Iron Rose Academy

09/14/2026

Even our riding students learn more than just how to ride. 🌹

Before and alongside time in the saddle, we work on the everyday skills that make someone more capable around a Thoroughbred — basic grooming, tacking, and bandaging included.

Knowing how to ride is important, but so is knowing how to care for the horse before and after the ride, how the equipment works, and how to handle the small details correctly.

We’re not just trying to build riders.

We’re trying to build horsemen.

That means learning the whole picture — not just the part that happens on horseback.

09/14/2026

Backside Basics: Racetrack Traffic Lanes

One of the first things an exercise rider has to learn is that the racetrack has a flow. You don’t just go wherever there’s open space — different parts of the track are used for different speeds and different types of work.

Counterclockwise is where the at-speed work happens.

Starting from the inside rail and working your way outward:

* Inside rail: workers / at-speed work
* About 2 paths off the rail: fast gallops
* Middle of the track: regular gallops
* 3–4 paths off the outside rail: slow gallops and jogging the right way

The far outside rail is where horses jogging clockwise should stay.

Knowing these lanes helps riders anticipate what the horses around them are doing. A horse working on the inside rail is moving at a very different speed than one jogging along the outside, so being in the correct place matters for everyone’s safety.

Communication is just as important as knowing the lanes.

Some common calls you’ll hear on the track include:

“Inside” or “Outside” — letting someone know which side you’re passing on. Whenever possible, try to pass on the inside rather than going around someone on the outside.

“Heads up” — used when you’re having trouble with a horse and need the people around you to be aware.

“Whoa, back” — called when you’re stopping or pulling up so riders behind you know your speed is changing.

“Coming by” — letting another rider know you’re passing.

“Outrider” — called when you need the outrider’s assistance. Don’t wait until you’re already on top of them — give them as much time as possible to see you, react, and get into position to help.

A busy racetrack can have horses jogging, galloping, breezing, pulling up, and moving in opposite directions all at the same time. The system works because everyone understands the flow, communicates, and pays attention to what’s happening around them.

Different horses. Different jobs. Same track.

09/13/2026

From the backside to building something of my own. 🌹

Built from experience. Built from home. Built to open doors.

09/13/2026

Backside Basics: A Typical Morning for an Exercise Rider

Exercise riding is a lot more than getting on a horse and galloping around the track.

Your morning starts with the set list. You need to know which horses you’re riding, what set they’re in, and what each horse is supposed to do that day. From there, you set your tack and make sure each horse has the correct equipment before it’s time to get on.

Before you ever swing a leg over, you should also inspect your tack yourself. Make sure everything is connected, adjusted correctly, and sitting where it belongs. You’re the one getting on the horse, so you should never assume someone else checked it for you.

Once you have your instructions from the trainer or assistant, your job is to carry them out while still paying attention to the horse underneath you. That means feeling how they’re moving, how they’re breathing, how they’re responding, whether they switch leads, how they handle the track, and whether anything feels different from normal.

On the track, awareness matters just as much as riding ability. Know the traffic pattern, give other horses room, communicate when necessary, listen to the outrider, and don’t put yourself or another horse in a bad position.

When you finish your work, pulling up correctly matters too. Try to stay toward the middle or outside 4–5 path without getting into the flow of traffic. Jog a little ways before stopping, turn around, and jog home under control.

Once you’re back, communicate what you felt to the trainer or assistant. A rider can feel things from the saddle that may not be obvious from the ground, so that feedback is an important part of the horse’s training and care.

Then it’s on to the next horse.

At the end of the morning, your tack still needs attention. Clean it with saddle soap and oils as needed, inspect the leather, stitching and hardware, and make sure anything that needs repair is caught before the next morning.

An exercise rider’s job isn’t just to gallop horses. It’s preparation, feel, communication, responsibility, and safety — before, during, and after every ride.

09/12/2026

09/12/2026

Backside Basics: A Typical Morning for a Groom

A groom’s morning is a lot more than brushing a horse and putting tack on.

