horses in the bright white reflection of the snow. Clive Cohen, track photographer from New Image Media and Mohawk, said that his settings rarely change despite the weather. “Since we do all night racing, the light doesn’t really change at all. While the snow will make the scene brighter, I don’t have to change any camera settings.  However, in regards to fog, heavy snow & heavy rain, you have to be very careful with focus, if you don’t have some nice contrast under your focusing point the focus will lose the subject and the final image will be very soft.” So, from the outside looking in, we had no idea what it took to be a northern horseman. The grass is greener on the other side certainly does not apply to this situation. To be a northern horseman is to update your full wardrobe; add extra safety precautions to horse, human, and track; and brace for the cold. All-in-all, winter racing is no simple feat, thus summing up the expression that northern horsemen are a different breed.