Hello Everyone! I have some questions for you guys that travel to shows…
How much $ is average for a groom to get per horse for horse shows? How much should you tip? Should a groom’s hotel room be paid for, even if they are showing themselves? If a groom is also a client, what should they be paying the trainer?
Thanks in advance 
Our groom gets $80 per day but takes care of 2-6 horses and sleeps in the grooming stall on a cot. The horse owner’s split the cost, and are expected to tip.
The trainer’s fees are a separate cost.
It sounds like this may be more of a working student situation?
For our barn, grooms are paid their normal wage for show days. They stay in a hotel and their hotels and meals are split between all the horses. I know they appreciate tips. Of course it may be a bit different as we are a dressage barn mainly.
Instead of hoping that owner’s tip the groom, why not just up what the groom gets paid per day and include hotel and food? Or is the $80 per horse/per day and she decides where she’d like to sleep?
Edited to add: our barn doesn’t have grooms but my trainer does. Her groom gets hotel, food etc and is also paid her regular daily wage. (all she is allowed to do for us as part of her daily job is to feed and water the horses). If we ask her to braid our horse she will, and she gets paid the money directly (trainer does not take a cut of this)!
IIRC my barn pays $45 per day per head-so 5 horses would be 225 a day-usually assigning 6 to 8 per groom with the expectation the grooms will help each other out when one has nothing going and another has all of them up at the show arena. Barn also provides a camper or shared hotel room and a meal allowance.
Tipping is customary but should never be billed…then it is an undisclosed charge, not a “tip”. As an owner, I never minded tipping for good service and shared when it was not good with the trainer.
My old barn was that each customer pays $50+tip ($10-$15) per day for rated C-AA shows. Each person was usually riding one horse, but for those who rode 2+, it would be the $50+tip per horse. All shows were close enough to drive home (under 30 min), but I don’t know about food.
Was the trainer paying the grooms a salary? Or were they doing it for the “tips” directly from clients?
A “tip” is money in addition to any bill for good service. If it is a required charge? It’s not a “tip”, it is part of the bill.
I paid $75 a day to the trainer for day care which including that groom who got $45 a day per head. I tipped on top of that-20 per show or lesson day (horse was there for a week or two).
[QUOTE=findeight;6220984]
Was the trainer paying the grooms a salary? Or were they doing it for the “tips” directly from clients?
A “tip” is money in addition to any bill for good service. If it is a required charge? It’s not a “tip”, it is part of the bill.
I paid $75 a day to the trainer for day care which including that groom who got $45 a day per head. I tipped on top of that-20 per show or lesson day (horse was there for a week or two).[/QUOTE]
I am not sure if the grooms got a salary at shows, but we paid the grooms directly, and told the trainer (who probably checked with the groom). The ($10-15) ‘tip’ was not required, but heavily encouraged.
Several years ago, I used to make $100/day, plus $30/day for expenses/food, and a room in a nice, shared condo. This was for grooming/lunging/tacking and lots of riding/warm-ups - no braiding, mucking, etc. Usually about 12 horses split between 2-3 grooms. Tips were usually at the end of the show - about $100 from each client.
I thought this was the norm, but the more I read I just had a fabulous trainer and a really nice set up apparently - everyone was happy and worked super hard, but wasn’t run off their feet - it made for happy horses and people and a nice atmosphere.
No clue. I tip though - I gave our groom $675 for taking care of my horse in Ocala. I hope that was enough. I am never sure what is a good amount.
I guess I just don’t understand the “tipping mentality”. Yes we have tipping in Canada but a lot less than I see in the States. If employers would pay people fairly you shouldn’t HAVE to tip!
I guess I just don’t understand why trainers that “heavily try to promote tipping to the grooms” just don’t build it into the daily fee? Is it simply because the trainers are that dishonest/greedy/etc and like to keep all the monies paid to themselves?
I would always tip. It is courteous to do so for someone who performs a service.
$ for groom at horse shows (tips)
Several questions about tips, specifically: Can you owners clarify how much you TIP each groom at the shows? For example, at a larger barn where there may be 4-5 grooms sharing responsibility (ie, not assigned to a specific horse/horses), how much do you tip each of them at the end of a one-week show? And does it vary depending upon the number of show days vs. schooling days you had, and/or whether you vs. the trainer/professional rode the horse? And if there is a “head” groom, do you tip him/her more than the others, and if so, how much more? Thanks!
[QUOTE=ASClaire;6221454]
Several questions about tips, specifically: Can you owners clarify how much you TIP each groom at the shows? For example, at a larger barn where there may be 4-5 grooms sharing responsibility (ie, not assigned to a specific horse/horses), how much do you tip each of them at the end of a one-week show? And does it vary depending upon the number of show days vs. schooling days you had, and/or whether you vs. the trainer/professional rode the horse? And if there is a “head” groom, do you tip him/her more than the others, and if so, how much more? Thanks![/QUOTE]
You should probably ask your trainer as well as your fellow boarders since tipping practices vary from barn to barn.
More for show days than schooling days.
More if the horse needs to be tacked/untacked multiple times a day.
More if the grooms bring my horse to the ring for me.
More if my horse is being a giant pain in the neck. For example, when we show closer to home, one of our grooms brings my horse home almost every night so that he can sleep outside and get some turnout. Extra big tip for that groom!
When we had multiple grooms there was always a head groom. At the end of the show everyone gave the tips to the head groom and he distributed to everyone equally as they all had primary horses but helped each other out constantly. Seemed to work well.
Groom here:
I typically ask for $100/ day + food and a stall to sleep in for any show. Sometimes I might take care of 2 horses, while other times I take care of 12. An average day usually consists of getting up at 6AM and going to bed at 1AM when I work for people with more than 10 horses. Usually, the trainer I work for negotiates down to an average of $80/ day, which is still considered good in the industry. I do all clipping, grooming, braiding, mucking, and cleaning for the trainer (or as much as I am physically capable of doing). Clients usually tip me from $20-100 per horse they bring, although I have gotten no tips from clients with 6+ horses.
I’m not sure exactly how much of it is paid to the grooms and how much is redistributed but full care for us is $150 a day ($100 a day for each horse in addition to the first), and $75 for basic care (essentially everything except for tacking up, wrapping at night, and bathing/grooming). As for tipping, we tip $50 for the head groom and $25 to all the other guys for each horse (we normally have just 2, though sometimes 3), but we are a bigger show operations so I’m not honestly sure how much you they’re getting from everyone else and I do know that other people have much more than 2 horses. Then again there are also a few that do their own care entirely. On top of that all of our guys live on property.
[QUOTE=eclipse;6221096]
I guess I just don’t understand the “tipping mentality”. Yes we have tipping in Canada but a lot less than I see in the States. If employers would pay people fairly you shouldn’t HAVE to tip!
I guess I just don’t understand why trainers that “heavily try to promote tipping to the grooms” just don’t build it into the daily fee? Is it simply because the trainers are that dishonest/greedy/etc and like to keep all the monies paid to themselves?[/QUOTE]
I show in the US and in Canada (Tbird mainly but sometimes Milner). I know Canadian and US grooms. To be blunt, Canadian grooms do not make the money the US grooms do, and from what I have seen over many years, it shows because the horses just do not get the same excellent care and turnout from the lower paid Canadian grooms. Alberta barns especially are lacking in professional groom abilities (of course most of the Alberta barns tend to more of the DIY-er type), not a put down so please don’t take it like one!! But Alberta barns are definitely more hands on with the self care or having a client or a friend help with grooming rather than a pro groom. Part of the lack of good grooms in Canada also has to do with many of the pro grooms not having the correct paperwork to get in to Canada, and your border agents will not allow anyone in who they even think might be working without proper paperwork.
OP-most of the grooms negotiate pay for each or several show(s). The best paying barns will have their regular, from the home barn grooms at shows but most barns have show grooms who just work the show circuits up and down the coast, etc. Grooming is a service, and I do think tipping is a good thing.
When we show we pay a $50 day fee for grooms per horse. This gets pooled and split based on the number of grooms with the head groom–usually our regular groom–paid more.
Tipping: $20 a day each day the horse is at the show is suggested but not required (but I think we all pay it). So if my horse goes to the show Monday and leaves Sunday 7x20=$140 per groom.
The grooms room is paid for.
It entirely depends if it’s a freelance groom or a regular full time groom. It also depends on the number of horses.
I don’t know any grooms living in the barns these days since it would not technically be allowed by the fei where barns have hours.
Tip your grooms.
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