TAMPA, Fla. — On race day, the pounding of hooves moving fast down the track is a spectator’s delight at Tampa Bay Downs. 

But each nail-biting win can rest on a different kind of nail finding its place - a horseshoe nail. 

What You Need To Know

  • Brittany Way is the only female farrier working at Tampa Bay Downs

  • Way’s family has been involved in the horse racing industry in some form for all over 120 years

  • Way says she shoes up to five horses on most days

“The whole foundation of the horse and how they stay sound really starts with their feet,” said Tampa Bay Downs Farrier Brittany Way. 

Way is the only female farrier at Tampa Bay Downs. 

“Oh, I love this,” said Way. “If I go more than one or two days without shoeing, it drives me nuts. Like I have to shoe a horse.”

She has worked here for close to a decade, on most days, shoeing five horses. 

“People ask, ‘How do you get into this?’ I was born into this. I don’t think there was anything else I was going to do,” said Way with a smile. 

Her family are not farriers, but they have been in the horse racing industry for well over 120 years. 

“We have it back to Irvin Pollard. He was born in — I was actually just looking at it — January 11th 1900,” said Way. 

Way’s grandmother put together a small family history of photos, newspaper clippings and notes. 

“Here is Ruby Pollard,” said Way, pointing to a black-and-white photo. “So she was my great, three times great, great, great, great aunt. And here she is, racing. She was born in I think like 1903.”

She flips through a few more pictures and pauses at another. 

“My uncle is actually Russell Base, he is actually the most winningest jockey in North America,” said Way. “He has won over 12,000 races.”

From coast to coast, and generation after generation, most in Way’s family have taken part in the horse racing industry. 

“I used to gallop race horses before I would go to school,” said Way. “I would wake up at 5 o’clock and I would gallop from 6 to 7, or 7:30.”

From jockey to farrier, her path seemed destined. But looking back, that does not mean her journey did not come without hardships or prejudice. 

When she first became a jockey, she said racing could be physically rough. She said she felt she had to get tougher to be able to feel comfortable and compete, so she decided to train in ju-jitsu. 

“Ju-jitsu helps keep my back from getting sore,” said Way.

She said there was a time she was not sure if she would have to fight another jockey following a race. 

When training in ju-jitsu, she became very talented. In fact, she even fought in an MMA fight. She said the story of what actually happened began to become exaggerated.

“Every time someone tells it, it gets more and more exaggerated,” she laughed, thinking back to a fight that she won. “Now all of a sudden, I fight in the UFC. And they are like, ‘Brittany, she fought in the UFC, don’t mess with her.’ So all these people I was having problems with — no problems anymore.”

Either way, she gained respect through her hard work and passion. And while her hands do a tough job, they could not be more gentle when it comes to the race horses. 

“I love shoeing at the racetrack,” said Way, as she pats a horse on the hip. 

Way still does weekly ju-jitsu while also working as a mortgage loan officer. She and her husband own a gym in Palm Harbor.