Before training ever starts, you’re already checking your horses, taking temperatures, dumping water, noting leftover feed, starting stalls, and making sure you have everything you’ll need for the morning. That early routine gives you your first look at how each horse is doing before they ever head to the track.

Then the set list takes over.

You need to know which horses are going, when they’re going, and who is riding them — and you need to stay ahead of it all morning. Your first horses should already be groomed and bandaged before it’s time to tack, and you should always be watching the set list so a horse doesn’t get overlooked or suddenly become your next horse with no time to prepare.

When a horse goes to the track, your job doesn’t stop.

While that horse is training, you should already be thinking about what comes next — getting your next horse ready, getting the returning horse’s stall bedded and reset, or beginning night bandages on horses that have already finished training if they don’t need to be seen first by the trainer, assistant, or vet.

When a horse comes back from the track, it becomes a team effort.

The rider, groom, and hot walker work together to untack, offer the horse water, and get them walking. A horse may walk a few laps before getting a bath, and if the horse breezed, they may walk 10–15 minutes before bathing so they can cool down properly.

Once the hot walker takes the horse, the groom can give the bath and keep the rest of the process moving — getting the stall ready with fresh bedding if needed, fresh hay, and water so the horse has a clean, comfortable place to come back to.

After all of your horses have trained, you’re still not finished.

Each horse gets another grooming while you finish the correct bandages for that horse. This is also another chance to really look them over — legs, skin, attitude, appetite, any filling, cuts, swelling, soreness, or anything else that looks different from normal. Those changes should be reported to the foreman or assistant trainer.

Then it’s time to finish the shedrow.

Refill hay. Check water. Clean and organize your area. Clean or disinfect brushes and equipment as needed. Make sure every horse is comfortable, properly cared for, and completely set before you leave for the morning.

A good groom is constantly thinking ahead.

The set list runs your morning — and a good groom is always working one horse ahead.

09/12/2026

2 weeks out! 🐎

Our Ponying & Outriding Clinic with Darrin Cain is coming up fast.

September 26–27 at HighPointe Training Center in La Grange, KY.

Hands-on instruction, real track scenarios, loose-horse situations, practical ponying and outriding skills, and real-world experience you can actually use.

Spots are limited.
Reserve yours now on our website.

09/11/2026

We’ve had a lot of new followers lately, so I wanted to take a minute to properly introduce myself and share a little more about who I am, where I came from, and why I built Iron Rose Academy. 🌹

My name is Marissa, and I’ve been working in the Thoroughbred racing industry since 2012.

I didn’t come into racing because it was a family business. I came into it because I was fascinated by the sport and wanted to learn everything I could about the people and horses behind it.

I studied at the University of Kentucky, attended the North American Racing Academy, and earned an Associate in Equine. From there, I worked my way through the backside in just about every way you can imagine.

I’ve been a hot walker, groom, gallop rider, pony person, foreman, and assistant trainer.

I’ve galloped for trainers including Dale Romans and Tom Proctor, worked as an assistant for Rodolphe Brisset and Vicki Oliver, and in 2020 I began working for Steve Asmussen.

During my time there, I galloped at places like Saratoga, Fair Grounds, Keeneland, and Oaklawn, traveled to Dubai in 2021, and eventually became the main assistant at Ellis Park, where I ran a division for several years.

I spent more than five years working as an assistant trainer with Steve before stepping away in late 2025 to build Iron Rose Academy.

The name Iron Rose is personal, too.

My husband has spent years working as a blacksmith, and when we named our farm, the “Iron” naturally came from that part of our life. The “Rose” came from honoring people we’ve loved and lost — a softer piece of the name that carries a lot of meaning for our family.

Iron Rose became the name of the farm where we raise our kids, care for our horses, and build our life together. So when it came time to name the Academy, it felt right to carry that name forward.

Even the symbol we use for Iron Rose Academy comes from home — it’s the same brand we use for our farm.

So Iron Rose Academy didn’t just start as a business name. It came from home.

And the reason I built the Academy is pretty simple:

I know how hard it can be to break into this industry when you don’t know where to start.

Racing is full of incredible jobs and opportunities, but a lot of what you need to know is still learned by being around the right people, asking the right questions, and getting somebody to give you a chance.

Iron Rose Academy was created to make that first chance easier to find.

I wanted to build a place where someone with no racing background — and even no horse experience — could come in, learn the basics correctly, build real skills, and begin figuring out where they might fit in the Thoroughbred industry.

Our students learn things like grooming, hot walking, horse handling, tacking, bandaging, ponying, galloping, shedrow routines, terminology, racehorse care, and the small details that make someone useful and dependable on the backside.

But more than that, I want them to understand the industry itself.

I want them to meet real horsemen, see different careers, ask questions, understand how a barn works, and gain enough confidence and knowledge to take the next step when an opportunity comes along.

Iron Rose Academy is not built around semesters, levels, or one rigid path.

Students learn at their own pace, choose how often they come, and can focus on the areas that interest them most.

Some may want to gallop.
Some may want to pony.
Some may want to work in a barn.
Some may not even know yet.

That’s okay.

Your education is yours to lead.

I’m proud of how far this program has come, but I’m even more excited about what it can become.

If you’re new here, welcome.
If you’ve supported this from the beginning, thank you.

I’m really glad you’re here. 🌹🏇

09/11/2026

Meet Darrin Cain — experienced outrider and all-around horseman. 🐎

Darrin has spent years working as an outrider at tracks including Indiana Grand, Fair Grounds, Keeneland, and Oaklawn, and most recently worked the first meet at Sandy Ridge.

But what makes Darrin especially valuable to learn from is that he’s not just an outrider — he’s a well-rounded horseman. He regularly breaks, retrains, and develops pony horses, so he understands the job from both sides: the rider and the horse underneath you.

Outriding is about a lot more than sitting on the outside rail. It takes timing, judgment, confidence, horse sense, and the ability to react quickly when something goes wrong. Whether it’s helping a rider, handling a loose horse, managing traffic on the track, or developing a dependable pony horse, Darrin brings years of real-world experience to the table.

He’s also passionate about bringing education and new faces into the racing industry. That shared interest in helping people learn the right way and giving newcomers a real path into the sport is a big part of why this clinic came together.

That’s exactly why we’re excited to have him teaching alongside Iron Rose Academy at our Ponying & Outriding Clinic September 26–27 at HighPointe Training Center.

This clinic is about learning from someone who has actually done the job — and learning the kind of practical skills that make you a more capable, confident horseman.

Ready to learn the job from someone who’s lived it? Join us September 26–27 at HighPointe Training Center for two days of hands-on ponying, outriding, track scenarios, and practical horsemanship. Spots are limited, so reserve yours now at ironroseacademy.com.

09/11/2026

Backside Basics: A Typical Morning for a Hot Walker

A hot walker’s morning is a lot more than simply walking horses.

You usually start by getting the shedrow ready for the day — filling and washing water buckets, cleaning off poultice if a horse needs it removed, and making sure everything is in place before horses start moving.

From there, you may have cold horses assigned to you that need to walk before training, followed by hot horses coming back from the track that need to cool out.

That means paying attention to which horse is next, how long they need to walk, how they’re cooling down, and when they’re ready to go back in.

Once a horse finishes walking, the job isn’t done. You put the horse away properly, return their water bucket to the stall, and make sure they’re settled. If required by the barn, you’ll also dip or disinfect your shank between horses before moving on to the next one.

And just like with every other job on the backside, there’s always something else that needs to be done.

At the end of training, hot walkers may help with laundry, clean up around the barn, organize equipment, and pitch in wherever they’re needed.

The biggest lesson?

Always be doing something. Stay busy.

A good hot walker learns to anticipate what needs to happen next instead of waiting to be told every single task. You learn the horses, the routine, the timing, and how the whole shedrow works together.

It’s one of the most common entry points into the racing industry for a reason — hot walking teaches responsibility, horse handling, awareness, teamwork, and the pace of a real training barn.

Good hot walkers keep the shedrow moving. 🌹🐎