A horse named Floyd

 Many people working together each day might share a coffee in the morning, or a brief chat about the previous day’s events over the watercooler. But if you’re a horse named Floyd, your work relationship might be, let’s say, a horse of a different color!

Twenty-six-year-old Wendy Ross, with her athletic stature and small-town-America personality, spends her time during the summer working with her fellow employee — Floyd.

And what makes Floyd so special to Ross is the fact that he doesn’t squabble over office politics, or complain when he’s worked too many hours — in fact, he doesn’t complain at all! That’s because Floyd is a 20-year-old Appendix Quarter Horse.

According to Ross, Floyd knows his job very well. "He looks, he listens, and he knows where to go," she said.

The two work together at Tioga Downs, where they serve as the Parade Marshall on the track. Most race tracks all over North America rely heavily on someone knowledgeable enough to know the horses and know exactly what to do should the unexpected happen on the track during race days.

That someone would be the Parade Marshall, and Ross and Floyd are just that and so much more.

According to Ross, it’s her job to keep horses from acting up, running away or getting out of control before, during or after a race – and growing up in a race track family, she’s good at her craft.

Serving in this capacity since racing officially opened at Tioga Downs in 2006, Ross was having a difficult time defining the feeling she gets when her and Floyd step out into the track, check equipment, lead the horses to the line, and then blow the whistle for the start of a harness race.

"It’s a feeling I’ve not been able to let go of," said Floyd. "It’s a great feeling."

Growing up in the rural area of Brookfield, Ohio, Ross was primarily raised by her father following her mother’s untimely death when she was only two.

Her father, who eventually remarried, was a trainer and the family grew up around the track. And her mother, Carol, was a Parade Marshall for 15 years before she died in the mid-1980s.

"I wasn’t old enough to know what she was doing at that time," said Ross, "but I knew she was very involved in horses." Ross also described her father having a successful record as a trainer, primarily working out of The Meadows near Pittsburgh, Pa., and Northfield Park near her home in Ohio.

"He was good," she said, "he made a living off of it."

As the years went by, Ross, who was actively involved in sports that included baseball, headed off to college and soon graduated from Youngstown State with a bachelor’s degree in communications, and a minor in advertising and public relations.

Not much to do with horses there, but Ross did admit that when she was a child her favorite movie was "Black Beauty." And later on she added another favorite to that list - "Wild Hearts Can’t be Broken," a 1991 film about Sonora Webster (Gabrielle Anwar), a rider of diving horses.

This love for horses, combined with a family history that surrounded the race track led Ross’s heart in the direction of Nichols, N.Y. — the location of Tioga Downs Casino and Race Track.

And when her heart landed her at the track, where she began working each summer as the Parade Marshall, she was also introduced to her horse Floyd.

Now, with several years of working together under their belts, Ross describes Floyd as "irreplaceable." "A Marshall and a horse," she said, "we’re a team ... I trust him, and he trusts me."

She described Floyd as highly disciplined and very friendly. Unlike some horses, Floyd never gets spooked by anything out of the ordinary that might sound off, or enter his line of sight. She also described Floyd as a crowd pleaser.

Circling proudly around the track prior to and during each race, Ross explained how they have made it a tradition, on the seventh lap of each race, to carry an American Flag while "God Bless America" is played for the crowd. "We are the only track that does this," she said of Tioga and Vernon Downs.

Ross and Floyd have also been featured throughout the summer on a new show called "Inside Harness Racing" that is broadcast weekly on Cable Television. The 30-minute episode, which Ross has five minutes of, airs Wednesdays at 6 p.m. on the Time Warner Cable Sports Network.

Ross spoke of a recent airing that featured her, as well as Floyd. "We cover anything that has to do with harness racing," she said of the show. "This Wednesday we will be covering farriers, and offering some background into the role they play in harness racing."

The final airing of the show will be Sept. 15, just four days after the final race is scheduled for Tioga Downs.

But the mark of the last race doesn’t mean the end of the season for Ross and Floyd. The pair recently got invited to serve as Parade Marshall for the prestigious "Breeder’s Crown" scheduled to take place at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs on Oct. 9. With 12 champion races planned, and over $7 million in purses, Ross is honored to be a part of it all.

"It’s the biggest day of my race career," she said. "And I do what I do well." But Ross never takes all the credit for herself. "Floyd does 80 percent of the work," she exclaimed.

Once the October race is over, Floyd will get a break throughout the winter months, and will accompany Ross wherever she goes. And with that thought, Ross expressed that she has been living in Waverly during the summer, and has grown to love the area.

Looking for work locally, she hopes to gain employment that will allow her to remain in the area, and will offer her the flexibility to continue as Parade Marshall with Floyd during the racing season.

"I don’t know where we will go, but I hope our direction leads us back here. This is what we love, and this is where we want to be," she added.

Well, Floyd might not be worried about finding work too soon. When the saddle comes off in October, it won’t go back on until next March.

He might not be taking cruises during his winter break, or traveling to see the sites — but from his barn, maybe he’ll be dreaming of that proud moment when he leads the majestic horses that race the track to a line that will draw them a hopeful win at the finish.