A number of Canadian horse racing participants recently took part in a round-table discussion of the horse racing industry on International Women's Day.

The discussion, a special International Women's Day edition of Stronger Together was orchestrated by Woodbine Entertainment. Moderated by Brodie Lawson, the panel featured Hall of Fame Thoroughbred trainer Josie Carroll, Standardbred trainer Teesha Symes, Thoroughbred jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson, and Jessica Buckley, Senior Vice President of Standardbred and Thoroughbred Racing at Woodbine.

Josie Carroll opened the conversation talking about women in racing and later discussed her experience as a trainer competing stateside.

"I would say at that time things were already starting to change," Carroll said of the time when she was starting in racing. "I came around as a groom; there were quite a number of female grooms on the track at that time, and some women exercise riders also. Not a lot of representation I would say as far as the training level. I lived in a dormitory that was strictly women. We were not allowed on the backside after dark. There was, I believe, one women's bathroom on the backside...you had to go to the kitchen. There was a lot of room for improvement in that time. But I think the males were accepting of us working there and supportive. Most people were willing to teach you if you were willing to learn.

"I think Canada has always been a little further ahead. I never really felt that I was a woman trainer in Canada," Carroll stated, "where in the southern states, in the early days, there was a very different attitude. I can recall an incident; my husband was in the clockers' stand watching some horses that I was sending down for some major races, so I was putting a little pressure on them. And one of the leading trainers there was standing up there -- it was my first year in Louisiana -- and he commented to the trainer beside him 'She doesn't train like a woman.' And I thought 'How does a woman train?' To me, it just made me laugh. How far behind are these people? Because I didn't really see that in Canada."

Emma-Jayne Wilson also spoke of the stigma many women in horse racing face when it comes to being capable of performing at a high level in a male-dominated profession.

"When I came into the sport, there were a lot of misconceptions, be it physical capabilities or even mental capabilities," Wilson said. "I remember like a week before my wedding, I'd been established as a top jock at Woodbine...I had a trainer who kind of jokingly said I might be too distracted to ride their horse because my wedding was the next week. I know many women face this kind of assumption. There's a mental capacity challenge that women have to overcome, and it's ridiculous.

"One of the other things was my strength," Wilson also mentioned. "'Girls aren't strong enough to ride Thoroughbred racehorses.' By judging everyone on their individual talents, I knew that strength was a question, and that's something as a professional, as an athlete, that I focused on in order to be the strongest that I could be, so that I could be one of the competitors out there. Not just make it, but be at the top of my game and compete against the best."

Teesha Symes spoke of similar doubts many women face in the harness racing industry, and how she strives to prove those detractors wrong.

"Honestly I'm always girl power," Symes said. "What's pushed me in the past is when they tell me I can't, I work harder to prove to them that I can. Laugh that stuff off, let your numbers talk because usually those people making those negativity comments are not in your place or cannot do the things you're doing.

"Any given day, if you look in the paddock at Mohawk, you'll see 75 percent female grooms," Symes stated. "I hope that those women will take the stepping stone that I've taken and move on to be trainers."

Jessica Buckley, who pivoted from her family's breeding operation to climb the corporate ladder at Woodbine Entertainment, spoke of the changing environment in the corporate space as well as her focus to help elevate other women in the industry.

"There's no question that I was lucky to have allies along the way," Buckley noted. "My first two bosses were huge supporters and allies...I think of one of them who grew up with nine other siblings and shared a room with three sisters. So he was really in tune with what it was like to be a girl and a woman in business, and was extremely supportive. He became a friend and an ally to this day. And again, I have a lot of colleagues that fall into that category. I try to be very cognizant with younger women in the industry that are looking to do more and try to help provide them any coaching and/or mentoring that I can if they're open to that.

"Woodbine as a company as had a formal mentoring program for a number of years," Buckley also said. "It's really dependent on the person on whether they want to take advantage of them or not. I have mentored people both formally and informally, and I would just welcome anyone that's watching today -- maybe a person who wants to get into the racing industry or is in the industry and wants to grow and learn -- to reach out and send me an email. I'd be happy to talk at any time and help anyone looking to grow in this industry because there are fantastic careers in racing. A lot of the women represented here today are a sprinkling of the types of careers...and on the racetrack operations side, there are 10 different areas of our [business] that can be really exciting as a career."

The International Women's Day Panel, presented by Woodbine Entertainment, is available below: