Barbara Borden, 55, spent her childhood in the Cleveland suburb of Mentor, Ohio, participating in 4-H and showing horses with her sister, Deb. Her brother, Dave Borden, was a jockey. He introduced his sisters to the racetrack at Thistledown. Both were hotwalkers and grooms. Barb ponied horses and then became an exercise rider. Later, she was a chart-taker for the Daily Racing Form, worked in the licensing office and test barn, and eventually became horse identifier at Turfway Park. She was an associate steward at Ellis Park in Henderson, Kentucky, and a steward at Bluegrass Downs in Paducah before being appointed Kentucky's chief state steward in 2012.