Mark Davis, Delaware’s Executive Director of Harness Racing Commission, came to talk to our class about the horse racing industry in Delaware.  This was very interesting to me because I do not know a lot about the horse racing industry but I am very interested in horses and learning about them.  Mark Davis told us that he did not start out thinking he was going to work with horses.  He graduated with a degree in environmental science and worked a few places before working with the Harness Racing Commission.

We learned about the history and background of the harness racing industry.  Horse racing’s total contribution to the Delaware economy was about $182 million in 2014, including $121 million of output and $61 million of input.  The horse industry has a direct economic effect on the U.S of $39 billion annually.   The horse racing industry has so many parts which means there are a lot of opportunities for jobs in this field.  We also learned about the difference between Harness Racing and Thoroughbred horses.  Harness racing horses pull carts and race more often than Thoroughbreds.  Thoroughbred horses race with a jockey on their back and race less often.  He told us about how the Delaware State Veterinarian is not very involved in the horse racing industry, but the veterinarians for each horse keep track of the tests to make sure the horse is healthy.

Mark Davis is very successful in his field and it just shows that you never know what career you are going end up with.  He graduated college with a completely different plan and ended up loving the horse racing industry.