Below are Ms Janecka’s answers:
Two things come to mind: being able to travel all over the world to speak to young people about the racing industry and also being one of only a few people who have actually met and touched the last five Triple Crown winners: Secretariat, Affirmed, Seattle Slew, American Pharoah, and Justify.
The perceived negativity around racing. The truth is we are at our lowest level of injuries ever in racing. Most people do not know that the industry has made huge strides to protect the safety of both horses and jockeys, and we have multiple initiatives in place for retraining off-the-track horses, as well as retirement plans for those that can no longer compete.
Degrees in Animal Science and Agricultural Education from Texas A&M University, prior management of a major racing, training, and sales prep farm, graduate work in Reproductive Physiology at Texas Tech University, and a strong interest in racing.
About 50% of my time is spent traveling to colleges and universities to talk about horses, racing, and the industry in Kentucky. I have traveled to all 50 states, as well as Canada, Mexico, England, Ireland, France, Senegal, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand to talk about horses.
To work on a horse farm, no degree is required; however, one would be wise to take business classes and any animal science and/or equine-specific courses.
