ABSTRACT
If the role of the jockey can be compared to that of the tribal warrior, there is an equally compelling similarity between the role of the racehorse trainer and that of the tribal witch doctor or shaman. The similarities between trainers and shamans are really quite obvious. The skills jockeys employ to get horses to win races are largely visible and obvious -despite many attempts at mystification by a racing culture addicted to magic and superstition. The failure to win a race may even occasionally cast doubt upon the horse's stamina, speed or character, but is rarely deemed to reflect upon the trainer's skills. Trainers, like tribal shamans, witch doctors and rain-makers, are regularly credited with performing miracles when they are successful, but very rarely blamed when they are unsuccessful. The role of the trainer in achieving this goal is, by contrast, genuinely obscure and mysterious.
