Why Your Stable Should Hire & Keep the Best Grooms

Too many stables have employee problems. They can't keep employees. People "don't want to work" or they have a list of people wanting training jobs but they "just need a groom." And that is the reason they have employee problems - the attitude of it's "just a groom."

The time to change the attitude is yesterday. As a trainer or barn manager the groom is one of the most valued members of the team - act like it! If you don't think the groom is important walk down a race horse barn. The trainer, owner and every other member of the team may get a look, but the groom gets the horse's attention!

The groom is the one position that has detailed care of your horses. They feed, clean stalls, groom, bathe, treat the horses when laid up and in short take care of every aspect of the horse's daily life. A good groom can spot hay before it's bad and makes a horse sick. A good groom gets the stalls clean without squandering shavings and wasting feed.

A good groom is greeted by nickering when they walk in the barn. They're often the first to get to work and the last to leave. They'll come in on holidays and forgo a great deal because their responsibility is to those horses. Your horses!

If you think it's "just a groom" consider a bad groom. The stalls are dirty and there's an ammonia smell in the barn. The farrier notes thrush in the feet, there's nicks and dings on the horse from careless handling. A really bad groom is noticed when the horses hang to the back of the stall in fear, or gentle horses become "hard to catch". When they create problems not only in more expenses and injuries, but in life long issues with the horses themselves it is too late to undo the action.

Grooms traditionally aren't valued - they're seen as low paid, unskilled labor that is expendable. A rotating door of employees of varying skill is hard on the horses too. It isn't "just a groom." It's horse management in the most hands on, day to day, time and emotionally involved job that one can have.

Grooms are there from the time foals take their first steps. They're there to get the stallion sparkling and not as "important" as the handler showing to prospective breeders, but the groom's work will shine through on that stallion whether you credit it or not.

It's hours of brushing, bathing and care to build a healthy horse from the inside out. It's the person that instills discipline in a daily care situation. You provide the best in feed, housing and health care for your horses...why don't you give credit that providing the best day to day care is just as important?

Look again at the farm's view and treatment of grooms - if it needs improvement make the changes. Your horses deserve it - if they don't deserve it perhaps your farm doesn't deserve them. Humane care should not be an option. If you have good grooms treasure them - they make your horses look good. They're your horse's daily contact. Make it a good one.