My lotto list definitely includes a groom. Not to groom before I ride, but just to groom every morning, 1) because I have an old guy who l-o-v-e-s being groomed and would like more, 2) then the pre-ride groom is usually a little bit easier if horse has already been groomed that day, 3) if I miss a day riding, would love to have the horse groomed that day anyway.
The horses are all tacked up in the stalls since training horses are going up and down the hallways.
All depends on how long the ride is and whether I have something scheduled afterwards. I like spending time with my horses, and Iām not inclined to rush if I donāt have a reason to. OTOH, I also try to be mindful of what others need, so donāt spend inordinant amounts of time hogging a scarce resource.
To each their own.
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I always do my own tacking/grooming. I think it gives you a closer bond to your horse and that help when you are riding, or doing anything with your horse.
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Why are training horses going up and down the hallways? Bad weather outside?
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Thatās how ASB show horses are worked/trained. While they are also taken outside into rings with excellent footing, generally, a show horse will have some kind of package on their feet that doesnāt react well to water, mud, or natural footing.
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From there stalls to the indoor arena. Our trainer doesnāt do the straight line thing and most of the training horses are country pleasure or have very small packages .
I love grooming and tacking up my horse.
What I would like to have, though, is someone to groom and dress ME. Without this service, I fear that I am sliding toward a blurring together of ābarn lookā and āwork lookā that is not really adding style points to either environment.
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I would have killed for an hour and a half for lunch. Nope, only had 1 hr max and a 10 minute drive. Had to get kids after work so couldnāt ride then. It was lunch or just ride on the weekends. I spent my Saturday mornings catching up on gossip I missed while I rode.
Okay, Iām bad :uhoh: but the phrasing that some horses have āvery small packagesā made me snort, given some of the current slang! :winkgrin:
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Ha ha you are so naughty !
I only hire a groom for polo games. All that gear gets heavy after a while and sometimes I need to switch saddles in between chukkers. People get annoyed if the game is delayed by a player moving tack from horse to horse.
Oh yeah that would be nuts.
Not in my lifetime have I had a groom, har har! However, I did wonder aloud to my (adult, working) barnmates the other day that we all should take it in turns being each otherās groom. One day a week itād be nice to just show up and ride, then hand off the horse and go home. Then perhaps Iād have the energy to have a clean/tidy house!
So yeah - while we all like spending quality time with the pones, I think an occasional freelance groom would be a treat!
Of course they are! By me, for me!
When I worked in a Jumper barn I tacked for owners/trainer all the time. Not a big deal. The trainer spends all his time on the horses and the owners are paying enough they donāt need to do anything! On occasion my horse got tacked for me if I was doing something else (hacking, setting jumps, going to show office, whatever). It is a team project. I am a speed tacker, though. I can have horse out and saddled, bridled, booted in 5-10 depending on how dirty they are. It helps to blanket and have a curry in one hand, brush in the other. I donāt do tails unless I am going somewhere nice because it breaks the hair to mess with it too much.
I have always done everything myself, having owned my farm for 27 years and growing up with a backyard barn.
I now board at a large barn. I had my horse groomed and tacked up last week when my instructor called, needing my help outside. Since he was already tacked and I had to leave, I put his halter on and tied him inside his stall so he wouldnāt do something stupid like roll with his saddle on. I ran outside, helped my instructor and went back into the barn.
A young girl came up and asked if the barn usually had horses tacked and waiting. I guess I looked perplexed, and she explained that she was walking down the barn aisle and saw a horse fully tacked, waiting in his stall.
I then realized she was talking about my horse and I was the owner with the horse tacked and waiting for me. I guess they thought I must have been pretty special to have my horse groomed and waiting for me until I had to explain to them that I did it myself!!
Not even since starting out 40 years ago in pony club, has anything equine, ever been groomed or tacked up by any one but myself.
To me itās a totally foreign concept. How would you gauge your horseās mood or energy level or sore spots, if you didnāt groom and tack your self?
Obviously my trainer or groom is highly attuned to that thankfully.
Iāve been a working student and I worked to ride for a while at a great dressage barn where I also first took lessons on schoolies. I took one lesson, then asked if I could groom and tack up the horse I was scheduled to ride. Considering my past, they were happy to oblige. And I was happy for the horse time. At this point with some health issues, there are days I would love to have a groomed, tacked horse waiting for me. Other days, not needed. I do love the bonding time and checking them over to keep tabs on stuff.
I agree with that so much. It doesnāt matter what someone else tells me or how attune they are. I want to know and experience things for myself. I could never do the show up at the barn and expect everything to be done for me and then leave when I was done riding. I find no joy in that. Iāve never done the saddleseat thing (other than taking one lesson) so hearing that something like that is the normā¦ it is just different. People do get used to what they grow up with though.
Now, saying that, having rushed out of work to the barn last week for my lesson only to find my horse covered head to toe in mud and knowing that Iād be stressed out trying to get ready to be on in time ā I definitely would have loved help from someone to curry his mud off while I was driving to the barn and as soon as I got there let me take over. I have a hard time sitting around and watching other people do work for me that I am capable of doing myself. I canāt even be at home if I (on the rare occasion) have someone come help mow my yard because it makes me feel like a jerk if I am just hanging around and donāt help (even though I know Iām paying for that service).
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