Grooming life skills

The next crop of Kentucky Derby hopefuls has graduated from the HBPA 2026 Racehorse Groom Training Program at Assiniboia Downs, just in time for the beginning of live racing here on May 12, and today’s big race.

And why couldn’t one of them end up in the Kentucky Derby winner’s circle one day? Assiniboia Downs has had a connection to the Kentucky Derby in four of the last five years, including this one.

In 2025, Sovereignty won the Derby for trainer Bill Mott, who spent two years as a teenager in St. Laurent, riding horses and looking after cattle. In 2024, Derby winner Mystik Dan was sired by Goldencents, who is out of a Manitoba-bred named Golden Works bred by Phil Kives, and in 2022, 80-1 Rich Strike made his Manitoba-bred mom Gold Strike proud by winning the Run for the Roses.

This year, jockey Edwin Maldonado, who won his first career race at Assiniboia Downs in 2002 as Edwin Alicea, is riding 30-1 longshot Pavlovian in the big race for two-time Derby-winning trainer Doug O’Neill.

“Lovely people,” said Maldonado, who won his first race in his second start at Assiniboia Downs aboard Starr’s Image on July 13, 2002, for trainer Don Korchinski.

Now riding regularly at Santa Anita, Maldonado has won over 1,600 races and more than $61 million in purses. “I always want to go back just to visit,” he said of the Downs.

As for his Derby mount, he has no doubts.

“He has a lot of heart. He proved in his last race that he can compete at this level. They’re sleeping on him.”

There must be something in the water here.

The Racehorse Groom Training Program, funded by the province, attracted 90 applicants from across the country and around the world.

“We were able to narrow that down to about 45, and after interviewing the finalists, we were able to hire 25 participants,” said Marcia Timms, office manager for the Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association of Manitoba (HBPA), who doubles as classroom instructor and supervisor.

Participants completed one week of classroom instruction, followed by three weeks (90 hours) of hands-on training in the barns.

“It’s a very successful program,” said Timms, who said the program has created a buzz among horsemen in Alberta.

The program attracted students including Ksenia Litvinenko, a ballerina from Ukraine; Ediwa Mansour, a former refugee from Sudan; Chanbin Lee and his girlfriend Kyunga from Korea; and Carl Bernd, a 19-year-old from Teulon who grew up on a horse farm.

For Bernd, the groom school was a natural next step. His favourite part of the job is simple.

“Brushing them. Some of them really like it, and they’ll cuddle up with you.” His reason for applying? “Being on the phone gets boring. You need to have some purpose.”

Litvinenko grew up in Kyiv and performed with Ukraine’s National Opera before the war forced her family to flee in February 2022. She eventually made it to Canada and returned to Winnipeg a third time when she spotted the groom school posting online.

“I’ve loved horses all my life,” she said.

Now working in trainer Judy Hunter’s barn, she finds common ground between ballet and the shedrow.

“When I was learning about horse injuries in the classroom, it was the same injuries we get as dancers. They’re similar to us.”

Mansour, 22, fled Sudan with her family as an infant and grew up in Uganda before coming to Canada two years ago. She found the groom school on Indeed.

“I’ve always admired horses. I’ve always dreamed of riding one,” Mansour said. She has also found a deeper connection. “My favourite part is grooming the horse. Just having contact and communication with the horse. There is a mental connection there.”

And she has a personal reason to embrace the work. “In my religion, I am Muslim, and it is considered a very big blessing to a person who cares for, feeds, and washes a horse.”

Lee, 26, moved here from Vancouver with his girlfriend Kyunga to join the program.

“I’ve always liked being around horses, but I’ve never had the experience,” he said. “I’m a filmmaker. I thought I have to live my life first to tell the stories.”

What he’s learned so far surprised him. “They know your energy. They know your emotion. And they match you.”

What is it about grooming horses that is suddenly attracting people from around the world? The work is hard, the days start early, and there is nothing glamorous about mucking stalls.

A horse doesn’t care about your follower count, your grades or your social status. It responds to consistency, calm and genuine care. That daily relationship builds empathy, discipline and self-worth in ways that are hard to find anywhere else.

The barn asks you to show up, pay attention and put someone else’s needs first. Those are not barn skills. They’re life skills. The same ones that make a good employee, a good partner and a good friend.

Research shows that working with horses also helps people with ADHD, anxiety, depression and PTSD. The horse is so sensitive to human emotion that it becomes a mirror. You can’t fake calm around a 1,200-pound animal. Learning to find it, and hold it, changes people. And unlike a screen, an app or a program, horses are as real as the satisfaction that comes from caring for them.

And these graduates know it.