Continued Ed For Trainers

How can you train an animal you dont understand???

Will i have to go to school again? I am 70. Trainers do not train the same way so would you like every one to train the same way then you would have a 10 horse deadheat - the track would go broke paying 2.10 - 5 cents on the dollar - A JOKE.

WE ALL DO OUR THING SO THINK FOR A MINUTE.

I agree with rodney. The problem in harness racing has little to do with it's trainers. You want to solve the problem in harness racing look at the top!

A Trainers license is written according to the rules of Standardbred Canada.If a applicant passes he is licensed as a Trainer by Standardbred Canada. It should be brought to Ted Smiths attentions and they should be working towards changing the rules if that is what is needed and wanted by the industry. Rules could include the need to aprentice with a trainer X number of years to become a Public Trainer. It is up to them to take the first step. Why don't they do it?

First let me say since I haven't read all of the rule some of my concerns may be answered by the details in the rule.
Concerns:1. Who will be giving these courses on continuing education? Are these people qualified and if deemed so who grants them their qualifications? Which body says a person is qualified to be an instructor and is this body recognized by every other body. i.e. does the racing commissions in each state have the same code for qualifications and are they in agreement with the commissions in Canada and Europe?
2. Where will these "courses" take place? Horse people are scattered over many hundreds and thousands of miles and to gather them in groups is a monumental task. Will they be paid for their travel and time to get to these courses?
3. The content of these continuing education courses is set by whom? Again, will all the commissions in all jurisdictions be in agreement with the content? Has this been agreed upon or not? My concern is that most trainers will likely know more about the subject then the instructors thus making this a waste of time and money and energy.
4. A great concern is for me what is the reasoning behind this move? What is to be gained since almost all horse people know the best training in dealing with horses is hands on not sitting in a classroom.
5. Is this just a money grab and/or a control item where the best interests of the horse people are not foremost but the interests of the people "in charge" is to make sure everyone sees them as in charge. i.e. an ego stroke for the powers that be to show everyone who the boss is.
6. In an era where confidence is dwindling and membership is declining and investment is falling in the horse industry this is surely a momentous step backward since it would cause many people to withdraw from the industry rather than to be subjected to needless bureaucracy and money grabbing and frankly a waste of time.
7. What is the premise for this continuing education. Who decided this was necessary and whom did they consult before these kind of decisions were made. I come from another profession where this kind of enforced continuing education was tried to be dumped on the members involved. It lead to a long and nasty political fight and in the end the move was abandoned as the "powers that be" realized it was unenforceable and unmanageable both from a people point of view and a logistical and bureaucratic point of view.
8. The racing commissioners should concern themselves with more pressing issues such as the widespread use of performance enhancing drugs and chemicals which is causing a dramatic drop in the confidence of the public in general in our industry and thus causing betting, investments and participation to continue to fall dramatically. The racing commissioners should better spend their time and other people's money addressing the real concerns of the horse industry and stop looking to create more problems and confrontations and ill will.
Thank you for you time.

What kind of education?