What is a groom?
The groom is a specialist who works directly with horses, whether they are in the field or in the stable. He is the one who spends a large part of his time caring for them on a daily basis and who maintains the horses' work areas and their facilities. Who is the groom? We talk about him in this article.
What is a groom?
The groom is the one who works directly in contact with the horses. His role consists of maintaining the bedding, calculating the food according to the horse's training, providing him with care, checking his health according to his behavior and doing various maintenance work on his park as well as his equipment.
The groom's duties vary depending on where he works, whether he is in a breeding farm, a racing stable or an equestrian center. The groom may be required to take the horses out of the paddocks. The latter must be able to "relax" the horses, to "trot" with them and to work with them without riding them.
The groom must be able to break in young horses. In other words, he must be able to give them their first training. He also has the possibility of presenting a horse for a breeding competition or for a sale.
What qualities and skills should a groom have?
The groom must be passionate about the equine world. He must have the basics of horse riding. This specialist must be an observant professional in order to be able to decipher all kinds of changes in the behavior of his horse.
The groom must have the best knowledge of the anatomy of his horse. This is so that he can observe any problems in the horse and help him with the very first aid. It is important that the groom is in excellent physical condition in order to be able to carry out all kinds of maintenance work and lift bags of fodder, dirty straw or other kinds of food.
Having some knowledge of mechanics is also important when you are a groom. This allows you to be able to carry out some repair work on tractors for example. Similarly, knowledge of mechanics will allow the groom to carry out farriery work in order to replace a nail or unshoe a horse.
Finally, it is recommended that the groom has a heavy goods vehicle license that would allow him to accompany the horses to their competition grounds for example. Furthermore, it is recommended that the groom knows how to choose accessories for his horses on online stores such as La Sellerie Française .
Under what conditions do grooms work?
The groom is a professional who works in stud farms or on horse breeding farms. He can also work in equestrian centers or racehorse training centers. The days of this professional are dictated by the horses.
The groom can therefore start his work early in the morning and still finish late in the evening depending on the care he has to provide to the horses entrusted to him.