about horses. Grooms are generally racial and ethnic minorities, poorly educated and unskilled, contributing to their low status. The lowest status is for owners, who generally know nothing about horses and are considered foolish for investing in them since most horses don't make enough to pay for their care. The racing community is one likely to experience disequilibrium--it is highly stratified by job and status, includes the very rich and the very poor, and involves exploitative labor practices. Grooms are frustrated by their low pay and shabby treatment, and trainers must keep them somewhat happy to keep from losing skilled grooms too often, particularly to competitors with whom the groom could share information. Similarly, owners frustrated with their low status may withhold funds or fire trainers, and trainers may try to evade such moves by keeping the owners out of the loop. To stay together and continue functioning with this status and work arrangement, the racing community uses the paddock ritual to “decrease alienation and facilitate integration” (285). The paddock ritual is the only time when all four types of workers come together and participate in one action, as a community. Further, the groom and the owner receive particular respect and attention during the ritual, contrary to the way they are normally treated. Owners, due to their wealth, generally have prestige in the larger society, but grooms, as manual laborers, do not, and the paddock ritual is thus most important to them. The ritual lets grooms show their skill with the horses and to mingle on equal terms with the wealthy; for owners, showing their horse offers another level of prestige. The ritual does not change any of the roles--rather, it allows each group to dramatize its role, which “implies the importance of the roles,” (287) a significant experience for those whose work is usually devalued. The ritual also reminds everyone that they are dependent upon each other because they all engage in the same work. Both the importance of the roles and their “reciprocal dependence” (Goffman) are displayed publicly, often the only opportunity for the disvalued workers to receive such recognition. The paddock ritual thus serves to keep the disadvantaged members of the racing community participating.